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 Review #4815407 |
 | Catching Cold  [13+] When honesty and self-sacrifice break down communication, can John salvage his marriage?  |
| (4.5)  HAPPY WDC ACCOUNT ANNIVERSARY FROM "Anniversary Reviews"  I’m not sure if I’ve come across a story before where the author asked specific questions of the reviewer. It’s actually quite a challenge as it’s not my usual reviewing style, but I’ll give it a go! Impression of the characters  JohnHe is a complex character. He is flawed and well aware of it, but he doesn’t seem to be strong enough to face his shortcomings. He comes across as someone who wants to do better but doesn’t quite know how. His guilt over leaving Shawna makes him at least a little bit likeable, but I can’t say I particularly warmed to him. His act of returning to her seemed to be for the wrong reasons - he went to see Carol who turned him down, and had she not told him that Shawna, inexplicably, thought she wasn’t good enough for him, he wouldn’t have gone back. ShawnaI wanted to shake some sense into her. She seemed to be trying to be a strong character but failed quite spectacularly. Her self-sacrificial tendencies overshadowed what she thought to be a deep love for him, but more than that, I wasn’t sure if she actually loved him or just felt grateful that he loved her. CarolIt was interesting that you asked specifically about Carol. To me, she wasn’t as much a character in her own right, rather a catalyst for John’s change. She was wise enough not to feed John’s self pity, and she understood things John didn’t. She wasn’t interested in him though so she was happy to tell him that one thing that would get him to go back to Shawna. I’m just not sure if she actually did either of them a favour. Does John really seem to love Shawna? It felt more like remorse and longing than love. He was drawn to her stability and affection, but his actions (leaving, lying, emotionally avoiding) seemed more like someone who liked the idea of love rather than being prepared to work on it. The ending does point to some kind of awakening or personal growth, and his final act was meant to be romantic but was almost a little theatrical. Should Shawna really take him back so easily? To me, it read like she was only taking him back because she didn’t feel good enough. There was resignation, vulnerability and desperation in her earlier few lines of dialogue, and the fact that she would step aside because she believed she wasn’t the best for him suggested low self-worth. To be fair to her, we only know that from Carol so it might not have been entirely accurate, but her earlier behaviour would support it. So no, she shouldn’t take him back, she should value herself more, move on and find someone who deserves her. That’s not her though, so if you wanted to know if her taking him back fits the character then yes, it absolutely does. What lie does John think he should have told Shawna? Funny, I highlighted that part when I read it, before I got to the questions at the end, to ask you about it. As Shawna was under the impression that he had gone to see Carol the night before, perhaps he meant that he should have lied about it and pretended that he had, to give Shawna closure and allow her to move on. Telling her a different lie, that Carol was busy, left Shawna with a bit of hope. I’m not sure if that’s what you were going for here though, and like I said, I made a note to ask that exact question because I thought it wasn’t clear. What does Shawna mean at the end? Again, I wasn’t sure. To me, it read like she had expected more from him, that she had hoped he would do better. It suggested that she recognised he made an effort but hadn’t fully succeeded in becoming the man she wanted him to be, like she was still waiting for him to understand something about her or their relationship that he clearly hadn’t grasped. She settled, and to me, that line let him know as much. I thought this was a very good story, and your questions at the end made me think about it more than I would have otherwise done. A great way to streamline the review! I don’t know if my comments were at all useful but I enjoyed reading the story and reviewing it.
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You responded to this review 05/09/2025 @ 11:37pm EDT