by Rene S. (link)
Genre het, romance, drama
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 20 chapters
Status Completed
There are a few things that will immediately turn me off when they pop up in a story. First, bad grammar and formatting. There are a few nice browser plugins that help with the formatting, so I try not to judge too harshly on that account, and a few typos and mistakes here and there aren’t truly sins. If they are, consider me quite the sinner. The second thing that turns me off on a story is a cliche plot. That’s something that, unfortunately, I can’t fix with a plugin.
Weeping Willow opens with a young girl moving from Arizona to — you guessed it — Tulsa, Oklahoma. Can you guess who her next door neighbors are? If you said Hanson, then you guessed that one, too. There’s something almost cute about the way this story manages to fit in so many cliches. Aside from just the trite plot, there are copious mentions of how famous Hanson are, references to Zac’s hyperness, Taylor’s apparent jelly bean obsession (was this even a real thing?) and plenty of fun to be had with their wardrobe choices.
I have to admit, there’s a certain charm to this story, in spite of everything that I don’t like about it. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, I would have devoured it with zeal. It’s sweet, if not terribly realistic in any way, and romantic in a simple, teenage sort of way. The characters are one dimensional, the romances (and resulting drama) predictable, and the drama horribly overblown (pun intended — you’ll see what I mean if you read it). But the predictableness, along with the constant silly Author’s Notes and other such hallmarks of early hanfic, are more amusing to me than annoying.
Oh, and the title? It does serve a point, and the author even manages to tie it back into the ending of the story. Kudos to her for that little bit of symbolism in an otherwise shallow story.
If you’re looking for something wonderfully written and deep, this definitely isn’t the story for you. However, if you just want to indulge in a little bit of mindless fluff and pretend to be a twelve year old Hanson fangirl again, Weeping Willow would be right up your alley.
Review by Bethany (website)