by Ashley (link)
Genre drama/angst
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Zac/OFC, Zoe/OMC
Length 17 chapters in 3 books
Status Unfinished
Typically when I read series, I give each story its own review. This series, though, is made of books so short that I feel okay with my decision to only write one review. There’s only so much that can be said about seventeen chapters, period, let alone seventeen chapters that are divided between technically three stories.
The first story, Glassy Surfaces, wastes no time getting started. In the very first section, we learn that Taylor has a drug problem. While I usually don’t care for Hanson songs used as titles, this one is actually a clever play on words, given that cocaine is often snorted off a mirror — a glassy surface. Ashley has, from what I can tell, a good grasp of the details of drug abuse, but without getting preachy. That’s a tough line to walk, but I think Ashley nails it.
I had hoped that somehow Glassy Surfaces could have a happy ending, but I should have expected the worst. The second book, No More Lullabies resumes fourteen years later — fourteen years after Taylor’s death. There’s a lot to catch up on, but the first chapter takes care of most of that. It gets a little over the top sappy, but in a way that I eat up with a spoon — while sobbing, of course.
Unfortunately, the third book, The Sweet Hereafter only consists of one short dream interlude. Part of what gives Zac the push to help Zoe in the second book are the dreams he has in which Taylor speaks to him. These dreams were evidently meant to play a bigger role in the third book, with Taylor urging Zac to sing again. Book two ends happily, though, so I choose to believe that Zac did eventually sing again.
Review by Bethany (website)