by Reebin (link)
Genre het, romance
Pairings Taylor/Natalie, Zac/Kate, Zac/OFC
Length 23 chapters
Status Unfinished
What Is And What Should Never Be is one of those stories I keep running into over and over again, although I have no clue what it is even about. What I do know is that it has an awesome title, and so it gets bonus points for that before I’ve even begun to read it.
The story begins in medias res — actually, what’s the Greek for “the morning after?” The narrator, Lea, wakes up to find herself in bed with a strange man who just so happens to be no stranger at all. He’s Zac Hanson. Her internal dialogue, while not well punctuated and occasionally very purple, is humorous.
Eventually the story changes, rather abruptly, to Zac’s point of view. Even more abruptly, it goes back in time to show just how Lea ended up in Zac’s bed. The chapter isn’t labeled as a flashback, which just makes it annoying. The chapters are all quite short, as well, which is rather frustrating.
Reebin doesn’t have a bad premise here, though. The older woman thing has been done before, but the fact that Zac is actually of age makes What Is And What Should Never Be a little different — although the fact that she’s a fan and Zac cheats on Kate with her brings it back to the land of cliche. Still, it isn’t a bad premise at all, but the short, choppy chapters and the fact that the story is unfinished — and barely goes anywhere before abruptly ending — keep it from living up to what potential it had.
Review by Bethany (website)