by Erica Mary and Elise (link)
Genre het, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 17 chapters
Status Unfinished
When You Were Here remains unfinished, but Erica Mary and Elise managed to pack a lot of story into what they did write. The first chapter is no exception, full of exposition about not three but four Hanson siblings and one other character who is about to make a reappearance in their lives.
There’s a nice balance to all of these backstories, mostly tied together by the way they have coped with Diana’s death, that makes for a well rounded tale. Too many stories try to be about all three brothers but give one or two only lip service, or focus far too much on the original characters. Not here. Everyone gets a turn with the drama.
The drama does sometimes become a bit too much, and could have become even worse if the story were continued through the rest of Maleah’s pregnancy. In what does exist, though, Erica Mary and Elise mostly avoid overdoing the drama in what is a fairly short, self-contained story that takes place over around a month. I do wish they had delved a bit more into Hanson’s past (the band is only mentioned once) and what happened to Diana, but for what it is, When You Were Here is a decent little story with only a few errors to marr its above average writing and plotting.
Review by Bethany (website)