by Sammy (link)
Genre cest, romance, comedy
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC, Zaylor
Length 120 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (first in an ongoing series of three)
I’ve been known to write some pretty long stories, but 120 chapters is a number I can’t even imagine. It takes a lot of plot to sustain a story that long, and even more to keep one going on into a sequel. At least at the beginning, though, Pages Of Your Diary has rather short chapters. I’m not a big fan of that, but it does make that high chapter number a little less daunting.
The writing isn’t perfectly polished, but I think Sammy absolutely nails the eleven year old Zac voice. As you might guess from the title, a diary plays a big role in setting the plot into motion. While that is a little cliche, there are just certain plotlines that get repeated over and over because they always work, and I think this is one of them. I know “baby Zaylor” is controversial, but there’s just something I love about that young, naive period as the two of them figure out their emotions… and bodies. Feel free to judge me for that. But I think Sammy nails all of that, too.
As you might imagine, with such a long story, it would be nearly impossible for me to summarize everything that happened. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of drama in this story. The characters swing wildly from one extreme to another — discussing love in a way that’s a little too mature for their ages, experiencing typical teenage angst and fighting childishly. It’s all a little too much, but for the most part, I think the emotional reactions are appropriate.
Overall, this is a story that just hits me right in the nostalgia. It’s got sweet and tender moments, humor, and an adorably naive but crazy Zac that constantly makes me smile. The length seems a bit daunting, but many of the chapters are so short that it hardly seems like that long of a read at all. If “baby zaylor” is your thing, I think you’ll definitely enjoy this story.
Review by Bethany (website)