by Jasper (link)
Genre het, drama, romance
Pairings Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 16 chapters
Status Completed (with sequel)
One common complaint in hanfic is that the authors focus too much on their original characters, leaving Hanson to be little more than set dressing for whatever drama the author has planned for her babies. Unfortunately, this is true for Bloom and it isn’t helped by how large the cast of original characters is or the fact that the clearly Australian author hasn’t done her research on the US.
Jasper’s original characters are just too much for me to keep up with, although thankfully only the three oldest siblings (including the bland yet trying too hard narrator, Kirby) figure prominently in the plot. In fact, they figure a bit too prominently, if you ask me. Even if Kirby’s relationship with her brothers and the eldest brother’s eventual fame form a big part of the plot, they just aren’t all that interesting to me.
What is interesting to me is the obvious tension between Kirby and Zac which never gets realized. In fact, Kirby has a largely off-screen and brief love affair with Taylor, and later dates an original male character (who sounds suspiciously like a pop punk star of the early 2000s, which is just a little ridiculous when combined with the other random celebrity cameos). I’m hopeful that the sequel will see her and Zac finally admitting their obvious feelings for each other; otherwise, I’m afraid there won’t be much to redeem Bloom for me.
Review by Bethany (website)