by Bertina (link)
Genre het, romance, drama
Pairings Isaac/Nikki, Isaac/OFC, Taylor/Natalie, Zac/OFC
Length prologue and 44 chapters
Status Unfinished
This story has been on my to-read list for quite some time, ever since I first noticed it racking up impressive hit counts on Wattpad. I had hoped to wait until Scream and Be Free was completed to read it, at forty-some chapters, it’s far from a short, abortive read.
Although there are few English language hanfics on Wattpad, the ones that do exist often get a bad rap for being supposedly poorly written compared to fics found elsewhere online. While that reputation might be deserved in some cases, Bertina does have a way with words and creates a very effective atmosphere with her turns of phrase throughout this fic. A little editing to polish up a few grammatical mistakes is all that’s really called for her to make Scream and Be Free stand out well above the rest of the pack.
Stories centering around a divorced (or soon-to-be divorced) Zac are common enough, so Bertina gets bonus points for setting her fic after the beginning of his second marriage. She deals with the confusing and frustrating process of blending new and old families well; although sometimes it seems like even the secondary characters’ lives revolve around Zac and Brielle’s marriage, it’s understandably a big source of drama for the entire extended family, as Kate’s actions have ripple effects. Although Kate’s motivations are sometimes obscure enough to be frustrating, I think that’s on purpose. Bertina’s cast of characters are well developed, with their own personalities that truly make them all seem real. It’s those personalities that sustain such a relatively slow moving story, filled with realistic one-step-forward, two-steps-back moments.
My understanding is that Bertina wasn’t far from finishing this fic when she last updated it, although there are still a number of unresolved plot points left dangling. Still, Scream and Be Free is a lengthy, meaty read with plenty of plot and subplot to sink your teeth into. Not knowing how some of those would have been resolved is disappointing, of course, but hopefully she will be inspired to come back to the fic someday.
Review by Bethany (website)