by Llama (link)
Genre het, romance
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OFC
Length 19 installments
Status Completed (sequel to Glint of Heaven)
When I read Glint of Heaven, I somehow managed to miss the fact that a sequel existed, and when I started reading this one, I had to double check that it actually was the sequel. At first, Just One of Those Things seems like an entirely unrelated story, but I assume it will eventually tie in to Glint of Heaven somehow.
Eventually, the rather stuffy, pretentious narrator, Clio, does in fact encounter Hanson. By that point, Isaac has taken over some of the narration and mentioned Taylor’s girlfriend of over a year, Marissa. That ties in the first story and gives the setting for this one. I suppose Llama felt that the abrupt skip ahead in time between the last chapter of Glint of Heaven and the prologue left a lot unexplained, so Just One of Those Things serves to fill in a few gaps and give Isaac a love story of his own.
Unlike the first story, which remained entirely in Marissa’s perspective, this one skips around a bit. Taylor and Marissa do eventually take turns narrating, but it remains mostly Ike and Clio’s story. Clio isn’t my favorite narrator; she’s a bit too uptight for my tastes. Her personality suits Llama’s penchant for multisyllabic words, though. When one of the Hanson boys starts sounding highly intellectual, I start to roll my eyes. It just doesn’t sound right coming from them.
The often quick point of view changes don’t do the story any favors, either. The writing seems less polished, too, than Glint of Heaven was, with various typos and an awkward present tense narration that sometimes slips into past. Perhaps Llama wrote it quickly to appease readers who wanted more, but her heart wasn’t in it the second time around. Although Isaac and Clio’s story is touching, the drama between Taylor and Marissa seems contrived. Still, it’s a decent story that very nearly serves to clear up the confusion I had at the end of Glint of Heaven.
Review by Bethany (website)