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Bloody Midnight

by Arielle Mark (link)

Genre drama/angst
Pairings none
Length 11 chapters
Status Completed

There are a few things in the introduction to this story that both worry and intrigue me–namely, the fact that the story is from Jessica’s point of view, set in the future and features “Hanson bashing.” Imagining a bleak future for the boys wasn’t uncommon in the early days, but it is difficult to read, especially now that I know that likely none of the things Arielle has written really happened.

Arielle wastes no time piling on the drama, and while it’s more than a little over the top, I like Jess’s narrative voice. She dances around explaining exactly what The Accident that sent the Hanson family into a tailspin of alcohol, drugs and teenage pregnancy was, and I don’t really like the way she keeps hitting me over the head with it without explaining it in full. I know that The Accident is the big mystery that the story revolves around, but the way Arielle approaches it is more annoying than intriguing.

When the mystery is finally revealed, Arielle switches to third person. It’s an easy way to deal with the flashback, but it would have worked better if she had stuck more closely to Isaac’s point of view rather than letting a few moments of omniscient point of view slip in. Other than a few little typos, though, that’s the only gramatical error–if you can all it that–I can find in Arielle’s writing. Her prose does take on a purple tint at times, which only bothers me when it crops up in the dialogue, but it remains fairly conversational, and cynical, the rest of the time.

The consequences of what Isaac did that night are understandable, if over the top. The sibling relationships, as they come back together and mend, are believable enough for me to ignore how jaded Arielle’s vision of their reaction to The Accident is. Although Bloody Midnight is fairly short, the way the siblings relate and become a family again feels well paced and right. There’s a part of me that can relate to how the youngest Hansons feel, and it has me in tears by the end of the story. And even as they all heal, Jess retains the cynical, slightly detached perspective that makes her voice unique and makes Bloody Midnight different from any other hanfic I’ve read.

Review by Bethany (website)