by Jenna (link)
Genre het, drama, romance
Pairings Taylor/Natalie, Taylor/OFC
Length 11 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (with sequel)
The first chapter of Does He Love You? is a little confusing. It seems to dive right in, in medias res, but it also spends a lot of time on exposition. By the end of it, all that’s really happened is that the narrator, Andrea, has become excited by a future visit from her ex-boyfriend Taylor, who she knows is still with a girl named Natalie.
You can assume, then, the major conflict of Does He Love You?. Like so many other hanfics, it’s set during that drama-filled period of 2002 that changed Taylor’s life forever. Jenna throws in the extra drama of an ex-girlfriend turned fling on the side who Taylor rushes to when he finds out Natalie is pregnant. It’s a good premise, but I don’t really feel their emotions the way I do in other stories about this same period of time. I’m not sure why that is, but I’m choosing to blame the short, choppy sentences and the occasional grammatical errors, including random shifts to third person in a story that is otherwise all first person.
Since I took a glance at the character page, I’m not surprised by what is revealed in the epilogue. Throughout the last few chapters, there are hints of it, as well, just subtle enough that if you weren’t looking for them, you probably wouldn’t see them. In that way, at least, Jenna’s storytelling succeeds, in spite of how short Does He Love You? is. I hope the longer sequel does even more with this interesting, if not unique, premise.
Review by Bethany (website)