by Rebekah (link)
Genre slash, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Taylor/OMC, Zac/OFC, Zac/OMC
Length 12 chapters
Status Completed
Like one of Diamond’s stories that I reviewed not long ago, Changes was written for a rather tough challenge that included lots of prompts for the author to incorporate into their story. Being quite a fan of Rebekah’s writing, I have no doubt she did an excellent job with all of those challenges.
Perhaps because Changes is a relatively short story, a lot happens in the first chapter. Zac goes from a trip to the hospital after a drunken misadventure, to fight with his parents, to moving in with Taylor. Amongst all that action, though, we learn a great deal about their brotherly relationship, as well as about Zac’s parents and his best friend Skyla — better known as La La. It takes a lot of skill to weave a ton of information like that into the narrative seamlessly.
As that first chapter would suggest, there’s a lot going on under the surface in this story. After moving into Taylor’s apartment and meeting his boyfriend Dominick, Zac begins to face some of these things and come to terms with them. They’re revealed seamlessly throughout the story, but the ending is bittersweet, with Zac ultimately not having the strength to fully come to terms with the truth. I wish things could have been different for him, but I’m the first person to admit that not every story can have a happy ending. This bittersweet ending fits quite well with what we’ve seen of Zac and his self-doubt throughout the story, so I’m not sure any other ending for Changes would have even been possible.
Review by Bethany (website)