by Keryn (link)
Genre het, romance, drama
Pairings Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length prologue, 10 chapters
Status Unfinished
Surrealistic Emotions isn’t a long story, remaining incomplete with just a prologue and ten chapters, but Keryn manages to pack a lot into those chapters. From the beginning, it’s pretty obvious what sort of story this is going to be — a love triangle. That’s not an uncommon plot in hanfic by any means, but Keryn’s lyrical writing makes such a cliche much easier for me to stomach.
Okay, so that lyrical writing verges on purple prose at times. I’ll take that over stale and boring writing, though. I do appreciate the fact that, while Keryn has a very obvious style to her writing, Montana, Taylor and Zac’s sections still feel like they’re being narrated by different people. That’s a tricky thing to accomplish in a story with multiple first person narrators.
What really sets this story apart from so many other stories featuring love triangles is that we get to see all three sides of it. We see, in little glimpses, how each of the three of them view their relationship (romantic or otherwise). We see how their inner thoughts contrast with their actual words. In some stories, this would all be too revealing, but in this case, it just leaves me dying for them all to finally find out how the others feel.
When I said that Keryn packed a lot into this story, I imagine most people assume that means lots of big events and drama. That isn’t entirely true, though. The drama here is largely emotional and contained just within the minds and hearts of the characters. That doesn’t make it any less true or impactful, though. It’s a beautiful story that, while it isn’t exactly a roller coaster ride, will definitely make you feel a lot. Unfortunately, there’s no resolution for those feelings, although I like to imagine a happy ending for a certain couple.
Review by Bethany (website)