Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love

I give nothing away by saying this is a story about falling in love (re: see the title), but it's so much more than that. The book covers a year in the lives of some characters with...a pretty traumatic history, and the author takes full advantage of that to explore interior and magical worlds.

This is a slow burning romance that at times feels less like a forced proximity love story and more like a mystery/dramedy/adventure with a dusting of violence to keep things fun. The real occult references, fantastical world, and demeanor/audacity of the characters made the story feel almost autobiographical, as if it wasn't a work of fiction. And the love story brewing underneath is sweet and sumptuous, but also intensely frustrating in the best possible ways. The slow burny-ness has the effect of making you feel properly edged, so that when the romance turns spicy, each exchange is all the more satisfying. Also the banter between characters had me cackling out loud and in general - the rhythm/pacing and succinctness of writing was well done.

What was not enjoyable at all were the authors' notes at the beginning of almost every chapter. The notes were never more than a few sentences but I would have preferred them to be annotated as footnotes and placed at the end of the book as an appendix. I've never read a fanfic before so maybe this is how it's done? To me though, it was utter distraction. Also, if we're adding an appendix, let's also add translations to the many French lines in the book. They were beautiful but in the midst of some great scenes, I had to stop and hunt for a translation. I just wonder if there was another way to do it (having the French phrases but also giving context clues from other characters about what is being said in french? ). Having word for word translations in the midst of the story would have been ridiculous.... so it's not a straight forward problem that can be easily solved.

Author notes withstanding - this was an unexpectedly wondrous and heart pounding read. I wasn't expecting thrills but with hermione as a lead character, I should have known. I was 100% invested in the characters, there were so many enjoyable twists and turns with all the strange situations the characters kept finding themselves in...and I was falling in love, right along with them without realizing it. I loved, loved, loved it!