Larry Fanfic Detailed Recommendations

2. Young & Beautiful

Okay. I am so excited. This is my favorite book of ALL TIME. It is so so so well written (thank you Velvetoscar). It has such an interesting storyline, enemies to lovers romantic trope (woooooooohooooooooo), university AU, some Ziam content, some wonderful bubbly Niall and a lot of reference to Oscar Wilde. It is a MUST read and my favorite book of all time.

Name: Young & Beautiful

Author: Velvetoscar (AO3)

Summary: Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

State: Completed

Website: Archive of our Own (AO3)

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/838537/chapters/1597776

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Harry Styles / Louis Tomlinson; Zayn Malik / Liam Payne

Relationship Trope: Enemies to Lovers

Characters: Louis Tomlinson; Harry Styles; Niall Horan; Zayn Malik; Liam Payne

Minor Characters: Nick Grimshaw; Johannah Deakin; Charles Tomlinson; Khan Malik

POV: Louis Tomlinson (3rd person)

Tags: AU

My personal rating: ∞/10 (this is literally the best book ever)

Warning: You will never be same after this book. Ok, but seriously, there aren't too many warnings. This isn't too much smut in this book, but it is made up by the amazing writing and storyline (sorry to you horny mfs 😊) This book has a lot of what I can call 'poetry' writing with a lot of analogies. It is damn amazing.

Songs:

Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Ray

Velvetoscar says the book is closely related to this song. I think this song is amazing and definitely reminds me of the whole story and aesthetic of the book. It is a great song with amazing lyrics and you have to listen to it.

Another Love – Tom Odell

This is my favorite love song of all time. It portrays such raw and broken love that I think is expressed so well in the book. I think the song also relates to the book so much because Tom can't love/won't allow himself to love this new person and in the case, Harry has been broken so badly that it takes so long for him to allow himself to break those walls down and love Louis. This song is so beautiful as it expresses such adoration, trust, care and love for the other person.

Get Lucky – Daft Punk

Had to throw this into the mix because it is from one of my favorite scenes and it is a key point in the book where they start to trust each other.

I Know – Tom Odell

Another Tom song, I know (lol did you see what I did there). Anyways, in this song you can hear the pain Tom is feeling. I like to think this song is sung from Louis' point of view as there are lyrics like, "I know what you told me, I know that its all over and I know I cant' keep calling. Every time time I run, yeah, I keep on falling," reminds me so much of how Louis keep pushing and fighting to love Harry and even if he knows that its all over, he keeps falling deeper in love. The lyric 'falling' all plays a big part for me because as most people who have read the book know, there is a scene very very similar (like almost exactly the same) to the falling music video by Harry. The scary part is that this book was published in 2014 so how?? (*cough* *cough* Harry Styles reads fanfics) On another note, this song just portrays how much Louis listens to his heart instead of his head and even though he know that he shouldn't, he keeps falling.

My feedback: This book is just absolutely magnificent. It transported me into a different realm. This book helps me escape from reality and it makes me feel an array of emotions. It is a University AU and its probably the reason I want to go to uni in England. I think about it at least twice a day. Please please please go read this book!!!

Quotes:

The moon knows that were in love.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

Keep your secrets. You're too young and beautiful not to have secrets.

Good, I should hate to make sense.

You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.

I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real.