Trixie's Forest Retreat By crowscrowcrow

Summery: A bit after the events of Boast Busters, Trixie attempts to doge Ponyville, only to get hospitalized by rainbow Dash and taken in by Fluttershy. Much relationship building ensues, along with a look into Trixie's childhood.

Grammar: One word: fantastic. This is a long story 322,561 words to be exact. Room for error is huge, but crowscrowcrow nailed it. The great vocabulary and fantastic structuring made up for the few grammatical errors. I give this factor a 4/5.

Style: Fun. Interesting. Clear. The multiple P.O.V's offered almost immediately in this story make for a fluid read. Let me say crowscrowcrow is very descriptive, you know what a character is feeling, you know why they are feeling it, and where. The jokes are funny, and Trixie is witty most of the time. A few chapters hold a handful of conversations between Twilight and Trixie, on the topic of magic history and spell physics. I'm a SUCKER for any and all pony history/spell physics, this fic actually gave me a few head cannons on magic physics, so many points for that move. The main concern is the unspent potential of this fic, some plot arcs are unfinished, some characters unused. Over all I give this factor a 4/5

Plot/characters: This is a more tricky area of the review, for this is where I have about a 50/50 like/dislike on this story. Throughout this story the reader gets to peer into the somewhat troubled childhood of Trixie. At first, this was a welcome addition compared to other Trixie fics. But as I read on, I came to realize that the arc may never come to give the reader a sense of closure. I was correct. It was disappointing to say the least. Another driver plot-wise is Trixie's CONSTANT injuries. I do love a good plot driving injury, but when a character is messed up for 120+ chapters, it gets kinda old. On a more positive note, towards the beginning of the story, once Trixie moves in with fluttershy, Trixie's heart could be anyones. To clarify, Trixie moves in with Fluttershy so she wont be alone with her RD given injuries. A time into the situation, with much flirting on both sides, I had no idea how the romantic situation would turn out, loved that aspect, fantastically well done. Some character review, Fluttershy and Trixie are mostly spot on in this fic. However, I did think that Trixie was acting a bit to forgiving to quickly for her character. crowscrowcrow nailed Fluttershy's personality wonderfully. Rainbow Dash was a 50/50 for me. She was surprising and fun at times, but she was also harsh, violent, and dumb at times. Her redeeming quality in this fic is her sudden loving tender moments with Trixie where the reader gets to see beyond RD's brash exterior. Pinky Pie was a let down. She made a few appearances here and there from chapter to chapter, but it just left me wanting more. But where Pinky is included, you can bet that it will be a laugh. Over all I would give this factor a 3/5

Personal Preference/conclusion: Despite my complaints, I really enjoyed this story. I think that it is a must read. If you have not, start now. I know I would defiantly read it again.

Final Rating: 4/5 Complete every arc you start, and more character diversity would be my constructive criticism for this fic. But over all Trixie's Forest Retreat is a hit of a fic, with great grammar, lots of lore, and don't forget steamy romance. Read it, like it, love it. This has been 'A Shipshelf Review' till next time. - Mirth

I was pretty annoyed at myself for criticizing this post from crowscrowcrow's blog entry instead of here, so here I am.

I'm surprised you barely describe the ships in the story when the very point of this group is ships. Not that I actually know how one reviews a ship in the first place.

Uh, I never noticed the vocabulary. Or if I did, I don't remember, which is probable since my memory has more holes than the plots of all Equestria Girls movies combined.

Good to know the tale of Trixie's childhood doesn't have an end. I guess I can start skipping them now that I've lost interest in them. It's already a mystery I didn't skip them to begin with since I hate kids.

Probably doesn't help that I asked myself 'when did Starlight Glimmer get in this fic?' once I resumed reading it and encountered a childhood chapter. Took me until I saw the family name of Trixie's friend again before I got it.

Kudos to crowscrowcrow either way. Writing over 320,000 words is hard enough, making them good is harder.

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The point of the group is to review shipfics as a whole, not to review the ships themselves. As you say, it would be pretty hard to try and objectively review a ship As a reader, I already know the story's a shipfic by virtue of it being in this group at all. What I want the review for is to tell me if the story on general is worth reading. It could star my favorite relationships, but if something's not good then it doesn't really matter what the ships are.

Thanks for the answer and explanation.