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A Quiet Mind

by Robyn (link)

Genre het, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Taylor/Natalie, Taylor/OFC
Length 32 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed

One thing I really admire about Robyn’s writing is her ability to craft some really wild alternate universes. A Quiet Mind is probably her most “canon” story and even it diverges from reality in major ways — namely Taylor’s alcoholism that caused Natalie to take their only child away from him.

That isn’t the main focus of the story, though. The main focus is on Re Lissa, the new “Coffee Girl” at the brothers’ favorite shop, who has plenty of troubles of her own. Robyn has done a fantastic job of depicting Re Lissa’s emotional troubles both within her own mind and as she seems to others. There are hints of deeper issues both in her life and in Taylor’s, and they leave me waiting to see how everything is revealed rather than just nagging at me the way that more awkward attempts at foreshadowing can do.

The issues in Taylor’s life don’t end up taking much time at all, and some of Re Lissa’s troubles are solved off screen as well. With such short chapters, it’s hard to tell a full story, but for the most part, Robyn does. A Quiet Mind is definitely a unique concept, and Robyn’s world building is pretty strong. Her dialogue is really fantastic, too, and most of the characters are really well developed. I can’t say the same for all the plot points, but the ending is happy enough and final enough that I don’t feel like I’m missing that much.

Review by Bethany (website)