Manacled is among the most famous of Harry Potter fan fiction, which are works that use existing characters in an existing universe to build their own story. In an era of JK Rowling being garbage, fan fiction is the only Harry Potter content I can feel good about consuming anymore, and after years of hearing so much about this particular work of fan fiction, it was time to give it a try. What I discovered was a reading experience that felt like a decade-long journey with great peril at every turn.
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are the center of this romantic fan fiction, a pairing that is much beloved in the fan fiction realm. We all know romance readers love a good morally grey main man, and the version of Draco Malfoy that exists in these pages checks those boxes in spades. He embodies some classic tropes, like his “touch her and die” energy, and how he hates everyone but her.
Their relationship is another enemies-to-lovers situation where it seems absolutely unfathomable that these enemies could ever become lovers, but somehow this author makes it happen. These two fight hard, and until the very end, the reader is never sure if they are going to get their happy ending or if the story is going to be an epic tragedy.
In the first several chapters of this story, I was incredibly surprised by the Handmaid’s Tale energy. It was not at all what I was expecting, and from there, the story just gets darker and darker in a way I was entirely unprepared for. My expectations for romantic fan fiction were some banter (which is there) and some fun, but this instead was deeply emotional, hopelessly painful, and a had very elaborate plot.
If it were not for my curiosity, I would not not have finished this. Not because it’s not interesting or well written, but the first many chapters of this 77-chapter-long story are just far too rapey for me. It’s at times incredibly hard to get through.
That said, I still loved most of this book, and I’m glad I kept going to get to the end. Hermoine and Draco, known as Dramione in the fan fiction community are my favorite pairing to read about, but this book tested my boundaries in a way that few others have.
The healing magic that Hermione uses is such a fascinating addition to an established magical system. At every turn, the author adds something new and interesting to an already elaborate universe.
Readers are also given a more morbid but more realistic view of the Wizarding War than the actual book. Of course, the Order’s dedication to only using disarming spells would be a huge liability. Of course, their undying optimism would seem silly in the face of the dark villains they’re facing.
Without question, this is too long to be read in one go like you would a regular book. I read it that way, and it felt like my brain was melting from the sheer amount of words I was trying to process. I also feel like it did not actually need to be this long. Some editing would have been beneficial here.
Manacled is such a creative use of an existing universe, using characters we all know and giving them a completely different arc and tone. It will make your heart hurt, keep you on the edge of your toes, and make you consider the grey area between good and evil. That’s quite an accomplishment to achieve in one story, even if it’s obscenely long. If you have the time to dedicate to 2,000-something pages, Manacled is worth the journey.
Spice: 2
Writing: 3.5
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