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Featured Story: The Paradox Of Friendship

Trebs

Entry posted by Trebs in Featured Stories

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Featured Stories  

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  1. 1. When we run a featured story review of a story you have not read:

    • I usually read the story - whether I like the review or not
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    • I usually read the story, but only if I liked the review
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    • I like seeing the reviews but don't tend to look at the stories at all
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There have been times where I've cajoled and pleaded for someone to write a review - today's review and the next few that we have, are all from readers coming to me and saying "I just read a story that I want to write a review on - can I?" I hope you enjoy this great review by joann414 of Author InTheMindOfSunshine's The Paradox of Friendship!

 

 

 



by


InTheMindOfSunshine

 

Reviewed by: joann414
Status: Completed
Word Count: 143,832

 


Many times you read a story and try to figure out how the title pertains to the story. You won't wonder that after reading this fantastic piece of work. All you've got to do is read to get a clear meaning of paradox. I felt like I was in a game of connect the dots for geniuses and I was determined to master the game!

 

Nix is your all-american, athlete, popular, in the click high school boy. Spencer is his opposite He's the invisible, insecure, poor high school nobody. This strange mix of personalities weaves a plot to be reckoned with, the challenge of being able to figure out what's going to happen next and who's going to have to deal with the aftermath that drips down from someone else's actions.

 

After Nix gets between Spencer and two of his homophobic friends, the two become firends. Did I say friends? I meant, they become something. "shrugs" You'll have to make that call when you read it. I found myself confused, intrigued, but desperately seeking answers that seemed to be right in front of me throughout this story., Little,did I know. Nothing is as it seems.

 

Nix has a host of friends, that have friends, that have friends. Yeah, I meant to write that twice. I pieced together, connected dots, and read on to find that once again, I was wrong. It was him,,no, it was him. She's a bitch, but, oh, she had a reason to be a bitch.. What? This girl is harboring a deep, dark secret, and Nix knows. Why doesn't her boyfriend?

 

What happened that night, and who caused who to get killed? Wow, what an unholy mess! Yep, I just sent you a jumbled, figure it out yourself when you read it. If you do choose to read, you'll thank me for recommending it. I started reading it and couldn't stop. Forty-two chapters of homophobia, mystery, bdsm,rape, and friendships bleeding into friendships that you would've never guessed was friendships. Or, was it just a paradox? The title says it all.

 

Let me throw one more thing out here. There's some pretty heavy stuff in some chapters, and a few of the reviewers slapped the authors hands, unjustly. The warning is there at the beginning of the chapters. Read the warnings before reading if you're easily offended. It's there for all to see.

 

This is a great read to fall into on a quiet weekend when you've got a lot of time on your hands and a clear mind. I'll be re-reading it again on a long winter's day, because mystery is great in the dark of winter.

  • Like 4

14 Comments

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Conner

Personnally, I do not believe that content warnings are a licence for the author to produce chapter after chapter of gratuitous violence.  In my view, readers were more than justified in confronting the author with this fact.

In the thread for this story, the author actually requests her readers to suspend reality.

  • Like 2
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joann414

Personnally, I do not believe that content warnings are a licence for the author to produce chapter after chapter of gratuitous violence.  In my view, readers were more than justified in confronting the author with this fact.

In the thread for this story, the author actually requests her readers to suspend reality.

Maybe, I worded that wrong Conner.  I was more or less giving potential readers another warning.  I was certainly not condoning violence!

  • Like 1
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Daithi

I read this story a while ago. I laughed' I wept and I got so angry in spots. I have read very few stories like this one where the writer brought me to so many high and lows. This story was about so many double sided emotions love, hate.. despair,elation. These kids seen and acted on some statements, assumptions and some reality and they reacted just like close teenagers will protecting their friends. then you have another group that knew the details and reacted accordingly and went out on a deliberate trip to betrayal to cause pain. Then you had Spencer who was in agony dealing with his parent's abuse and betrayal. In this whole story one kid was abused by so many people, verbally and physically in so many different ways and for so many reasons. Yet through it all he stood as strong as he could he dealt with it the pain , the agony, the betrayal. When they talk about strength in steel and such I think they need to talk about this teenager because he was definitely forged in fire and came out stronger on the other side.  If you haven't read this story i greatly encourage you to do so. InTheMindOfSunshine has crafted such a beautiful story about the terror of the worst kind, a life that no one would ever wish on their worst enemy. Yet when you get to the end of the story this young man will shock you beyond belief and you will love him to pieces like I did.

Joann did a great review if i hadn't already read the story I would have been half way through it by now. Grats on the great review!

  • Like 4
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joann414

I"m out of "likes", but Spencer becomes a force to be reckoned with.  That's for sure.  I love him so much, and can't wait to read the sequel that InTheMindOfSunshine has started posting!Thanks for a great comment Daithi!

  • Like 3
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InTheMindOfSunshine

If not for Trebs commenting on my forum, I might have missed this. Good thing I did not. I'm very surprised and very honored. Thanks, Joann, for taking the time to write the wonderful review. Honestly, I have no words to describe how much this made my day.

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joann414

If not for Trebs commenting on my forum, I might have missed this. Good thing I did not. I'm very surprised and very honored. Thanks, Joann, for taking the time to write the wonderful review. Honestly, I have no words to describe how much this made my day.

You're very welcome:)  Thank you for sharing your talent here at GA

  • Like 2
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Lisa

I couldn't agree more with Daithi. There was such a range of emotions during this story. Each new chapter brought different emotions. I found myself laughing, crying, sitting there with my mouth hanging open, but the main emotion was the empathy I felt for one of the main characters.

 

It's such a complicated story that one really needs to read it to understand why there are such a myriad of emotions going through the reader's mind.

 

Sunshine is such an amazing writer that she weaves this web of complications, deceit, betrayal, and finally love that keep the reader hanging on until the very end.

 

And I am also thrilled she has a sequel to the story up now.

 

Congrats, Sunshine for Jo Ann's awesome review. =)

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Slytherin

my answer to the poll: I am very old fashioned, I write down stories I want to read in my (not black) pink notebook :lol:

 

Right now I have this huge Candy Crush saga addiction and I don't read many stories at the moment.. Dang !

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Lisa

my answer to the poll: I am very old fashioned, I write down stories I want to read in my (not black) pink notebook :lol:

 

Right now I have this huge Candy Crush saga addiction and I don't read many stories at the moment.. Dang !

 

Put down that Candy Crush (?) and start reading - you are missing out on soooooo many awesomely wonderful stories, "Paradox" being one of them. Check out Sunshine's other stories too; they're equally wonderful. =)

  • Like 1
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Slytherin

Put down that Candy Crush (?) and start reading - you are missing out on soooooo many awesomely wonderful stories, "Paradox" being one of them. Check out Sunshine's other stories too; they're equally wonderful. =)

It's a game.. an app I found on facebook and I can also play it on my iPhone.. Dang :angry: game !! :P

  • Like 3
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Trebs

Uh oh...  I played Candy Crush on FB when it first came out but stopped playing all of my Facebook games.  Didn't know they had a iPhone version....  <shudder> um...  maybe I can...  no...  must resist...

  • Like 2
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