:) I stand by your decision all the way. Yes, I'm sad that I won't be able to read/finish some of the stories of yours that I was reading... But, I completely understand your reasoning. Please, let me know the instant you have your work published!! :) I will definitely buy it.

i love it.
somehow, im not used to this kind o stories, and im not a fan of this, sine im afraid of starting to think like cass here.

ive also read your other stories, and i love them even more. :)

so, just wanted to tell you that i love your last chapter/epilogue
i could almost feel the pai she felt whn she cied for charles, and he didnt come.

but,is he now dead? i think so, huh?

You know, I read your story Everybody Hates Logan and loved it. I haven't quite finished Against All Odds yet but I'm sure I'll get around to it.

This one distracted me away from AAO, but hell it's pretty much worth it.

First off, I love her name. Cassandra. Always had a nice ring to it, despite its tragic roots. Did you choose it on purpose?

I put off reading this story because I didn't really get the summary. But then so many people had it on their favorites list. So I decided to give it a try.

Now, I love Everybody Hates Logan but I didn't review it because... well, I don't really know either. Maybe I'll do that when I read it again.

Let me say this: by the end of the first chapter, I had a sneaky feeling telling me that Cass was...well, not normal. A little insane. Little proved to be the understatement of the year. If this offends you, I'm sorry, but I have to say she's batshit crazy. And it makes her all the more interesting.

I love Clara, she seems so real and three dimensional to me.

I am very very interested in Connor.

And as for Charles? He freaks me out. Even more than Berland does. Their relationship is borderline incest, isn't it? (I haven't finished yet so maybe I'll find out later.)

Incest doesn't really bother. (No duh, considering how much I adored Angel Sanctuary's story line. But I have to say I disliked the ending. The thing was controversial, blasphemous even but I just can't connect the God there to the God I worship so yes I'm a Christian).

BLAH! I'm blabbing. I've hit Angel Sanctuary. >.

That was a heart wrenching story. At times I cried at the sheer sadness and intensity of it. Reading this story makes you think of all the abusive activities that really do go on in peoples day to day lives and it is heartbreaking to think that people have to go through things similar to this. You are a wonderful writer and have amazing potential. This is different from your other stories but I think this is some of your most beautiful work yet. The depth and intensity is amazing and I know that this story will haunt me on later occasions.

Your loyal fan,
Furstinna

I'm absolutely breathless. This story was amazing, confusing at times and quite disturbing, but still gripping and profound. You say you didn't enjoy writing it, and given the morbid subject matter, I don't really blame you, but I do rate you oh so much for following through with it right until the end. Some stories just have to be put out there, even if they aren't the most fulfilling.
I love the subtle hints you gave, not giving too much away too soon, giving just enough at just the right time. Both Charles and Connor are beyond terrible, and Cassie's dependance is really hard to stomach when thought about properly. You managed to work your first person perfectly, however, because the sense of comfort that Cassie got from Charles' presence was so very all-consuming, so much so that the extent of his evil isn't really felt at all.
Like all your other stories, your originality shines through here. Sites like fictionpress tend to breed authors with more or less the same ideas, and after a reading them for a while this starts to shine through, but you have a very extensive story list yourself, with each of your fics fabulous in their own right though they vary so much. I don't know if you plan on publishing any of your works sometime, but I will you all the best if you do. I'm sure you know already that you're amazingly talented. :)
Thanks so much for all of your stories. I'm not the most prolific of reviewers, but I want you to know that your work has entertained me for hours on end, and that I'm very, very, grateful to you for sharing it with us.
x

I loved how you did this story , it's haunting now , a matter of fact. Thanks for the introduction for this!

I love how you did the story. Love the twist too. Would you be making a sequel to this?

wow words can't describe really how this story makes you feel. Stunned, exhausted, slightly seperated from life around, it really makes you think and reavaluate.
Very powerful in all ways and obviously a story dying to be written by you.
yeah
wow
god that was beautiful.

Hi. I haven’t written many reviews for this site, which is strange considering I was borderline obsessive about this site for a while. Back then, I couldn’t bring myself to write reviews because I was either A) just “ehh” about the story and therefore didn’t really have anything to say, especially if I gave up on the story or B) was so insanely jealous that some other person had written this AMAZING masterpiece that made my own pathetic attempts look… well… pathetic-er.

Anyway, after getting back into writing, I decided to check back with fictionpress and I ended up finding a blog and getting to your website. I remembered that you were a really well-known and well-liked author on fictionpress, and so I started reading what you wrote – and I promise I’m not a stalker, or at least that I don’t have any negative thoughts.

A lot of what you wrote about just really clicked with what I had thought – about the deterioration of fictionpress and how a lot of the stories aren’t really original and filled with similar characters, and how authors are shameless. Yet some things that you said was also really surprising and I had no idea that even popular writers, like yourself, were being bashed by hypocrites – sycophantic hypocrites at that, which we all know are the worst kind.

Okay, so getting to the point, finally. I read the post on Eidolon and remembered it just because it had been that good. I had attempted your other stories, which had more reviews (because I must admit I look at review count as an indicator of how “good” a story is), but frankly, I wasn’t as interested even though they were obviously well-written and really thought out.

Then, I read Eidolon, and I was just blown away. The subject matter was eerie, strange, disturbing, and downright sick at times, but I loved it. I read it all in one go, and at the end, I was left speechless. I’ve read a lot of stories, and many of them were enjoyable reads, some were discarded, and a few were inhaled and actually became a part of me because they resonated. Your story is in the latter group, and I remember that it completely changed my view of family relationships, the question of sanity, and how far and realistic writing could really go. I was really influential, and your story influenced me in a really good way.

Coming back now, after a few years, I only just now have the maturity to realize how much some of the stories on fictionpress really did for me, both in terms of my view of the world and my vision as a writer. I thought it was time to really give you your due appreciation, so I wanted to say thank you for sharing this with me. You said that writing Eidolon was difficult and took a lot of you. It must have been difficult, and this was a really intricate, extremely deep story. No – it isn’t even really a story; it is more like a presentation of Life. Thank you so much for facing your troubles, and overcoming the difficulties to write this beautifully moving piece.

Even though you have hypocrites and backstabbing reviewers, please continue to write. I’d love to see you published someday, and I was concerned when your last post seemed really disheartened and discouraged about writing. Personally, I couldn’t bring myself to finish your other stories, but you do have a talent for bringing people to life. That talent is obvious on every page and every dialogue, and that talent plus Eidolon has convinced me you are one of the finest writers on fictionpress who is deserving of all your fame.

Okay, that’s pretty much all I wanted to say, sorry the review is so convoluted, but again, I just wanted to tell you how much you influenced me and wowed me with the power of writing when I first read Eidolon a few years back. And I can tell you that I will definitely be reading it again, this time with a new perspective, and most likely still be going “Damn… I wish I had written that!”

wow this is an intense story yet beautifully written

I can't really describe how I felt after I read the last word of your story. Heart wrenching. Mentally and perhaps physically drained. I think that my feeling was only a portion of what you felt as you wrote word for word of the story. Everything from how confusing it was at the first few chapters of the story to how deep Cassie dug herself into her own mental relapse was written perfectly that I'm actually still stunned by it. After reading everything, I had to sit there for a few minutes to let everything sink in.

This is possibly one of the best stories I've read here in . After a couple of chapters I thought this must be a follow-up to another story of yours - went to check - and no. But soon I realised that it works perfectly as it is. The way everything is revealed bit by bit and Cassie falls deeper into madness.

It's not a happy story as you pointed out yourself, but it's one of those stories that don't need a happy ending. Even as the reader wants to rail against the cruelty of Cassie's fate, they must - however grudgingly - admit that the story is perfect like this.

I really enjoyed the style of writing, no long paragraphs full of detailed description, but the world shown the way Cassie saw it. The power struggles in the family, her descent into madness, it all felt very realistic. Really impressive storywriting.

Adding you to favorites so that I can find the rest of your stories when I have more time to read. :)

I'm not really sure I have the proper words to describe how I'm feeling right now. Taxed, maybe? Mentally drained? Exhausted? There's a hole slew of things running through my head, but I don't think any of them can put into words how this story made me feel.

Which is testament to how powerful it is, and how incredible of a writer you are. I know I've told you before, but you have a way with words that makes me innately grateful (as well as jealous). Stories like these are the ones that truly need to be told, and I've read your LJ entry on how draining this was for you to write.

I can only imagine. The happy-go-lucky ones take time, but these ones, the gut-wrenching, pulled-from-depths-nobody-should-brave ones... they are truly worth everything. And are so much more rewarding in the end.

The style you wrote this in, I think, only increased its hold on me. It was so haunting, so creepy, yet rang so true. And as Cassie said, she's like a car wreck that everyone has to stop and stare at. This story is beautiful in that gruesome kind of way.

I applaud you, darling. It was better than I could have ever expected.

Always,
Sammy

PS. One residual question: How old is Cassie?

I'm not sure what I can say about this. It was definitely a difficult story to read, and I can imagine it must have been difficult to write. It was heartbreaking, tragic, disturbing, and strangely real, if that makes any sense at all.

Great writing as always. :) Sorry that I can't find better words to describe it, haha.

btw i love this story.

me not understanding some things is what made me so freaked out. Idk why but it kept me up late, luckily i have TBWAQ to keep me from my nightmares and keep them happy.

After I had finished Eidolon, i finished TSWAQ and I am glad I did.

Loved this story so much, i agree with the other person that said i keep away from these stories usually but it reeled me in and cooked me for dinner[thats my atempt at wit.]

I love your stories thanks for keeping me reeled in, I have a goal to read all your stories, im pretty close =]