Title: Love and Other Tragedies
Author: Fancyeyes
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Drama
Status: Complete
Library Category: Romance
Pairings: James/Lily, Sirius/Lily
Words: 229,880
Summary: "We don't deserve her," the Head Boy answered thoughtfully. "None of us do. Not even me. Not because she's perfect. She's not. Sometimes I think she's even more disastrously flawed than the rest of us combined. And not because she's beautiful, even though she is. Certainly not for being lovely because she never was.We don't deserve her because she's so much more than we'll ever be"

FanFiction.Net

This is mainly a Romantic Drama with the emphasis on the word Drama. The story is centered around Lily and how she discovers herself after the best friend(James) of her boyfriend(Sirius) calls her pathetic.

Lily is nicknamed as 'Lovely Lily' in Hogwarts. And she gladly accepts the title. She is very close to the Marauders and feels that she belongs to them, though they are not too keen on sharing their secrets with her. She helps everyone and never asks anything in return. In short, she is that nice girl who always gives and gives and nobody deems her worthy enough to really care. The problem is that she is living a lie. She isn't the girl she shows herself to be.

She has a theory or a concept really, that love is 'control' and 'too much' love only leads to orphans and bad love stories.

One night, James rudely shoves the reality of her actions in her face. She is beyond outraged and is surprised when she retaliates violently for the first time in her life.

This starts her path towards self discovery and the notion that it is alright to think of herself first and foremost. She learn the true meaning of love and that there are different kinds of love as well. She learns to sort out her own feelings towards the others.

She is literally thrown on the road as she has nowhere else to go after Petunia leaves for a honeymoon, leaving her to fend for herself. She works as a barmaid, lives in a dingy room above the shop that sells pets, meets a handsome auror who becomes her best mate and generally changes her attitude towards life. Back in Hogwarts, a no strings attached relationship with James is also developed which leads to further complication and a whole load of trouble.

There are plenty of OCs in this fic and most of them are nicely developed. In fact, one of the most memorable characters is an OC, Baker.

The major difference in this story from the rest is that James and Lily aren't isolated from the ongoing war outside Hogwarts. It always looms above their heads, especially after they become a true couple. I like the fact that the author manages to make the war personal for Lily, just like it was for Harry. She is not just another muggleborn getting ready for slaughter. Amidst it all, there is a conspiracy going on at Hogwarts itself and Lily, unknowingly, is at the center of it.

For me, this is the best pre-Harry book I could have asked for. And the epilogue includes a post-DH section as well. It answers so many unanswered questions in a logical way and it flows greatly with canon. For eg. that one dialogue in movie 3 when Lupin tells Harry about Lily's kindness, why Peter betrayed the Marauders, why Dumbledore keeps spouting off that love is Harry's greatest power, what was the last thought in James' mind when Voldemort was about to kill him and so much more.

This one deserves a solid 5/5.

I am sure you will like it if you can read until the end. Because it's so huge. An average 11000 words for 21 chapters.

 

Your description actually was worse than the summary. Also Sirius/Lily, no thank you.

 

Really? I am so sorry for not meeting your expectations. :facepalm

As for Sirius/Lily, as I said, its only in the beginning. And it is important to the plot, not just for namesake.

Don't review if you can't bother yourself to read it please. It irritates the hell out of me when people reply saying that they won't read the story. Just move ahead, buddies. There are other threads as well.

 

when you post something for review its supposed to meet up certain expectations, if you make it sound like it sucks people will comment, also don't tell people how they should and should not post reviews, especially if they've been here longer than you

 

Choke on a dick and die? When someone joined has nothing to do with being right or not.

In this case, the OP is not wrong when saying that posting in the thread of a story which you haven't read has little point.

Similarly, OP, although bramasta went about in a retarded way, he's also kind of right. I understand the frustration of people not giving your rec a chance, but when you post a review that sounds awful, people will comment that it sounds awful.

Because it does.

 

I read a a little of it. For now its a 2.5-3. The characterization just seems off. The parts I like are: James is not mooning over Lily. He's not hopelessly whipped like 99% of fanon.
- No "mauraders" nonsense with the gang acting like twelve year olds. James and Sirius are so often used as stand ins for Fred and George that its refreshing to see any fic that gives them distinct personalities.
Things I dislike:
-Lily's lack of confidence. I'm sure the author put all the angst in there to make lily seem more "human" but it doesn't achieve that. There are ways to hint that a character is insecure without the character herself mentioning it. That's a fail.
- Also the angst is about the stupidest things. They are at the near peak of a civil war. Lily in particular should have bigger worries.
-"Potters built the auror program" This is my most hated fanon trope.

 

In a rare stroke of boredom I decided to give the first couple of chapters a try. It's not poorly written, however its not interesting in any way at all. I suspect most of DLP won't like it simply because its not their (nor my) cup of tea. Lily/Sirius is not a pairing I have any interest in nor are "Marauder-Era" fics in general. That said, I'll reserve rating the story but I would not recommend it to anyone who usually prefers Harry-centric stories. The fic didn't really stand out to me.

 

Thanks.

Sighs. I guess I was a little too enthusiastic after finishing the story. As I said, for me I found a perfect pre-Harry book.

I have edited my review now though. I hope it is better than the last one.