HOUSE OF FANFIC REVIEW

Review of Lessons Learned by Donnilee 
Review by Sara Marsten 
Rating: 9 of 10   
 
Lessons Learned is the seventh story in Donnilee's "Dark Sex Series". 
Although some of the stories could stand alone, the reader needs to have at 
least read story six in the series (Double Whammie) to appreciate this one 
due to the introduction of an original character.   
 
Warnings...if you have been reading this series and expect this story to 
provide a Mulder/Scully centric plot with a lot of MSR, you will be 
surprised to find that this story quite different than the earlier stories 
in the series.  There is still some MSR, but the story is heavily Skinner 
focused.  However, I found that I was "pleasantly" surprised and enjoyed 
reading it.   
 
Some folks may feel that Lessons Learned deviated from the series 
theme.  My opinion is that it expands on the earlier "dark sex" themes
with Skinner and an original character named Sydney.  Donnilee has done a
great job in several of her stories of introducing original characters.
In a series this long, I think introduction of a new character is a wise
choice to broaden the storyline and keep the series dynamic and interesting.   
 
One other new aspect for this series, and Donnilee stories in general, is a 
small F/F slash scene that includes Scully.  Although I read all kinds of 
stories, including slash, this scene didn't work for me in the context of 
this story.  It was a short scene and even though it didn't work for me, it 
didn't detract from the rest of the story.  I did appreciate the clear 
warning by Donnilee in the beginning summary that the story included F/F 
slash, so the reader is well aware of what they are getting into.   
 
This could prove to be disappointing to someone reading this series purely 
for the MSR aspects.  Having said that ..... I was not disappointed.  I 
think the story is well written with an original plot and intriguing new 
characters.  It is a good size story, but well worth the read.   
 
Sara Marsten