by Nick (link)
Genre adventure, drama, comedy
Pairings none
Length 34 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (second in a series of three stories)
As if I didn’t love Zac Says Tay… enough, Nick had to go and use quotes from Midsummer Night’s Dream as the chapter titles for the sequel, I Ain’t No Angel. That’s it. I’m sold. I don’t even care what happens; I already love this story.
Just a few chapters in, it’s obvious that this story will be another adventure but very distinct and different from the first in the series. We’re quickly introduced to an original character named Hugo, diamond smugglers and distant Nazi relatives. The boys’ vacation in Germany is proving to be not so relaxing, but it wouldn’t be much of a story if it was, would it? Whereas Zac Says Tay… gets going right away, I Ain’t No Angel takes the time to develop side plots and plant clues before the real action begins. This approach can get tedious, but I appreciate the attention to detail.
I’m a really big fan of historical fiction, so I enjoyed the nods to World War Two in the story. I do wish the loose ends were dealt with, but I don’t have high hopes that the mysterious Nazi relative thing will be resolved in the unfinished third story. As for the Cold War and more recent war references, I’m not as well educated on those events, sad to say. But I think that the modern warfare mixed well with the references to history. It seemed to bring it all into a better context to me. The mentions of punk rock don’t go amiss, either.
As for those Shakespeare quotes? I can’t say they fit entirely well. When you allude to something, it needs to add another layer of meaning. Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, sure, but it’s also quite heavy on the romance — something this story is lacking. Still, the original character Hugo is a good stand in for Robin Goodfellow, so I suppose it works on that level.
Aside from the grammatical problems I mentioned in the first story, my biggest complaint here is with the loose ends that I don’t expect to be resolved to my satisfaction. I am, of course, going to keep reading in spite of that fear.
Review by Bethany (website)