Tropic of Virgo by In.a.blue.bathrobe

Title: Tropic of Virgo

Author: In.a.blue.bathrobe

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4901517/1/Tropic_of_Virgo

Summary: He's a young but jaded musician writing lyrics for his band, and she's a naive, frustrated poet looking to break out of her shell; their words collide online. What happens when they meet in high school, unaware of their literary connection?

Rating: M

Readability/Grammar – 9
Humor – 7
Fluffiness/Angst – 4
Fur-friendly (Jake love scale) – n/a
Emo-sensitive (Edward love scale) – 10
Smut – 7

Is this story complete? Yes

Did the reviewer finish reading the story? Yes

*spoilers follow*

***RANT STARTS HERE!

Before reviewing the plot, there was only one thing that really irked me about this fic. Actually, the fact that there’s extensive promiscuity, underage drinking and drug use wouldn’t have bothered me quite as much, had Carlisle and Esme not been encouraging it the whole time. Esme is the hippie pot head, and Carlisle is the pragmatic doctor, wanting his kids to be responsible with their abuse at home, rather than out with people they don’t trust. It is addressed in the middle, somewhere, very briefly and not at all in a way that makes any change happen at all. (Edward accuses Carlisle of being his children’s doctor—and not their father—when he tells them about his intention to keep their substances under control. Edward makes other references implying that Carlisle would rather treat the symptoms of an issue rather than the source of the problem.) Esme is not discussed as much, but where she is present, she is either referred to as a hippie, or asking her child to roll a joint for her because her hands are sticky. I have similar principles on how I’d like my future children to experience drugs or alcohol if they so insist, but here it is absolutely encouraged, and promiscuity is only discouraged because of potential STDs.

***RANT OVER!

So… on that happy note, I actually really liked this fic. You may be saying “What in the world?! She just told us it was about horrible sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and she still liked it?”

Hahaha. Yes. Like I said, aside from the issues I have regarding how the Cullens addressed discipline (of which there was none), I really liked the story. It was very Shop-Around-the-Corner-meets-10-Things-meets-Save-the-Last-Dance (and yes, I realize two of those are Julia Styles movies).

Jake in this story is hardly present, which is why I gave him an "n/a" on the Fur-friendly rating. He is a member of the Quileute band. Bella mentions that they were friends as small children, but I am pretty sure there are only two real times in the whole fic where she comes in contact with him at all. He is very enthusiastic, and the only mistake he makes is giving Bella too much moonshine. However, considering the nature of the fic, this is obviously not something we turn up our nose at, because then we’d have to hate everyone. Hahaha.