Lacey's Reviews

Donnie Darko

"Watership Down"

This fanfic shows a short encounter between the main character Donnie, a misunderstood, medicated teenage boy who sees vision of the end of the world, and the character of Frank, a human-sized demonic bunny and apparent figment of Donnie's imagination. The passage describes a conversation between the two which is not shown in the movie, however I feel as though it easily could have been as the writer has done an impressive job of capturing the mood of the movie as well as the personality and relationship between these two characters. The voice of Donnie definitely is seen in this piece. His demeanor and language are quite true to that of the character especially in the way the writer shows his darker, cynical, misunderstood attitude towards life as in the quote "Donnie's lips twisted into a grin, but he didn't smile.", and also Donnie's unconventional description of the book "Watership Down". Frank's strange, sadistic persona I feel is also seen in this fanfic. His sarcasm and the on-edge, uneasy way he makes Donnie feel is shown well. Overall I think this fanfic stayed true to the genre of the original movie and was very in character and believable as a part of the original storyline.


The Tomorrow Series

"Decision"

This authors piece shows the perspective of a character from which you do not usually see their point of view. It's written from the eyes of Homer, bestfriend of the main character Ellie. I find it to be an interesting interpretation of his view on the war in which they are trapped in and of his friends that he shares it with. I think the writer channeled his voice well and did a good job of keeping in character even when exploring a deeper side of Homer's emotions which he does not often share out loud in the book series. The development into his feelings and relationships are believable to his characters personality and overall I think the piece is written well in a tone similar to that of John Marsden, the original author of "The Tomorrow Series".

Misfits

"Thunder and Lightning"

The fanfic used the already established plot line of the "Misfits" series but introduced a new character, as what I am assuming to be a new love interest for the character of Nathan. It recounts events from the first episode with the new character incorporated. I do not however feel as though she was fit in well and seemed at times a bit out of place. The writing was okay but I feel lacked description or feeling. The lack of description lead it to seem rather dull and hard to connect with. Although the writer made a fair attempt at staying true to the individual personalities of the characters, the dialogue felt a but unnatural for them and slightly out of character. Overall I think a lot of the writing "told" rather then "showed" what was happening, sounding more like a narration of the character's actions then a descriptive piece. I think improving on this and creating more imagery would have made the story a lot more captivating as the plot has potential to build on the already set storyline of the series and have the added aspects of a new character and potential love interest.

Skins (Season 1)

"Unoticed"

This fanfic depicts the inner thoughts of one of the eight main characters, Cassie. It describes what the writer believes she would have been feeling and thinking during this scene from the series. The author of this emulates Cassie's personality well, mimicking her odd speech and thoughts. A lot of her well known inner turmoil surrounding her feelings for her on-off love interest Sid, and eating disorder, are explored in a very realistic and believable way for her character. This is done equally as well from Sid's perspective. It gives a very true to character exploration of his feelings for both Cassie, who he is often neglectful of, and his bestfriends girlfriend Michelle. Overall I think the writer did a very good job of keeping to genre and making the piece fit in well with the original context and mood of the actual scene. I enjoyed the use of descriptive language, particularly in the way it so accurately described Cassie and all her oddities.

Skins (Season 4)

"The Inbetween Places"

This story is taken from the perspective of one of the main characters, Cook, and takes place after the finale of this season of the series. It continues on from where the series finished and goes on to describe the way in which this writer believes the characters would have reacted to the final events. It is written all from Cook's perspective, which is appropriate as it focuses on how he and his friends cope with the death of his bestfriend Freddy. I think that by writing it from his point of view it allows this piece to be a lot more personal and emotional then it would have been from a different persons view or from multiple characters' views given the close relationship of the two. The plot is very believable and the way the characters interact with each other is very accurate to how they do so in the series. The dialogue as well, which is often hard to emulate in the voice of the character, was done well and I liked the authenticity of it. The whole thing felt like it really was being told through Cook's mind. I also found it to be extremely well written and had a real sense of emotion. The structure was also interesting with the constant changing of time and scene, giving you brief insights into his thoughts and emotions as they progressed slowly over time and showing rather then telling the amount of time that has passed.

Fallen

"Yeah, Princess?"


Based on the book "Fallen", a story of romance between a human girl and fallen angel, this fanfiction explores the relationship between the main characters of Luce and fallen angel Cam. Even though this relationship is briefly shown in the the book itself, it does not develop very far and is seen to be rather unrequited love on Cam's part. Instead Luce develops a deeper relationship with another angel, Daniel, whom has a great distaste towards Cam for fear his dark nature will harm Luce. In the fanfiction however the relationship between Luce and Cam is rekindled and put more favourably over that of the canon pairing of Luce and Daniel. I find the way that Cam and Daniel interact in the fic to be believable in the way that they are very untrusting of one another, however sometimes seems slightly underplayed based on the tension they shared and the scale of the events which happened between the two in the book. The writing style flowed well and was easy to read however the deterioration of the former relationship and developed tension could have been better explored I think. I personally enjoyed the idea of the relationship in this fic and think it was developed well, the writer did not try to force it to quickly in a way that would seem out of character for Luce who is still confused about how she feels about both Cam and Luce. I feel the way the writer portrays Cam as cocky and very competitive with Daniel reflects his personality and his desire to win Luce away from him, similar to the way he does in the book. I think it lacked a little in description making it hard to create images of the scenarios in my mind and making some parts of the story seem a little basic and rushed.

Harry Potter

"Blood Is Thicker Than Love"

This fanfiction is based on the world famous Harry Potter series. It is set in the 7th and final book/movie and includes most of the original characters and aspects of the original plot although is not focused strongly around this. It also introduces a number of new characters created by the writer and is taken from the perspective of the newly created character, Delilah. Instead of focusing around the main trio of the series as the books do, the author of this fanfic instead created her own version of what they imagine would have been occurring back at Hogwarts whilst the main heroes were absent. The first chapter in my opinion is slightly confusing as it jumps straight into an apparent love triangle without much explanation or history on the relationships between the characters, making their reactions and they way they act towards each other hard to understand without prior knowledge to why there is hostility. I do like the originality that the author brings into the story by introducing the idea of vampires which is previously not seen in the original Harry Potter stories. I think as a whole the story is enjoyable, especially if you are a fan of the character of Draco, but not amazing. Some of the situations do not seem completely realistic to me and occasionally the characters seem a little unbelievable in their reactions. In most chapters there is a flashback to the past, showing Delilah's change into a vampire and helping to explain her past and why she is the way that she is. Although this does help to explore her personality and develop her into a real being I find that sometimes the flashback are rather long and drag on and often I ended up skipping them altogether as they seemed unrelated to the main story line.

Teen Titans

"A Little Perspective"

This fan fic focuses on the relationship between two of the main members of the "Teen Titans" Raven and Beast Boy. It is written from third person point of view and relates well to the original plot as well as relating back to the past episode which inspired it. I find that the writer kept true to the personalities of the characters and the dialogue was also very believable for me. I think that the idea behind the plot of this fanfic is very original and creative and allows the writer to explore the many sides of the character of Beast Boy while also being very entertaining and even slightly comical. The relationship between Beast Boy and Raven is hinted at often in the series however is never officially confirmed and so in this piece, which is set a few years in the future, their relationship is explored more in depth and overall I find it a very beleivable pairing. I do wish that the first few chapters had been a bit longer as they are well written but very short which limits story progression.



"New Pages"

This is another Teen titans fanfic but this time focuses on the character Raven in a different relationship with a side character from the series known as Malchior. This relationship does occur in the series but only briefly in one episode before Malchior betrays Raven and he is banished back into the book in which he was trapped. This fanfics creates a scenario in which Raven is forced to speak to him once again after he broke her heart. Although the plot has the potential to be a good addition to the original story line and the characters are true to themselves the majority of the time, I find that some parts of the story are a bit confusing and perhaps move to quickly without much explanation or build up. I do however like how the author develops some of the friendships and relationships between the main characters and helps show a deeper side to them.

Naruto

"Is it really hate?"

Based on the character Gaara from the popular manga/anime series "Naruto" this fanfic is a third person account of his relationship with another character created by the fanfic writer. Although Gaara is not the main focus of the original Naruto series the writer has chosen to write this peice from his point of view which allows you to see into his mind and explore his personality in a way that you usually can not. The writer was true to the original plot when recounting Gaara's past and I feel did a very good job og staying true to character with his actions and thoughts although possibly making him a little more sadistic then he is in the series. The new character which the writer creates is beleivable and is fit in well to the story. I also think that the use of descritive writting and imagery was done well and made the story very interesting and enjoyable to read.