7 Days in November

Seven Days in November by Grant Cravens

Summary: The story follows several teenagers in high school for seven days in November. These characters had to grow up without loving family due to negligence from the people around them. They learn to love and forgive as well as learning more about themselves within the confines of their stuck up prep school. Did I mention that they were anthropomorphic animals?

Likes: The characters seemed to be fully fleshed out, even despite the telling instead of showing. The characterization was one of the stronger points of the story and each character is dealing with something different. I am invested in the characters and find them engaging. The story moves along at a slow pace which is a nice rest from the other action packed stories on the net. However, as you get further into the story a character named Jon starts to get mentioned and it's interesting to see how this group of friends is affected by his absence. Seven Days is a slice of life about growing up and being different from everyone. In this case, it merely uses furries or anthropomorphic animals to make it's point. I rather enjoy that aspect, since it's something new, but these characters could be any high school group. Using furries, for the most part, work to the story's advantage giving a new spin on a classic high school and coming of age story.

Dislikes: There are many grammatical and spelling errors, so if you are a grammar nazi you may have trouble reading this story. You still might enjoy the story despite these mistakes, but it's just warning. There is also a lot of telling instead of showing and what little action there is in the story is slowed down by the need to describe things instead of letting the reader fill in the blanks. There are also a few parts that get a little preachy and the "moral" of the story/part gets a little heavy handed at parts, almost like the author's thoughts are being said by the characters. Even though the animal aspect is a fresh idea, it doesn't seem like the theme is fully realized. There is so much more that can be done with this theme and as the story progresses, I hope to see more of the dynamic between the characters and their world, not just the characters and their group.

Overall: The pictures posted on the website, although not highly detailed, are very cute. But don't let these cute little pictures fool you. This isn't a story for kids (it's not explicit, but there are mature themes). The age group this is aimed towards is around 13 and up.

I like this story simply because I like stories about people in school. If you can get past talking animals, it will probably be an interesting read. The furries don't really act any different than normal human beings would, which is a good and a bad thing (see above). At 22 parts posted, the story is slow paced and is a bit of a breather for the more faster action oriented characters. If you don't really like furries, that may turn you off, but it's worth a shot.