i love your story its really good
you're an amazing writer!
and did you happen to read the Alice series?
because the test that leslie and jesse took was in one of the Alice books lol

Ur story amazing plz continue it i couldn't turn my computer off maybe even take one year and look into it in more detail

ok.. i didnt understand basically anything.. =)
everything was jumbled together.. so i basically skipped the last part and reviewed
thanks though.. i guess

Haha, I loved this! I was about to freak though...great job! (:

Angelica

oh my gosh i love this story!! little hard to undestand though. there was some army bomb thing at the end of a chapter, was it sposedto be there? i didn't read it. then leslies depresed then she not and now suddenly they are on a ship? I love it but either i am really tired or somethings up. I LOVE THIS STORY STILL THOUGH SERIOUSLY IT SHOULD BE PUBLISHED AS A ACUAL BOOK WITH THE SAME CHARACTER WITH DIFFERENT NAMES!

Oh no
It 's ended
Amazingly good story
Also
Yea, he had it turned into a Boy Scout Camp( I am a Boy Scout btw)

SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THIS CHAPTER YET!

Well, I couldn't have asked for a better ending!

I have to agree with some of the other viewers that some of the last chapter was rushed. I think an entire chapter could have been devoted to the Burkes and Anton's discovery. He IS Leslie's older brother, after all! (And I called it pretty close in our PMs about the subject! I just had the wrong Aarons sister's soldier boyfriend!) ;-) It could have been one of the most dramatic moments in the story. Perhaps you should consider writing it as a separate story.

I also think it would have been nice if you'd devoted some time and detail to J&L's kids. You did say there were five including the one Leslie was carrying.

You had me dead to rights with your deception. It never even sunk in until the end that you never used a proper name in referring to Becky’s father. I actually thought: "This really sucks! This is like the series finale to THE WONDER YEARS, and I can't believe Rick did this to Jess and Leslie after the positive comments he made about my TWY fanfics that kept Kevin and Winnie together!" I was actually disheartened as I read the rest of it, and thought that Jess and Leslie were just being two old friends taking a nolstalgic walk until the last couple of paragraphs. Then I had to reread the whole thing in the new light, and I thought the ending was perfect.

All good things must come to an end, and while this is the end of ALR/THE BRINK, I certainly hope it's not the end of your involvement with the BtT fanfic community! Thanks for a masterpiece that is in a class by itself!

FANTASTIC! That's all I really can say. I liked the expanded version of the first scene in the woods. Great job! Thank you again for this story, Rick!

This is probably one of my favourite chapters in the book. The one thing I don't get about this series is What's the difference between the "M" chapters and the "T" chapters. I read both versions and did not see any noticeable errors (I probably just wasn't paying enough attention). Can't wait till the next chapter, wonder if its "M" or "T"?

Love the fanfic.

Sincerly Faltalis

P.S. I hope Jess gets a good 15th B-Day present ;p

Fantastic chapter! Can't wait for more!

Another great chapter! As always, looking forward for the next chapter. :)

I think I may have said this in a couple other reviews but I love the fact that Jesse is more unsure than Leslie. It's just refreshing becuase it proves that teenage boys and girls aren't always typical. Had Leslie been with any other boy he would have taken her already. It's not often you see the girl pressuring the boy and goes to show boys can sometimes be more sensitive than even girls. I loved this chapter.

Very nice chapter! I really loved the way you extended the conversation between Jess and Leslie on the balcony.

The ending to this chapter was amazing! I'm at a loss for words trying to describe my reaction, so I'll just use one: wow.

Your comment about the state of the education system in Virginia is very true. To learn anything at all, students really do need to take AP classes. When I was in high school, I made the mistake of not taking an AP class one year, and it was a nightmare. The students were disruptive, and the teacher didn't spend much time teaching. It was more like a partially supervised detention hall. I can say with confidence that I did not learn anything in that class that I didn't already know; the small amount of work was ridiculously easy and students had to make a conscious effort to fail a test. Can you believe that people make it to high school without knowing how to read? There are also high school students that don't know the difference between an noun and a verb! I've heard that most public schools are like that. My only nitpick with this is that most students won't take AP classes as freshman. There are Honors level courses, which are roughly equivalent, and build up to the AP level coursework. Most of the less affluent districts do not have a good honors/AP program.

The email survey was pretty funny, at least to my twisted sense of humor. Are you a Veronica Mars fan? Your survey was very similar to the Purity Test featured in S01E08 of the aforementioned show. There was a pretty good riot after the creator of that test sold the results for ten bucks per student. Nothing like that ever happened in my high school, but it sure would have made for an entertaining few weeks. The Bill Clinton impersonation also made me laugh. (My answer would define 'is' as the third person singular present indicative of the verb to be.) It would be awesome if you could incorporate more allusions to literature, art, history, and current events.

The description of the romance scene was very well done. "It was both alluring and frightening; caged and wild." My only nitpick with that line is that you shouldn't use a semicolon, since the second clause is not a complete sentence. A dash would work, or perhaps a colon. I noticed a few other grammar issues, but nothing that made the chapter hard to understand. Everything flows very well.

The romance in general was well written and, just as importantly, in character. The restraint and willpower Jess and Leslie demonstrated shows that they care for each other on an emotional basis. Many high school romances are based only on the physical component of the relationship. Jess and Leslie are unique because their romantic relationship is developing out of and grounded in a strong platonic friendship. In the end, even if they do break up (and I hope they don't) they will still be good friends. They've been through too much together for their friendship to dissolve like so many high school relationships.

Leslie's discussion with her parents brought to mind a practice I learned about way back in AP US History. In colonial times, young couples would often sleep together fully clothed (sometimes with a board between them) while they were courting. This practice, called bundling, was designed differentiate between intimacy and intercourse; it was a stepping stone of sorts. Since Jess and Leslie are adventurous teenagers, a modern equivalent might be sleeping in the same tent (but different sleeping bags) on a backpacking trip up in the mountains. They're old enough to be fine on their own, especially in unpopulated areas where other people wouldn't be a threat. The parents would trust that there would be no intercourse; the children would appreciate this trust and respect the parents' wishes. Since your story is in modern times, they could take along SPOT in case of an emergency.

I liked how you developed the relationship between Ellie and Jess. When he was in elementary school, his older sisters bullied and belittled him. Now, they respect him for his relationship with Leslie and for doing well in high school. Jess is developing a new respect for Ellie too; he is deferring to her experience with romance and high school life. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a sibling than to a parent, and I really like how you have brought them closer. What is going to happen to Ellie, with Toby's death?

Finally, I sent you a rather long email with a review up to chapter 45. I just wanted to make sure that you got it; don't feel obligated to reply. Sometimes messages get caught in spam filters, so I just wanted to make sure it made it to your inbox.

Regards,

Rick B. Wreslot

Great chapter! I really admire how you just take your time and write chapters as long as this.

And I agree with Freestyler75. This is definitely THE sex chapter of ALR.