Yeah I thought one of the girls was going to visit her Mum when she was absent? I'm like no don't you know she's dead?
No the characters are fine. just totally fine. Even the jerk.
I wanted my Reverend, and pushed for inappropriate conversations, I can relate to Rebecca. I can also feel her being kind of like an Abigail.
Writing is fine, I'm on the edge of my seat.

Other opinion: Yeah, can you put this in paperback because I wanted to read it whilst driving, and the computer cord isn't that long. Mind you I'm supposed to be the driver too.

Can't imagine what sort of cover art for this. Maybe looking down a street toward Dan's house. Autumn trees and leaves on the ground. Maybe her left behind book on the porch with two cups along side that. Oooh, you have to do a photo shoot now.

Can you also write me a note getting out of life, so I can continue and never finish reading? I'll bury your dishes.

Arielle and Hannah, seem like good friends for her to imagine them being, and they seem to love her.
Dan's dream and scene, had me emotional.

This is such an amazing write.

I can't remember if I've done this, so I'm pressing the fave and follow again.

This is a truly amazing piece. I'm open minded, for whatever happens, so I don't presume to know or assume of what might come, but what does come along, has me in love with you.

An intelligent mind is truly attractive, and you have me in such awe!

Okay, nibbling more chocolate, and turning the page...

Mm lovely opener :). I live how you describe her thiness so succinctly without actually shoving it in our faces. And she might not even be that thin, the way you have it. Just feels thin. Feels hungry. Ick.

Damn, I hate Lucia for not helping, and lying to Dan later (assuming that was her). I guess I understand family to support and all, but COME ON WOMAN. Although Phelans obviously the prize turd in all of this. I even got mad when he called Rebecca an escort when he was with Santa-dude. Lying about what he's doing (implying it's above board) somehow makes me almost as mad as what he *is* doing. Good on Rebecca for sticking it out so long. I wish she had thrown that cup in Lucias face.

Also omg props to you for basically showing us Lucia at the party (or at least another employee of Phelans) by the drink she was holding. I could never be that subtle/clever. Mad skills :). And Dan was also so smart for putting (most?) things together so quickly! I hope he can help her! Your party descriptions were so great, and I love how Dan was such an outsider (but seriously! When he gave $20 I was like ooh generous! $200 is like wtfff don't these people know this money can be spent on candy? Oh but they probably have whole rooms of candy already. Sigh).

Wubbly chapter, of course. Your style is so clean and clever 333

Hi, this is faerie-gumdrops. As you know, I read this about a million years ago, but have been too rubbish to review yet. I usually need to take a little more time on your chapters because they're really intricate, but it seems like the only time I get to review now is on the train. Um. So I guess I'm like apologising in advance if this is shorter and even more unhelpful than usual.

Your questions first! Mm Rebecca does seem to think she owes him a lot, especially in this chapter (but also earlier, like in the restaurant). I guess she's had to basically do everything for herself lately and, although she is really observant, she does have this naivety when it comes to Phelan. Like he's doing this because he's kind or something. When other girls would have at least run at 'call me daddy'. But I dunno, you somehow manage to make it suit her. Rebecca doesn't seem to have a sense of self worth or strength (e.g. She wants to be an ant or an anorexic, instead of like a dragon - I know, I'm lame, but the point's still there) so maybe it's more a case of her not seeing how she could be of use to phelan right away, rather than simply assuming he's lovely.

Your other question - I guess people assume because although phelan does make it clear (and he doesn't have much reason to lie), we don't trust him, so will assume that any answer he gives could be a lie. And the next time we hear of the auction is with Dan and the teacher peeps, so I guess assumptions happen? Perhaps you could clarify by avoiding rebecca's teachers thing entirely. Just have phelan specify it will be business people from the off. Like don't even mention teachers.

I just read the next chapter so I'm almost sure to ref things from here and there. Oops! But I love how you have all this dread in this one. Like ooh, such a pretty room. Then DADDY *shudder*. Then oh yeah. The beds big for a reason. Eek! Also I loved finding out more about Dans sad past - the way you described his tugging desires was so beautiful. Aww sheesh, poor guy. Such pretty, understated sadness.

You obviously love your word choices, they're quite delicious to my mind, that needs feeding. But the author notes at the end are rather off putting for story flow. And I wonder why you mention your copyright business thing?

I don't care for you to reply, but I just wanted to say this is a very interesting story.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading LE&D, immensely. I really appreciated how you finished every subplot you had, and every detail that was mentioned had its purpose. Often I see writers adding subplot or small little things left without resolution that leave the reader wondering: "What ever happened to this guy?" or, "Hey, what happened to that situation she had with -insert character name here-", or something like that. I also absolutely, to the core of my being, loved your style of writing. There was such simple beauty in the way you write. It's poetic, without being overwhelming. It's quite heartbreaking, actually.

Perhaps my favourite line in your story is the very last one. I repeated it over and over in my head, and it felt like warm wax being poured over my heart. The emotions I felt were so ambiguous; I know some people do not like ambiguity, and I am not a big fan of it, but that last line I believe was perfect. I'll let you know if I get it tattoo'ed on myself, in complete sincerity.

Happy writing and reading!

Vladimir Kush fan? I like him too. Reminds me a bit of Dali. Of course I'm totally generic in the fact that I really love Picasso.

Anyway off my little art tangent...

Oh Tom just when you had a chance to get your sister back you screw it up.

I actually hadn't realized Rebecca had fainted in the last chapter. I thought she'd fallen asleep against the door. I reread it and realized I just read wrong. (This is normal.)

So it was nice to see a bit of Dan's past and also to see where he lived. He's such a good guy, but I understand why Rebecca doesn't trust him. (I wouldn't trust anyone if I was her.)

I wonder why she's so scared to go to the police? Is she still worried about what people will think of her? Or maybe she's scared of the prospect of going into foster care. She's 17 right so she'd only be in it one year... and if I remember correctly foster kids automaticly get approval for financial aid. Seems like a good deal compared to all the other stuff she's been handed. Poor girl.

Okay I'm going to head to bed now. I'll read the next chapter tomorrow. Promise.

First off... Sorry it's taken me so long to review again. I have no excuse. (bows head in shame)

So I loved the interaction at the beginning between Rebecca and Alex. I mean I know it wasn't much but it showed just how much of a teenager Rebecca is... I mean she seemed to care so much about what Alex thought of her and she even thought about how she wanted everyone to think she was normal. This isn't a bad thing of course because it's how most teens are. Those awkward years... no one could pay me enough to repeat that.

Okay next I have to talk about dear Tom. So I'm not saying Rebecca should forgive him because he is awful but right now she needs to choose the lesser of the two evils. At least Tom isn't giving her to the highest bidder. So my advice for her would be to stay in school, avoid Phylan at all costs and pray that she gets a scholarship to college... or maybe she could get some fin aid. Then she can leave the town and never look back...

I'm glad Dan went to check on Rebecca. I know he's attracted to her which really there's no shame in that, I'm glad that he's chosen not to act on it. (Yet...) I'm glad to see a responsible adult in this because all the others seem... ummm crazy.

Anyway great chapter. I'll try to make sure I don't let so much time go before I read chapter 9. I may actually read it tonight if I can finish my writing quota.

Tst.

Character: Awww. Dan. He cares so much and she is just one of his star students. The fact that he cares is decent. The romance is budding here, however, it isn’t too heavy that we have to wince and read it twice over. His observant nature - how can he not be? he’s a teacher - allows us to see a bigger picture than most other people will. He’s concerned and that definitely reflects on him in a good way. I want to see how he is going to carry this on farther. He’s definitely attracted to her - if the note about her eyes and the lilt of her voice is to mean anything.

Other: The descriptions! The descriptions. They made me insanely happy. Other than the fact that it’s raining down here of course. But the way you set up the scene was fantastic. It’s raining, Dan’s in a semi-iffy mood - he’s worried about Rebecca’s mental (?) state. I think what got me the most had to be the Splenda comparison with Rebecca and how you carried that through with the rest of the first half of the kept going back to it, and every single time, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but - “Her words were gushed like the rain” and “Sugar free syrup drizzled over her words” :D
One little note about that. Usually when I see sugar sweet, my mind goes to saccharine sweet, which isn’t entirely a good thing. Rebecca is supposed to be actually sincere, except when she’s defending herself, which was definitely a good deal here.

Okay, before we go on. Let’s look at the dearth of things that you’ve included that I’m bouncing off the walls about (don’t ask). 1. The crucible. 2. Salem witch trials. 3. The Wealth of Nations. This is awesome. Alrighty, back to what I was doing before:

Scene: oh, oh oh. :( Tom how could you? He is a loose cannon. Anyways, I think this part where Rebecca is defending herself is by far the strongest and fastest scene you have in this chapter. Personally, I’m not a big fan of these scenes, but they happen, and you did it in a decent (that’s not the right word, I apologize) manner. I do feel he is a little out of character, but he’s drunk, so that’s up in the air. I think the parts that rung out the most was “That didn’t happen. Before” and “she wept angry tears and wished he were dead.” Punctual and to the point. Those are strong and they ring to close out that particular portion of the chapter. It’s a disappointing low for Tom and as a reader it hits me just so that you kind of want to shake Rebecca a little and ask her, “why do you let him?” then again, she doesn’t have a choice and she was blindsided. Like you mentioned, “that didn’t happen. Before.”

Ending: This was a breath compared to that last portion. I think before, I would have been a little iffy that Rebecca was going to Mr. Phelan for comfort, but he’s close to Tom and he knows more about Rebecca than Dan. AT least she has two people she can confide in. “And he listened like he knew she had become a loose cog in a well oiled machine”
Well, that goes to say that even Rebecca knows that she’s losing herself. Tom isn’t the only fixture in her life, but he lost her respect a long time ago. In a sense, that last sentence is ominous. Rebecca is a loose cog, and she’s continually wiggling with everything Tom goes on a bender/treats her unkindly.

Great job!

Hiya! Sorry for the long wait. I hope to do a few chapter today as I'm going through the Roadhouse :)

I don't know what seminar style is. Maybe I'm just ignorant to the ways of the world, but that line really threw me off. It's the usual for upperclassmen to pick on freshman though, so you really hit that one on the head! I like the description of third term, though I'm wondering just how grades can affect housing prices. You set the chapter stage very clearly and precisely.

Spicy perfume. Interesting.

[ Enough of a character no one saw past the fumes of his extraversion and achievements. ] Sounds like a sentence fragment to me. I could be wrong, but in any case it seems a little out of place all on its own line here. Maybe you could work it in somewhere where it would flow better.

Hehe, the gift Phelan gives Dan - ouch! Love the twist there - I totally wasn't seeing that coming! Hmm, wonder what Phelan has planned next? He certainly is a nasty character.

I love Rebecca's interaction with Arielle and Hannah, especially when they joke about clothes not fitting Rebecca right. I don't remember any mention of her being shorter than average, but too well I know the plight of a small person trying to borrow clothes! (Although, she could probably roll up the legs on the pants.)

Oooh, Phelan interrupts! I love how his scheming is interfering, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the story. I can't wait to see what happens next! And sorry for taking this long to return your review.

-Capri

Long time since I last read this :)

'Now was when she should not say good'. Would that read better as 'say not good'?

I found the first part rather confuisng but then I think i worked it out she is imagining having a conversation with a counsellor? I think that could have been a little bit clearer.

"I'm getting out the shower," - out of

Were she curious, she would have asked if he like her ever felt like an outsider among outsiders, an outsider among insiders, an outsider among those bleeding through the selectively permeable membrane in between, an insider confined by all the thoughts swirling within her mind.- That's a bit of a mouthful but I get the point, sort of.

Her phone sounded on.- rang?

He thought, whoever said silence was golden was a sheltered extrovert.- I really like this line, very true. I hate silence.

I like the impression you get of their relationship in the last part. Although I felt like the bit with the family on the bus went on a bit. Not sure if disremember is a word, forget? I think Rebecca's silence is very frustrating but also makes sense and is relatable, so good work there.

I think writing on the plane would only get brownie points if it was one of those really small planes. on a commercial plane not so much :P

Hi hi :D. Roadhouse return thang (ooh and this is faerie-gumdrops, btw :P).

So I read this on my way back today, and I’m going to be utterly hopeless reviewing (good start, eh?) because your writing is too too pretty. And jeeps your authors notes are so modest, bless you!

I’ll start with the extremely teeny tiny things I spotted, all of which are probably completely ignorable (I was really scrimping about)! There’s a little bit of (not really) repetition in Dan’s bid with ‘drove home’ and ‘head home’ within two lines – I think it would be fine to delete one of them. Also, same thing with the not wanting to live ‘in the 1600s’ thang – just maybe cut the first one and have Rebecca go straight into sympathising with Abigail? Ummm and in Rebecca’s bit, you have ‘Fuck. Dumb. Bitch. Lazy. Slut’ *titters at swearing in ma review* - I think because it’s been a while since Tom called her ‘bitch’, whereas the others are said in the line before, it maybe looks a little odd having ‘bitch’ in there? Ummm…And that’s literally it. How unhelpful am I, eh?

OKAY GUSH NOW.

First, ooh you make me want to start reading The Crucible. You handle teaching / class etc. so nicely, it seems so genuine (like I wouldn’t be surprised as all if you’d done teaching work etc.). It also fits in with your story so nicely – like the school stuff doesn’t get shoved to one side once like plot and stuff happen, it’s totally accounted for. Like shittt, I could never multitask like that :p.

As ever too, I really like what you’re doing with Rebecca, and the stuff with Tom here was super intense and believable. I like how Tom is a bit of a douchebag, but he’s actually quite relatable – like…I think I know quite a few people who are like him. He seems a little depressed, I guess, by his lack of success (but maybe I’m jumping to conclusions) – how he constantly seems to be playing himself up, and getting drunk to cover things up. The way that he seems to be trying so hard to impress everyone, as well as the way that he tries to get successful people to like him, makes him seem a little like he needs to be loved, in a way. He also seems pretty self-involved and damaged. AND DON’T WE ALL, HUH? But yeah, douche. Don’t wake up your sister like that Tom. Don’t accidentally hit her between the boobs. Just don’t, dude. No.

‘This didn’t happen. Before’ – I didn’t quite understand this line, but it was totally me. Just wondering if you could explain, in case I’m being an eejit?

I like Ari. Conversations about zits are lovely. I am gross. But so is Ari. So that’s okay.

Hmmm. What now? Oh your details! So pretty! In particular, I liked the ‘metal water tower’ thing – like so strange and random, but it somehow works? Yummy :D.

I’ve read the next chapter too! I’ll review in the next few days (unless I forget, because I’m an idiot).

"Tom believed that time was money" - that is such a common thought. Get stuff done, don't waste time. At the same time, it does emphasize his character. I'm getting the idea that he truly is like Percy, too enraptured in his own problems and head to see what else he is doing around him. I feel bad for Rebecca, of anything, it's always nice to have someone to lean on in the nuclear family, but in that case, it pushes her towards Dan.

Side note - how fitting you wrote about the spring formal. It captures the exact way high school formals and dances are. They aren't much and the way you described it is right on target. "The musk of perfume and sweat overpowered but did not mask the odor of dust and wax." This conjures the image of a dark and dank gym with hastily strung lights trying to "mask" the imperfections of an age old high school.

Oh god. Mr. Phelan is one of a kind. He just comes off as more of an odd man, one that you don't want to be caught alone. Everything he seems to say strikes me kind of off (I don't know why but instead of fatherly or fondly, "sweetheart" coming from him makes me feel a little antsy for Rebecca). However, he tends to hit the nail right on the head. Especially when he says that Thoma may be pushing her around so. It's great the Rebecca defends her brother, but hopefully she learns to stand for herself.

Little squick. Your jump from where Dan asks for his orange juice to when he takes it to the courtyard is a little... It's not jolting, but it's not smooth either. It's a different scene and I think it might help to separate the two like you did with the previous parts when Rebecca transitions from talking to her friend on the phone to the Spring Formal to talking with Mr. Phelan.

Fantastic :D