Name: WindingArrow (Signed) · Date: 08 Aug 2017 04:35 PM · For: -1

My dearest Plums! I am here with a review for you for signing up for the Body Positive challenge and I feel like I have stumbled upon something raw, private, and entirely wonderful. Gouge out my eyes? This is too beautiful for all of that nonsense.

 

I've never read anything so intense before, especially not from our community. This fic makes any other violence I've read recently look tame and I actually thoroughly enjoyes it. It felt almost authentic to the horrors of the wars we only heard about but never actually witnessed. And your detail is so dead on, it's excruciating to read. I actually winced every time Hannah was in pain and I can't count how many times that's happened.

 

And yet, in the background is the unspoken love and that somehow makes it all the more exquisite. The pain of war, the pain of torture, the pain of not being able to confess your true feelings. Poor Hannah. She is more a Gryffindor that she believes herself to be. Neville should name her an honorary one. :)

 

I think my favorite part was her pain-induced dream, talking to her mom and all the while it was Neville replying. That very nearly brought me to tears in the middle of work. It makes me feel better to know that this actually ends happily for them because your ending was pretty depressing. But, having the foreknowledge that it really WILL all be okay... It makes it sort of hopeful in a weird way.

 

You have a wonderful way with words and I can't wait to see what else you come up with. <3

 

-Liz

Author's Response:

Hi Liz!

 

This response is so, so late. Cookies? Brownies? Everything but the kitchen sink? I'm so sorry for the late response, but as much as I love reviews, replying to them stresses me out!! But I love them including this wonderful one ;)

 

It actually never truly hit me how violent this fic is until I reread it after your review. At the time, I was reading a lot of mature fics on other websites, mostly including our boy Tom Riddle, so I guess all of that inspired me into writing this? But your reaction was still exactly what I wanted to inspire in my readers to fully invest them in the story of someone who doesn't have much attention given to her in the books.

 

Ahh the scene with the dream was the one I was most nervous about at the time so it's funny that you liked it so much. I really wanted to make a link between the strength and amount of love she has for her mother and what she feels for Neville. In the fic, she's so consumed with avenging her mum and being involved in the resistance at Hogwarts - so much so that she doesn't crack during the torture - that she doesn't allow herself to linger on how much she truly loves Neville. So I wanted that scene to sort of hint at that if that makes sense? Because despite the negativity of her mindset and what's driving her, she still has something positive in her life, even if she doesn't acknowledge it.

 

Yes, that tentative hope is exactly what I wanted! As readers, we know that Hannah and Neville make it out of this alive and together, but Hannah simply doesn't. So I really liked that we'd know that brighter days were on the horizon, even if she doesn't quite share the same sentiment.

 

Thank you for the wonderful review and I'm so sorry for the late reply!

 

Plums <3