Title: Thirty Five Owls
Author: Letterblade
Rating: M
Genre: General
Words: 11,000
Status: Complete
Library Category: General
Pairings: Dumbledore/Grindelwald
Summary: (Thirty Five Owls) being a correspondence between Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore, Grand Sorcerer, etc., and the prisoner Gellert Grindelwald, of some decades in length
Link: Link

This was a decent enough read. The story is an epistolary account of Dumbledore and Grindelwald's days after the latter's defeat, along with reminiscence of their past relationship and exploits. I don't think I've read any other story that deals with Grindelwald going insane in isolation and guilt in his last days, so the story is unique as far as I know.

First half of the story is average, but the last few letters are very good, and the ending is pretty great. The Writing quality is very good throughout. Recommended if you're bored. 3.5/5.

General Warning : While there is no drawn out sex scene, there is one paragraph of explicit-ish slash in the story. Since everything is told through letters rather than shown, it isn't nearly as much of a problem as it is in slash fics. If you cannot read slash at all, then you can skip that part. You won't miss out on much -- the truly good parts of the fic are the last few letters which focus on Voldemort, Harry and Dumbledore's approaching death.

 

Spoiler

A little warning on the romance "scenes" next time.

The last four are really the best of the set and could probably be read as a stand alone piece.

 

Spoiler

I marked it as Dumbledore/Grindelwald and rated it M. What did you expect?

Either way, its only one paragraph of explicit-ish sex. There is no long, drawn-out sex scene. They move on to other matters after that, like Voldemort and Harry. Really, you can just scroll down to read the last few letters. Those are good parts.

 

Spoiler

That doesn't mean you shouldn't put warnings. M doesn't mean sex, neither does pairing dude. It's just a common courtesy really. And that's what I did, you are correct in that the last few are the best of the lot.

 

Pretty solid. I liked Grindelwald's voice more than Dumbledore's, who came off a bit... condescending? Oblivious? Not quite sure what the right word is, but his letters didn't quite "land" right, IMO. Nice end, though. Goes big, then very understated and a nice capstone.

Not close to what I'd call a must-read, but I'm glad I read it.

3/5

 

I liked this for what it was. Dumbledore felt off to me, not quite how I would expect him to sound, especially in the last few letters. But still, for what this was, it is a good 4/5