FanficRecs A Mixed Bag
Most of the pros and cons of this fic have already been covered by previous reviews. The fic is funny, although not extremely so; its explanation behind Harry doing impossible things is believable, though that doesn't justify every other character hero-worshiping him at every opportunity (complete with sappy and wooden dialogue in a lot of cases, sadly); and certain characters that were multi-dimensional and nuanced in canon were quickly transformed into more hero-worshiping mouthpieces for Harry's brilliance because of some very dodgy "realizations" (Snape, I'm looking at you). It is interesting (read: unbelievable) that, in the course of a single school year—in fact, in the course of a few months in that school year—Harry transforms from his canon self to a superhero simply because he got a girlfriend. It's worth a look, but the writing quality, plot, and characterization leave a lot to be desired.
FanficRecs A Galleon with two sides
I admit that this was a very... Entertaining piece of fan fiction! While generally not a fan of AU fan fiction I found many things funny. But, not as much, as the fic was advertised! I'm not saying that the humor was not good. Far from it! The jokes were... Amusing. And the correspondence using "Mmail" was, at times, bloody brilliant! Not to mention that I honestly find it rather peculiar that the Weasley siblings didn't act as they did in this fic in the original books! I mean... Their behavior was pretty much consistent with real brothers having a younger sister! But there were many things that put me off in particular, I won't lie! First was how much the fic stepped into "Mary Sue" category for Harry! While this author at least did give us an... acceptable explanation, it was still sort of hard to swallow! Secondly the fic took the saying "Behind every great man there is a great woman" to rather... Disturbing extremes! While being in a committed and loving relationship can certainly put a bounce in a person's step, this is just too much! Third I feel that there were A LOT of Our of Character moments for everyone, but particularly Snape! His behavior was... Annoyingly uncharacteristic! I also find the little... "Marathon" at the end disturbingly impossible! While this review is largely negative the fic itself is worth the read, but I would caution about going in with too big expectations! Some of them would be met, but you might be disappointed by some things, just as I was. All in all: Read it and draw your own conclusions. I'm just offering an opinion here!
FanficRecs Unsure...
Wow. So, first of all a person has to give kudos to the author for managing to complete a 226,000 word story with a coherent, complex plot that utilizes available characters. A lot of people can't do that; as evidenced by the tons of started fanfic on my hard drive that have just petered off into nothing.
That being said, this story is definitely a bit... contraversial as far as quality goes. First point off is mechanics. While on the surface the story is written with nearly perfect mechanics (grammar, spelling, what have you) (obviously not completely perfect, everybody makes typos occasionally), the author has some annoying ticks that really start to wear on you once you notice them. Specifically, he writes with pretentious, borderline purple prose that includes things like inappropriate/incorrect use of adverbs and adjectives completely out of context (the adverb "formally" is a particularly irritating favorite of his) (like, "Professor Dumbledore," Harry said formally). Other examples include characters saying "I'll not" rather than "I won't", short, stilted sentences that read more like an encyclopedia or a grocery list than a work of fiction (ie telling rather than showing)
Second is the unfortunate Mary sueification that Harry is treated to by the time you hit chapter 2. Along with Harry suddenly developing not just insane and unheard of magical power, he also develops public speaking talent and the ability to always be listened to when he gives instructions. These abilities develop overnight with no build-up or explanation, and with them comes a rather staggering arrogance that nobody ever notices or calls him on. Basically, Harry turns into the guy that Snape always accused him of being, just in time for Snape to decide that he likes him and start awarding him points and spending time with him.
And that last statement about Snape leads perfectly into my last, and biggest complaint: every single character in the entire fic, barring those that are portrayed as evil, staggeringly incompetent, or both, absolutely adores Harry, thinks that he's hot as hell, and would bend over backwards to do anything for him because he's just that awesome. 80% of the dialogue that doesn't directly include Harry is given to talking about how amazing he is and why he deserves special treatment. There's an entirely pointless conversation between the professors that entirely consists of listing all of the special treatment that Harry is getting, and saying that it's okay because he deserves it, since he's just so awesome.
Now, one last point about the 'romance'. This insta-love crap is far more likely to make me quit shipping h/g than any of the bashing out there. It takes them days to be saying 'i love you', and weeks to start talking about engagement rings. Their relationship is basically empty adoration, with an added constant admiration for each other's physical form, plus a lot of other characters waxing poetic about how amazing they are.