Told in alternating sections of Dan talking with Abby in therapy and the events he tells her about, the narration in this story is amazingly tight. Unreliable narrators, when done right, are such an effective trick; they’re fallible, we only know what they know when they know it (but sometimes we can guess at more) and the building of plots is even more intense. And Annie is fantastic at all of this in Like Sailing and Home Runs. Her Dan is charming and fallible, sympathetic and stubborn.

Like Sailing and Home Runs

This is like, an entire afternoon read, but it goes by so quickly. Some authors fall into pacing traps and narrative potholes and diversions when writing stories this length but Annie is not one of them. Epic and at turns frustrating (because boys are just so dense you know?) and romantic but never, ever sappy. And the fantastic thing about Annie’s stories? Is that they always satisfy. She is the queen of telling not showing and she’s a true Sports Night writer, this isn’t just a story about two guys getting together, it’s a story about best friends and sportswriters and tv shows and so, so much more. Every cast member is fleshed out and full of life, and every pice of action is lived by you and the characters. This is how all fanfiction should be written.

Not Homophobic