by Sarah (link)
Genre drama/angst
Pairings none
Length 58 chapters
Status Completed (second in a trilogy)
The first thing that struck me about this story was its length — nearly three times as long as the first story in the trilogy, Falling. That’s not a bad thing at all; even though some chapters of Falling were quite long, I didn’t want it to ever end. Part of that was due to the fact that I knew, even from the beginning, that something bad was going to happen.
Farther In begins a year after the end of Falling with a quick recap of the time that has passed. I think I would have liked to see a little more of that time, but I understand that it was a relatively uneventful time compared to what was coming.
There isn’t much I can say about Farther In that’s different from what I said about Falling. They share the same faults, but also the same strengths. The writing is still superb, except for the times when scenes switch abruptly. Sarah’s grasp of the boy’s perspectives seems a little stronger here and more suited to what they’re going through. Which is hell, by the way. A very detailed, graphically described hell that breaks my heart.
I have to say, I really, really love some of the characters here. Even the minor players have well developed and distinct personalities. Dan is my favorite, though, with his vaguely hippie ways and his James Taylor music. His sense of humor is fantastic, although there’s a subtle — and sometimes not so subtle — humor running through the whole story. I think that humor is what keeps the awful things that happen from being so hard to read about. And those things are described with a detail and care that is very believable, even at its most awful.
Other than those abrupt scene changes, and some misspellings that seem a bit more frequent than in the first story, I really can’t find anything here to complain about. Except the ending, which is really abrupt. The third story only progresses a few chapters, so this may as well be it for the series. It’s a happy ending, but for how long? It leaves me feeling restless, and I don’t really like it. Still, it doesn’t tarnish the whole experience of Farther In.
Review by Bethany (website)