Review: "All Cried Out" by Hannah81

Story: All Cried Out (link: Twilighted / FanFiction.net)
Author: Hannah81 (link: Twilighted / FanFiction.net)
Word Count: 7,898
Rating: NC-17 / M
Category: Angst/Romance, AU-Human
Summary: Bella and Edward are happily married, or so Bella thought. What will happen when Bella discovers that Edward is cheating on her?
Other information: Written for the "Break-Up Challenge" as a one-shot, is soon to be continued into a full-length story.


"All Cried Out" is a beautiful all-human, alternate universe rendering of Bella's character in the Stephenie Meyer way. For truly, although both Bella and Edward are central characters in the story, Bella's persona is the focus of the piece. Her angsty yet defiant nature, as seen most clearly in New Moon and even Breaking Dawn, is portrayed in "All Cried Out" as if Stephenie herself had written it.

After all, the situation in which Bella is placed in the story is not too far off from the plot of New Moon. In NM, Edward leaves Bella for reasons unknown to her, and in ACO, Edward cheats on Bella with Tanya (essentially "leaving her"). The two plots are also similar in that Edward truly does continue to love Bella and she continues to love him in both cases.

The level of angst is always a point of discussion with these stories. Although some might argue that Bella agonizes over Edward's extramarital affair too long and is a wee bit dramatic when she sees him again awhile after she leaves him, I feel it's very close to Stephenie's writing and portrayal of Bella. When Edward leaves her in New Moon, Bella is in a state of depression for a long time and, perhaps more dramatically than the average person, tries to get over him by never reminding herself of what happened. The same angst-filled drama element is present in ACO.

The characterization of Edward is superb for the little about him that we read. When Bella finds out about his affair, he is supremely and convincingly sorry. We see him drinking in a state of misery after the revelation, which might be analogous to hunting in the veggie vampire world. He does continue his relationship with Tanya but his heart does not seem to be in it. In fact his heart, it is implied, is still with Bella. This is also the case when he is away from her in NM.

It is easy to see the many similarities between "All Cried Out" and New Moon, and between the writing of Hannah81 and Stephenie Meyer. Therefore my verdict is: if you liked and enjoyed New Moon, then you will like this story. If not... try it anyway, just don't expect rainbows and butterflies.

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Hannah81 donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand to fight childhood cancer through The Fandom Gives Back auctions. Her donation served as a bid for this review and feature. Look out for another week of TFGB auctions next year so you can feature your own fan fiction!