by Jenn (link)
Genre het, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 33 parts
Status Completed (first in a series of three stories)
This series came highly recommend by a friend, so I had to put it on my list to read. That, combined with its popularity and the sheer fact that it was hosted by HansonFiction.com, gives me high hopes that it will be good.
The whole structure of this story is a bit confusing. There are prologues, books, interludes. I’ve lumped them all under the title of “parts” just to give you guys an idea of how long it is, but there’s a lot more than that to the structure of these Tales. The basic structure of the story is, well, something like a modern day Canterbury Tales. An older Taylor (older than he was in 1998, at least) meets a woman on a bus and begins to tell her his life story, which eventually weaves into his brothers’ life stories as well. It’s a unique structure that’s a little confusing at first, but I kind of like it.
Of course, the one flaw with this structure is that it doesn’t really make sense for Taylor to be telling these stories in the sort of third person omniscient narrator that Jenn uses. If you assume that Taylor’s version isn’t exactly what you’re reading, as though you’re watching a movie flashback version of the story Taylor’s telling, I suppose it works.
As for the writing itself, Jenn certainly has some talent. There are a few little flaws, mostly phrases that get repeated enough to make me roll my eyes, and her formatting isn’t the best. It isn’t the most polished writing ever, but it is skilled. The way that all three stories tie together and create a complete picture is really neat. Even the open ending doesn’t bother me; in fact, I really like it. That may be because I know there’s a sequel, though.
Review by Bethany (website)