So, I read this while I should really have been studying, which probably made me enjoy it more than I normally would have, forbidden fruit and all of that. I think that character wise, everyone is pretty much an OC, as good as for the amount of attention payed to them in canon, except for Hermione who acts extremely OOC. That's fine, it's fan fiction after all, but I think that the story would have come across a bit better if TheLoud had been more on point with Hermione's characterisation (she was the story's main draw after all.). I like Tom Riddle senior as a character, and none of the other OCs are caricatures, which is more than I can say for some stories.

In The Bleak Midwinter doesn't have a very focused plot, it reads more as a series of happenstances and oddly successful attempts on the part of the Riddle family to integrate and thrive in magical high society. The quality of the writing allowed me to push my suspension of disbelief further than I usually might, but a lot of the story is unrealistic and contrived.

The fic seems to be going down the well traveled 'fix magical society' route, albeit slowly, so I don't know how long I'll be following it for. Either way, I'm not entirely sure if it's library worthy, although it was a good read.

3/5

 

It's certainly an interesting idea, and the writing is pretty decent. I read the whole thing in about a day, and if it updated next week, I'd cheerfully read more, although if it didn't update for another six months, say, I feel like the novelty may have worn off, which is most of the appeal for me.

The characters are fun, as are the events, but given what's going on, there's a lack of...maybe not peril, but weight, maybe? The closest anything has come to going wrong is Tom's attempt to reconnect with his ex, and even that goes much better than could reasonably be expected, under the circumstances. Mind you, the characters barely seem to care about that, so who knows whether anything will come of it.

Spoiler

I get that, initially at least, Hermione doesn't really give a shit about anything other than making sure Tommy has a nurturing upbringing, but even contextually, she really ought to be panicking more about the whole 'conning the Wizarding world' bit - one of the first points she makes is that she wouldn't want him to be brought up by an unsuitable family, but she barely raises an eyebrow at them publicly declaring him the Heir of Slytherin, which will make him a prime target for 'adoption' if the Riddles get found out and...punished.

All in all, great idea, decent execution, could maybe do with a touch more ambition (ironically, given some of Tom's comments to Hermione later on). I'd probably say 3/5 for now, but could be a 4/5.

 

I've enjoyed it a good deal.
The characters are refreshing, and have good chemistry between them. The historical details are plentiful, and add a lot of atmosphere, though they come of a little heavy handed.
The uplift stuff is...meh and puts hard brakes on the pacing.
3.5/5

 

It's flawed, but it's novel enough to keep my attention. The author is clearly a huge P.G. Wodehouse fan; that manifests as much to his detriment as his benifit.

I'm enjoying it, but in a similar vein to New Blood.

4/5

 

Based on the rating here and the plot, I went in with very low expectations and was heavily surprised. It's novel, entertaining, technically decent, and doesn't seem to fall into the pitfalls that make me avoid this genre like setting up an eventual confrontation that promises to be somewhat interesting and making me trudge in shit for tens of chapters because I want to read that part before binning it. Don't get me wrong, it's a very typical 3.5/5, it stretches credulity at times and flirts dangerously close to crack in others, but I feel like the characterization of the Riddles helps justify both and keep it together. On that point, Tom Riddle Sr was definitely the best character but I feel like the author either doesn't know what next to do with him or doesn't feel confident in writing him, reducing him to more of a set piece than a character while Tom takes center stage. Pacing-wise I'm split, on the one hand things are definitely happening and it doesn't wallow in any of them, on the other hand it's getting to that point where it needs to start picking up a bit more speed. The last chapter did set up a couple bombshells, and they need to drop pretty soon. I think it'd still be almost recommended if it didn't and devolved into the mediocrity typical of its genre, but deserves a 4/5 as it is right now, simply because the novelty and execution of the ideas and characters bring it up a notch either way.