half awake and almost there

Another story by Annerb (the author of The Changeling, among others). This one's a bit.. different. Different as in it's a Coffee House AU romance with no magic at all. The writing is top-notch and the characterisations are good (though I found chapter 1 a bit rocky), just like everything else the author's written. It isn't the author's best work by any means (she kinda admits she wrote it mostly as a guilty pleasure), but I found it an enjoyable hour's read. Obvious YMMV and all that.

 

I've just finished Albus Potter series by NoahPhantom. I have to say that I'm impressed, he managed to finish it, it works great as a series, main plot is very interesting. I like what he did with magical theory in these books. It's certainly worth reading. It's not Harry-centric so a lot of people here are going to have problem with that. Changes to canon seem kinda pathethic, author introduces concept of dual wielding of wands, there is magical exhaustion, so things I usually don't like, but it works. Author gets rid of all Hogwarts teachers who taught Harry (with exception of Binns), which irritated me at first, but later it starts to make sense. First book may feel underwhelming, because it would be stupid if 11-year-olds fought some powerful wizard, but in the following books you have bigger and more exciting threats. Albus is a great character, but OCs are usually onedimensional.


Albus Potter and the Global Revelation 3.5/5
Albus Potter and the Lunar Eclipse 4.5/5
Albus Potter and the Sandblood Rising 4/5
Albus Potter and the Descent of Dismiusa 5/5
Albus Potter and the Hourglass Empire 5/5
Albus Potter and the Chaos Contagion 5/5
Albus Potter and the Abyssal Vortex 4.5/5

 

This story is pretty cute.

A Primer for the Small Weird Loves - by unicornesque

TL;DR Summary: Narcissa flees Britain during the first Wizarding War and raises Draco alone in France. Years later, he visits Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament and meets our favorite bushy-haired bookworm.

I recommend checking it out if you like kind of adorable romances and quiet character driven stories. This work features some damn good OCs and also happens to be a Draco romance that doesn't make me want to hurl. (Mostly because a large majority of Draco romances are focused around "redeeming the bad boy".)

 

I've read that one before, but it's been a while. I remember liking it - I'm a sucker for Malfoy family drama, and the whole backstory was pretty good. Draco is very OOC, but it makes sense given his entirely different upbringing. I liked Narcissa and Dumbledore's characterisations.

 

Dunno if this one has been submitted or not: Harry Potter and the Unexpected friend. It's a young love Harry/Daphne in which they both get to know each other during second year. It's not too fast, and it reads very sweetly. It's a cute story with some character - if there was more development in it I'd consider submitting it in the Review Board; as it stands it rates a 3.5/5 from me, rounded down to 3.

Nonetheless, I believe this one has potential. I hoe the author's good enough to realise it.

 

The Daring Win is rather good. It's a unique take on Umbridge adopting Harry, which I confess to never having seen before. The Umbridge's character is quite good, as is the grammar. Unfortunately, it does have a manipulative Dumbledore. The entire premise thus far centers upon Dumbledore's desire to gain custody over Harry, and Umbridge and Harry's attempts to thwart him.

It's slow, as it hasn't even gotten to the First Year in ~100k words, but it's still worth a read. Stylistically, it reminds me of Professor C. Binns: A Personal History. Perhaps a 3.5/5.

 

Given that Umbridge is literally Hitler, what about her adoption of Harry makes this story worth reading?

 

Gross dude.

 

I'm very iffy on the writer considering The Art of Self-Fashioning. Have you read that one? If yes how would you compare their quality?

 

The premise of the fic is that Umbridge one day stumbles upon Harry while escorting a foreign notable through Muggle London. The Dursleys have Harry with them while they shop, to fetch and carry and such. At first, Umbridge is completely indifferent towards their treatment of the boy; perhaps even slightly approving. It's only when she realizes that he is Harry Potter and sees an opportunity for advancement that she takes action and relieves the Dursleys of him.

As previously mentioned, one of the great strengths of the story is Umbridge's characterization. The author does a superb job of writing from Umbridge's point of view, which is in and of itself a novelty. There is a dearth of well-written characters in HPfanfic, relatively speaking. The reader learns a great deal about her motivations and mindset. Her opinions and attitudes in this fic are fleshed out, beyond those expressed in canon. It shows just how venomously ambitious the woman is, and just how intent she is on climbing the ladder of power - at any cost.

The Umbridge-Harry dynamic is also interesting. It's rather common to have Harry be raised by the Malfoys, or by Sirius. The first option tends to default Harry towards a darker pureblood stance; the second is common with more indy!Harry stories. Umbridge, devoted to the Ministry as she is, raises Harry with the respect due lawful authority, and indifference towards the Cold War between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters who managed to escape Azkaban.

As we know, and as TheWiseTomato mentioned, Umbridge is wizarding Hitler. Unsurprisingly, such attitudes do not, by and large, sit well with Harry. And Umbridge can't have her ward complaining about her racist and species-ist (?) policies. So she constantly attempts to manipulate, lie to, bribe, and threaten any who might care for him. Whenever Harry finds out, she has to take steps to bring him back into line, and such confrontations are always interesting.

It's not the adoption in and of itself that make the fic worth reading. Indeed, the fact that the story centers around the adoption and nothing else is the main reason I posted this in the 'Almost Recommended' thread, rather than the Review Board. If the author ever writes about anything other than custody battles and Harry's inevitable indoctrination (however well-written they might be), I'd say it might be worthy of the Review Board. Rather, I recommend it because what is there is well-written. It can get dangerously close to purple prose at times, but I don't believe it ever crosses the line.

@Sataniel, I was unable to make it past the first few chapters of The Art of Self-Fashioning. As such, I can't really compare their quality. A significant difference, though, is that this fic is written entirely from Umbridge's perspective. The fic is more about her than Harry.

 

"Umbridge is a wizarding Hitler". What a ridiculous notion is that? Only because WW2 propaganda made the guy the boogeyman for everything. Seriously?

Whatever Hitler was Umbridge is the last person I would come up with as a comparison template.
----
In the HP series Umbridge felt more like a magical version of Aunt Marge in a position of power.

 

This already raised alarm bells, but I've read the story. However, in the latest update

Spoiler: this happened.

Dumbledore told Umbridge about Horcruxes, Harry's Horcrux status (how was he even so sure?) and lost the Elder Wand to her.

(https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12005755/34/The-Daring-Win)

I am afraid things would get worse when Harry's first year starts.

 

I hadn't read that update when I last posted. If that's true, it definitely takes a point or two from my rating, making it no longer recommended.

 

Don't read "The Daring Win" if you:
-dislike an Umbridge that is more intelligent than everyone around her combined
-dislike a stupid Dumbledore with highly flawed reasoning
-dislike awfully slow pacing (EDIT: well, that's not quite accurate, there's always SOMETHING going on, however, it takes far too long to start first year and until that, there's rarely the sense of "oh, this is something new and interesting")
-dislike a Gary Stu Harry

2/5 at best.

 

Terra Incognita » EWE. AU. Harry discovers an unquenchable thirst for adventure and devotes his
erra Incognita » EWE. AU. Harry discovers an unquenchable thirst for adventure and devotes his post-Voldemort years in its pursuit. Harry Potter and the Cintamani Stone completed. Harry Potter and King Solomon's Mine also completed.
Harry Potter, M, English, Adventure & Mystery, chapters: 8, words: 38k+, favs: 23, follows: 22, updated: Sep 7 published: Jul 1, Harry P.


-Voldemort years in its pursuit. Harry Potter and the Cintamani Stone completed. Harry Potter and King Solomon's Mine also completed.
Harry Potter, M, English, Adventure & Mystery, chapters: 8, words: 38k+, favs: 23, follows: 22, updated: Sep 7 published: Jul 1, Harry P.

Haven't read it yet but summary gave me a pause. Looks like a new Author with 4 reviews so far. Gonna read over the weekend, or what's left of it.


Edit: Nope Nope Nope can't read this shit anymore

 

LITERALLY HITLER.

 

This fic is really not that new at all, but I don't think it's quite Library material and a search didn't turn it up anywhere, so:

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11767791/1/

The Spider's Web by Merrick Mayfair is a HP/Avengers crossover that's about Black Widow and Harry saving the world by stopping Hydra from finding a superduper power thing that just so happens to be magical.

The quest is cookie cutter but well written, and the interactions and sexual tension between Harry and Natasha are fun. Having said that, once that tension is resolved there's a bunch of chapters with our heros stuck in a library. Combining those 2 things means the fic is very droppable at that point.

Fun read, 3/5

 

I've been working my way through this story, and it's been pretty good so far:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5564695/1/Dirty-Little-Secret

It's a Draco/Astoria romance, featuring an Astoria who is secretly the bastard child of Severus Snape. There's the occasional spelling mistake and some sections don't flow perfectly, but it's surprisingly well written.

Basically, I came for the smut, stayed for the reasonably interesting drama.

 

Put it up for review, then? It's got 197k words.