A review by bookboyfriendandhusbandmake3
Out of Bounds by Lucia Franco

5.0

I don’t have the words. It was as though Franco got inside my brain, and without me ever voicing them, answered questions I didn’t know I had.

On the fictional side, because I don’t think there will ever be a time when those of us who began the series years ago will ever be able to think of this series without also thinking of the trauma that was very heartbreakingly real.


The introduction to the deleted scenes was perfect, just a "set up" as for where they would have been located, but honestly, each and every one placed you right back inside the world that has come to mean more to a lot of us than what it did originally.

Compiling these deleted scenes and adding the intro to each was a true labor of love, and a way to allow longtime fans a proper goodbye to this world we’ve come to love. A moment that was taken due to the hate of others and the hard work Franco put into this series, painstakingly offering her blood, sweat, and tears to this very intricately woven story, not once, but twice when changes had to be made.

I loved the little glimpses of the deleted scenes, but my favorite was towards the end. It was perfect. I giggled, laughed out loud, and shed some tears. I can’t imagine a better goodbye to this all-consuming series.



**Not part of my review, but kind of**

What we initially saw throughout the series was Ria’s drive, her perseverance, and her strong will. As the story progressed, her strength seemed to take on a life of its own. That was as intricate to the story as anything else, since without that she wouldn’t have made it to where she did. She wouldn’t have survived what she did. Sure, there was a story playing alongside those things, angsty and tumultuous as it was at times, but it was a love story, and so much more.


I can now say that Franco has it all in spades. She may have been knocked down, but she was never out. She didn’t let the hate and the bullies break her; she handled it with nothing but grace. I don’t care which side of it you were on. It was cruel and petty, and nobody deserves to be treated like that, least of all over hate for a fictional world.

The elements she added from a personal perspective were like a punch to the gut and then straight to the chest. I was sobbing, wiping tears from my eyes so I could see the words before me. As someone who saw and read the horrific attacks back then, Franco dealt with the situation with the utmost professionalism and grace. That’s an author I will always happily support.





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