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vj_thompson's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Classism, Cursing, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, and Alcohol
rickireadss's review
3.5
this one was a cute little hockey romance between online friends. i liked naomi and finn a bunch, but i also have realized i HATE the amnesia trope. i think without that, i would have liked this more than i did. i'm excited to continue this series though, because all the side characters were really likeable.
⚠️: violence, injury/injury detail, death of parent, medical content, child abuse, classism
⚠️: violence, injury/injury detail, death of parent, medical content, child abuse, classism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Child abuse and Classism
mx_virg's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a very cute romance, very light on the angst but with a lot of delicious pining.
I really enjoyed getting to know Naomi and Finn and watching their romance develop, they're a really wholesome couple. One of the best grumpy-sunshine couple I've read in a while. Probably because "grumpy" and "happy" are not the whole list of their personalities, they're well-rounded characters, not just a trope. And, again, it's light on angst. No dramatic third act, no surprise pregnancy, OW or OM drama, just a very sweet romance between two interesting, loving and respectful people.
Finn's character arc was also very refreshing to read, how he came to terms with what happened to him and how he learned to move forward. I also loved how Finn is a grump, but not a jerk (seriously, why are there so many assholes in the grumpy-sunshine trope?).
I saw some reviews saying they're frustrated that some stuff isn't resolved by the end of the book. There's a "hockey plot" that's popping up from time to time, and we don't get a resolution here. It will probably be something that will span several books, and I'm okay with that. It adds something to the story without taking up too much real-estate page-wise (and I'm here for the romance, not college sport scams).
There are two things that bothered me in this book. One is the lack of information given about anything that is not directly related to the romance. We only get some snippets of information about Naomi and Finn. It is alluded throughout the book that both Finn and Naomi had difficult childhoods, but we have to wait until the end of the book to get some specifics on that, and only for Naomi. Same for Finn's assault, we only get to know what happened to the assailants at the very end of the book.
This also means that some plot points lack gravitas, there's no work that has been done to give those story points some weight. For example (very very mild spoilers here), Finn has been lying to Naomi. When she realizes he has been lying to her, we learn that she really hates being lied to because of past events, which Finn knew about. We have chapters in Finn's POV, where he feels bad about not being honest with her. It would have been so easy to add in one of those moments "Although anyone would be upset being lied to, I know this is even more the case for Naomi because of XYZ. She might never forgive me for it." Instead you get some info that becomes totally uninteresting when we're made aware of it, it adds nothing to the story. It's not a big issue, but this lack of background info means there's very little anchoring of the characters and their actions in some kind of reality, because we're just not really made aware of the stakes, consequences, or hardships.
Then there's the one thing I could have done without in this book: the smut. I don't think I ever read a book where I thought "this would have been better without those sex scenes" (then again, I've been reading books mainly for the smut for a while, so it doesn't say much), but here I am. Their romance is so sweet, their interactions so lovely, so wholesome, it was weird to jump from there to dirty-talking Finn. The scenes weren't bad, just not needed.
I still enjoyed this book a lot, the romance is just so sweet. Sam's book is up next, which I'm a bit sad about because it's the character I'm the least interested in. I'm curious about Lincoln and Celeste, but the guy that really is doing it for me is Henrik (between him and Finn, it's a tie). So yeah, I will be reading the rest of the series, but will probably wait for Lincoln's or Hendrik's book to be out.
I really enjoyed getting to know Naomi and Finn and watching their romance develop, they're a really wholesome couple. One of the best grumpy-sunshine couple I've read in a while. Probably because "grumpy" and "happy" are not the whole list of their personalities, they're well-rounded characters, not just a trope. And, again, it's light on angst. No dramatic third act, no surprise pregnancy, OW or OM drama, just a very sweet romance between two interesting, loving and respectful people.
Finn's character arc was also very refreshing to read, how he came to terms with what happened to him and how he learned to move forward. I also loved how Finn is a grump, but not a jerk (seriously, why are there so many assholes in the grumpy-sunshine trope?).
I saw some reviews saying they're frustrated that some stuff isn't resolved by the end of the book. There's a "hockey plot" that's popping up from time to time, and we don't get a resolution here. It will probably be something that will span several books, and I'm okay with that. It adds something to the story without taking up too much real-estate page-wise (and I'm here for the romance, not college sport scams).
There are two things that bothered me in this book. One is the lack of information given about anything that is not directly related to the romance. We only get some snippets of information about Naomi and Finn. It is alluded throughout the book that both Finn and Naomi had difficult childhoods, but we have to wait until the end of the book to get some specifics on that, and only for Naomi. Same for Finn's assault, we only get to know what happened to the assailants at the very end of the book.
This also means that some plot points lack gravitas, there's no work that has been done to give those story points some weight. For example (very very mild spoilers here), Finn has been lying to Naomi. When she realizes he has been lying to her, we learn that she really hates being lied to because of past events, which Finn knew about. We have chapters in Finn's POV, where he feels bad about not being honest with her. It would have been so easy to add in one of those moments "Although anyone would be upset being lied to, I know this is even more the case for Naomi because of XYZ. She might never forgive me for it." Instead you get some info that becomes totally uninteresting when we're made aware of it, it adds nothing to the story. It's not a big issue, but this lack of background info means there's very little anchoring of the characters and their actions in some kind of reality, because we're just not really made aware of the stakes, consequences, or hardships.
Then there's the one thing I could have done without in this book: the smut. I don't think I ever read a book where I thought "this would have been better without those sex scenes" (then again, I've been reading books mainly for the smut for a while, so it doesn't say much), but here I am. Their romance is so sweet, their interactions so lovely, so wholesome, it was weird to jump from there to dirty-talking Finn. The scenes weren't bad, just not needed.
I still enjoyed this book a lot, the romance is just so sweet. Sam's book is up next, which I'm a bit sad about because it's the character I'm the least interested in. I'm curious about Lincoln and Celeste, but the guy that really is doing it for me is Henrik (between him and Finn, it's a tie). So yeah, I will be reading the rest of the series, but will probably wait for Lincoln's or Hendrik's book to be out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Classism
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