Title: I Know Not, and I Cannot Know--Yet I Live and I Love
Author: billowsandsmoke
Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship (That's a genre right?)
Status: Complete
Words: 32,578
Library Category: General
Pairings: none
Summary: Severus Snape has his emotions in check. He knows that he experiences anger and self-loathing and a bitter yearning, and that he rarely deviates from that spectrum… Until the first-year Luna Lovegood arrives to his class wearing a wreath of baby's breath. Over the next six years, an odd friendship grows between the two, and Snape is not sure how he feels about any of it.
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11923164/1/

Disclaimer: This is the first time I'm posting something on the review board so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. I looked through everything I thought that I ought to have looked through and I didn't see this fic. In the event that I'm not doing it right, please behead me as opposed to ripping my head off...much more civilized, you see.

Came across this and knew this deserved a place in the library. The friendship between Snape and Luna is now officially my new headcanon. The author manages to keep them in character throughout and it's canon compliant. I didn't notice any grammar issues, but I'm hardly the best person with such things. Nevertheless, I would say that it's heavily proofread if not edited.

As for sheer entertainment value I can't state enough how brilliant this fic is. I hardly ever find fanfiction funny, but I couldn't stop smiling as I read it and it even made laugh out loud at times. I give it a 5/5.

 

I'm going to be honest, I clicked the link anticipating something I could really enjoy tearing apart - seriously, a Snape/Luna friendship fic? It sounds unbelievably dumb - but much to my surprise, I really enjoyed it.

It's very well written, not showy or dazzling, just engaging and effective, and it hits the important emotional elements really well. I'm not wholly convinced that Snape is as in character as you suggest, but it's a believable amendment to canon, so that's not a serious thing. Other than that, nothing to criticise. It's touching, funny, and oddly elegant. Really good find.

 

Just finished reading this and well I really liked it, it was nice and touching. Shinysavage has pointed out all great points, the only thing I can criticise is I thought that end scene with Harry and Luna was a bit long.

I'd probably give this a 4.5/5

 

I don't know what I was expecting... but it wasn't this.

This fic is incredible. It is incredibly touching and yet in character. I could see this happening.

Plus, the author writes Luna extremely well. One of the best I've seen.

While this fic was the perfect length, I wish it was longer. I didn't want it to end.

5/5 Easily. There is just so much emotion here.

 

Reading the reviews I went into this fic prepared to get my mind blown and I found myself... underwhelmed. On the one hand I liked it well enough. Snape and Luna are two of the hardest characters to get right and the author does a commendable job and their interactions hit the right notes.

My main problem is the length. So much of the fic is dedicated to psychoanalyzing Snape's actions that affected my immersion.

Spoiler

There's a point where he's comparing his situation with Luna to that with Lily. Not that it was creepy or anything, but it felt unnecessary.

The fic is too littered and suffers from being overly descriptive. With a word count of over 30k words I felt it was 10k too long.

Tighter editing would have elevated an otherwise 3/5 good fic (imo) to a 5/5 masterpiece.

 

It was extremely well characterised, with a fascinating idea, though the execution was somewhat lacking in that the writing was perhaps not the best I've seen. The emotions were a bit direct in description, and a bit more subtlety would not have been misplaced. Snape's inner reflection became slightly repetitive at one point, despite his constant evolution through the narrative. Overall, I've seen many stories worse than this being given five, so I'm voting 5/5.

 

Wow. Just wow. I'm honestly surprised I hadn't come across this one before. Both Snape and Luna feel like their canon selves, and their relationship is so beautifully, elegantly crafted. The writing is brilliant, the characterisation is brilliant, the adherence to canon is almost complete and there is a certain sense of incompleteness at the end. As if the author really wanted to make you understand what their relationship was like.

Snape is sad, bitter and angry. Luna is Luna. And yet, this works. It just works. Just like canon, Snape is a cut above the other professors. Even when he's at his worst, Snape is just a cut above the rest. Not in an annoying way, mind you, it just feels like that is the case. The buildup of their relationship isn't forced, weird or even stomach-turning. It feels natural. It's obvious that it would take someone like Luna to understand a man like Snape.

And perhaps the best part of this fic is that it doesn't try to absolve Snape of any blame. I don't feel more sympathetic towards Snape as a result of having read this. He's still an asshole of the worst kind. He's still a complete jerk to many many students. Luna is not his redemption in any way. She is, for lack of a better word, a guilty pleasure. (Also, just to make it clear, there is nothing romantic between them. I am not trying to imply that.) But what this fic does try to get you to do is to put yourself in Harry's shoes and find it within yourself to forgive Snape. He was a shit personality: you'd have hated him. Harry does hate him. But with Luna, he finds it within himself to do what Snape couldn't, and move on. I've rarely seen any fic do that with any kind of finesse. I don't know of any fics that even try to go in that direction.

But this one totally does that and more. A complete gem of a story. 5/5 despite not being Harry-centric because brilliant Luna, brilliant Snape, and just pure overall brilliance.

 

Oh man I read this one a while ago and loved it. I think I've reread like 5 times since then. Great characterization and amazing plot.

Honestly, a lot of this stuff could have easily happened in the background of canon without us ever knowing (aside from the last scene I guess).

5/5 from me. In my opinion this belongs in the library.