Entry tags:

Occam's Razor, by RaeWhit
Title: Occam's Razor
Author: RaeWhit (joanwilder)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Harry/Draco, Harry/Snape; Sex toys, rimming, bondage.
Summary: Two years after the end of the war, only desperation could make Harry seek out the help of a one-time enemy.
Length: ~90 000 words

Reviewer: painless_j

Fics of this sort are the killers of fests. It's 90K words, as those who counted say. It took me three days to read it, and now I'm days behind on everything. I didn't like it at the beginning. There was a passage that threw me out, very formal, on the surface, and I thought silly. So I quit and had to come back when a fellow Snarry mod asked if we thought it was Snarry enough (see pairings). Being a responsible person that I am, I went to check it, and that time wasn't able to stop reading. I printed out small sections when I went out to have dinner and when I had to take a train home.

Harry takes after Filch's job, including adopting Mrs Norris. His friends don't understand his choice of occupation but he doesn't seem able to move on yet. There's a portrait of Snape in the Headmaster's office, but no Snape in it. There's also a trunk of Snape's left but no-one can open it. Then one day, Draco Malfoy sends Harry a key he found sorting out Snape's possessions. Harry applies his Gryffindor tenacity to opening the trunk, and what he finds redefines his life.

But for that small false note (I'm not sure anyone but me would even consider it a false note), the writing is very smooth and easy. You read not noticing words. The story itself, although unhurried, is never too slow. The relationships are easy, and somewhere in the middle of it all I found that Harry and Draco (and Snape) are nothing like I imagine him or like I remember them from the book, but the transition was such that I didn't notice it. Magic is interesting and complex, starting from the wizarding portraits (compare Snape and Albus!) and to the final ritual.

What impressed me most was that in such a long story, the author didn't lose their way. All the clues given us and Harry work, all the ends are tied and everything holds together. And even if I wouldn't say that characterisation is the author's main strength, there are many fascinating, fine details to make you not be bothered with it. For example, the Bat. Or that Snape's portrait, which one would expect to be life-sized at least ('cos the man is larger than life, right?) is, in fact, small, about ten inches :) And the sex is awfully hot. All in all, a very pleasant reading!