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Take The Wheel

by Ashley (link)

Genre het, drama, romance
Pairings Taylor/Natalie, Zac/OFC
Length 27 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed

The prologue of Take The Wheel is a little too conversational for me, but it sets up the story nicely, while acknowledging the slightly cliche nature of it. How many teen pregnancy stories have there been in hanfic? Dozens. I’m curious to see if and how Ashley can set hers apart from the rest.

The first chapter contains more than a few cliches as well, but I do like that the brother Reese runs into, the one who sets the plot in motion, isn’t actually the father. Once it starts moving, though, it switches between first person and third, which is always a no-no in my book. Ashley’s writing actually seems better in third person, so I wish she had stuck to that for the entire story. It still would have allowed her to show both Reese and Zac’s perspective without awkward and jarring transitions.

Although the first several chapters move quickly and smoothly, Ashley does throw in a fairly unpredictable twist about halfway through. I like that Zac and Reese don’t immediately jump back into a relationship; instead, they learn to co-parent while still overcoming a few obstacles. The biggest obstacle is a little cliche and also moves rather quickly, but I’ll give Ashley points for surprising me with it anyway.

That last several chapters switch perspectives and jump ahead in time even more than the rest of the story has, and I’m less than impressed. Even though her plot isn’t bad, it isn’t handled with enough care for me to get very into it. There’s almost a sort of emotional whiplash happening, if I were actually that emotionally invested in the story. By the end, though, I’m at least smiling. It’s all a little cheesy, but I didn’t expect anything else from a story which such a cliche beginning.

Review by Bethany (website)