by Sheryl and Karen (link)
Genre drama, historical, scifi
Pairings none
Length 41 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (with discontinued sequel)
This story has been on my to-read list for quite a while. The very description of it ticks most of the boxes for me — supernatural/scifi elements, mystery, a historical setting, and a little connection to a piece of the Beatles history? Yeah, that sounds like a good read to me.
As is the case with so many stories, I struggled to get past awkward formatting. The paragraphs are long and full of dialogue that really needs to be on its own. But the grammar is otherwise fairly good, and there’s a definite lyrical quality to the writing. Sheryl has a definite style, especially when it comes to dialogue, but at least the characters from 1883 seem to have a distinct, and believable, speaking pattern.
Even though I do like historical fiction, I’m by no means an expert on life in Victorian New York City. I know enough that I can tell Sheryl has put in a fair bit of research and there’s nothing in this story that really pings my radar as wrong or out of place — other than Taylor Hanson in 1883, but that’s kind of the point. Otherwise, the story definitely seems well researched on the historical front, and very creative and engaging on the scifi front.
While Sheryl could have used a good editor to make this story all it could be, I think it’s definitely worth a read. With a few details changed, it’s the sort of story that would hold up as original fiction, not just as a hanfic. That’s a very rare thing indeed.
Review by Bethany (website)