1/3/2014 c1 2renegade01
Wow that was a monster of a oneshot. It was really emotional, I'm glad its taken time to work things out and the ending is almost bittersweet. Loved reading it ;-)

1/2/2014 c1 1farryn
That was heartbreaking.

All i want to know is if the love of dylans life really talia? Or is it tara?

Has dylan evern seen tara in a loving light before they left for college or has it always been talia first?

I feel so broken for her. If dylan places talia as his true love it would have been better for tara to move on. Shes so brave to try anywa

1/1/2014 c1 3SylvesterTheCat
HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)
Well, I have been a huge fan of yours for what feels like forever.

Now that I've established that it's time to praise you for this wonderfully written one shot. This was a HUGE one shot, and took me a considerable amount of time to read it, however once I reached the end it was definitely worth it. I mean, it was sort of like a motion picture with the way you wrote it- I felt like I could truly envision the characters, and especially Talia considering she was dead, as real people. I myself feel it to be particularly dealing with touchy subjects such as these (death, toxic relationships) but you wrote and handled it beautifully.

There were several moments in the story, especially during Tara and Dylan's fight, and even more so the moment where Tara realized that Dylan knew of her feelings the whole time that really got me to tear up. I mean, I felt what Tara was feeling, and I felt like I could actually see all that she was seeing as well. Just, ugh, at times like these I get speechless because all I can't truly list all of the reasons why this story was so amazing. You just have such a beautiful way with words and you can just tap into that human psyche so easily- and in turn write basic human emotions in such a way...it is really, honestly and truly AMAZING.

I don't know how to continue on without sounding like a babbling fool but yeah this was amazing.

Also, I don't know if I read into the end way too much, but the whole drowning thing seemed really symbolic for me. It sort of showed the dynamic of their relationship, because Tara believes that Dylan needs her, and so she goes to save him, but in actuality it's really her that needs him. I don't know if that's what you were aiming for but that's what I got out of it. AND, that last scene shows the rebirth of their relationship and how this time it's just a huge big fat maybe. But it's definitely not as toxic.

OKAY, that is my huge review, sorry. :P

Thank you for this awesome story, it is definitely one I will reread.

12/31/2013 c1 4sami1995
So there I was sitting and reading your story and getting absolutely enthralled and mesmerized until…people showed up and I had to leave.

And then I continued from where I left off…and yet again I was interrupted. (Why are thou universe not letting me read this masterpiece?)

And then when I finally did, my first reaction was like: OH MY GOD! This IS absolutely AMAZING! Marvelous! I finished the entire story in perhaps fifteen minutes or so. Every sentence, paragraph, phrase was like a magnet; I just had to keep on reading. Even though it was a huge one-shot, I didn’t care that my eyes hurt or anything. I absolutely loved it! What was going to happen? I had no idea; you are an amazing writer to intrigue a reader so much. The story literally kept me in my toes during the entire time. From the first scene to the very last, you astonished and amazed me with such amazing, realistic, thrilling, upbeat drama. Thousands of hats off to you!

I really had no idea how it was going to end and I was glad I didn’t. You transfixed me and then blew me away! And your descriptions were so powerful, I had to wipe my tears away constantly at the way you described Tara’s emotions during the times she would encounter Dylan. Your words just pulled on my heartstrings—your language, writing and dialogues are incredibly effective. And the story brought in so much drama, love, red-hot accusations and a back story started and continued at such a believable and noteworthy pace—I swear, you writing made me felt like I was watching one hell of a movie. I could feel like the characters come alive after reading Fades in the Summer.

And I could ramble on and on. You managed to portray so many issues, like friends falling out and people’s ways of coping with a tragedy, in a single one-shot: that’s unbelievable! The way the characters were portrayed—not just through words—but through the dialogues and the encounters and finally the ending—it all made absolute sense and I just…standing ovation, maybe? This didn’t feel clichéd; the ending wasn’t cheesy. It was hopeful and I loved the last line. The story felt real; the circumstances felt real; everything about it was flawless and the last scene was hopeful and inspiring. Thank you.

Okay, now my reviews are long. But anyway, from laughing my head off with Beth in Blue Eyes and Learning to Write and now with such a dramatic and amazing piece…yeah, you are an incredible writer. How can you write fiction so well that it seems so realistic…and not fiction? (sorry if this sounds oxymoronic ). You should never, ever stop writing.
And hopefully, I don’t weird you out too much with my pretty big review…

I tend to leave pretty big reviews that really touch/overwhelm me. Yours definitely did.

12/31/2013 c1 9Tara McClaine
A really nice fiction. I really liked the way you described Tara's loneliness. (It feels awkward to write things in 3rd person BTW). I liked the character Dylan too. One word to describe the fic : Beautiful! Keep up the good work!