by Jen (link)
Genre het, drama
Pairings Taylor/Natalie, Zac/OFC
Length 9 chapters in 2 parts
Status Unfinished
I don’t often read such short stories for these reviews, especially when they are unfinished. The fact that Jen clearly had big plans for this story makes it bittersweet from the beginning; I want to see those plans, whatever they are, carried out.
Divided into four parts (though not all were published), A Sorta Fairytale covers the perspectives and stories of multiple characters. Part one takes on the perspectives of Ashley and Melinda, half-sisters who run into Hanson in a pretty harrowing situation. Not a great deal happens in these chapters, aside from the event that lands Ashley in the hospital, and its all a bit too fast for my tastes. The fact that Hanson are so secretive about their identities also strikes me as a bit off.
Part two takes over from Zac’s point of view and reveals that he’s spent a year fantasizing about Ashley, not knowing her fate. The way he immediately transfers those feelings to Melinda is interesting, but could have been built up over time to be more realistic. And somehow, amongst all the exposition, I missed the part where Melinda finds out who Zac really is.
Then the story stops, and that bittersweet feeling kicks in again. A Sorta Fairytale has a lot of potential, which Jen never quite manages to fulfill in the chapters she did post, but the other half of the story might have salvaged it.
Review by Bethany (website)