by Taye and Jamie (link)
Genre het, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Zac/OFC
Length 37 chapters
Status Completed
I’m not sure what I expected from the summary for Sunshine in the Shadows, but it certainly seemed to fall into a specific category of fics from that time period–the self-proclaimed goth, Hot Topic loving female main character only adds to my impression of it. While it ended up being a bit different from my expectations, that isn’t necessarily a good thing.
The aforementioned female main character is nearly insufferable in her woe-is-me routine that, except for one incident with her ex-boyfriend, seems totally unfounded. Zac, however, is a more interesting character, especially when he reveals the (supposed) truth about his dead girlfriend. A part of me wants the story to go into seriously dark territory, but I’m not surprised that Taye and Jamie shy away from having Zac actually be responsible for her death.
In fact, the truth of her accident is more ridiculous than I could even imagine. Amidst a confusing, geographically impossible trip to clear his name, a number of coincidences come together to turn the plot in an absolutely crazy direction. The coincidences continue to pile up until it all ends in not one but two separate murder attempts. Even though Zac is almost a compelling character, he isn’t nearly enough to make up for the far-too-coincidental and often muddled plot or the copious grammatical errors that Taye and Jamie make. There’s a glimmer of an interesting idea in Sunshine in the Shadows, but it’s quickly lost.
Review by Bethany (website)