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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
I have no idea how to rate this. I kickstarted it a million years ago, so I already knew the story and it was not that different from previous versions. So no rating or review I could leave would be my normal first impression.
The last book that gave me this hard a blow, I was the clueless person reading A Song of Achilles. (For context, I didn't know the actual story of Achilles and Particles beforehand, so that ending was a harsh blow.)
But back to this, Thrown Off the Ice is my first book by this author and it sufficiently knocked the breath out of me.
A smart person would read half the book and would be able to guess where the excruciating build-up is leading and stop right there for their heart's sake. I am not a smart person.
This book had all the heart-in-your-throat feelings of Tal Bauer's writing and a few drops from the bottle of pain that is reminiscent of A Little Life's Hanya Yanagihara.
It is the story of Liam and Mike, but the readers see the complete book from Mike's perspective.
Mike is an NHL hockey player; not one of the big stars, but still someone to look out for on the ice.
And Liam is the rookie on his team who seems to have picked the introverted, not-a-people-person Mike to latch onto as his best friend and crush.
At first Mike tries to shake him off, but there is an indescribable chemistry between, and he gives in, telling himself that it would only a one-time thing.
But Liam is starry-eyed, head-over-heels in love and suddenly, he's breaking through every one of Mike's walls.
Eroding them slowly, wave after persistent wave, with his affection and optimism and patience. The whole journey is heady and agonizing, because it very clearly foreshadows what's going to happen in the end. But as the reader who is in love with these characters, you turn a blind eye to it.
But alas, the author wrote what they wrote, and when you reach that point somehow you're sobbing your eyes out because you want to have what you just read be something else so bad.
Overall it is an intense, emotional read that has your heart clenched in a fist the whole time.
But back to this, Thrown Off the Ice is my first book by this author and it sufficiently knocked the breath out of me.
A smart person would read half the book and would be able to guess where the excruciating build-up is leading and stop right there for their heart's sake. I am not a smart person.
This book had all the heart-in-your-throat feelings of Tal Bauer's writing and a few drops from the bottle of pain that is reminiscent of A Little Life's Hanya Yanagihara.
It is the story of Liam and Mike, but the readers see the complete book from Mike's perspective.
Mike is an NHL hockey player; not one of the big stars, but still someone to look out for on the ice.
And Liam is the rookie on his team who seems to have picked the introverted, not-a-people-person Mike to latch onto as his best friend and crush.
At first Mike tries to shake him off, but there is an indescribable chemistry between, and he gives in, telling himself that it would only a one-time thing.
But Liam is starry-eyed, head-over-heels in love and suddenly, he's breaking through every one of Mike's walls.
Eroding them slowly, wave after persistent wave, with his affection and optimism and patience. The whole journey is heady and agonizing, because it very clearly foreshadows what's going to happen in the end. But as the reader who is in love with these characters, you turn a blind eye to it.
But alas, the author wrote what they wrote, and when you reach that point somehow you're sobbing your eyes out because you want to have what you just read be something else so bad.
Overall it is an intense, emotional read that has your heart clenched in a fist the whole time.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Why do I like sad stories the most?
I nearly cried three times while reading this on my phone at work, but that’s my own fault because I found out one of them was going to die before I even picked up the book.
I nearly cried three times while reading this on my phone at work, but that’s my own fault because I found out one of them was going to die before I even picked up the book.
I laughed so much.
It also, unquestionably, broke my heart; I'm literally in tears right now, as I have been for the past 30 minutes of reading this beautiful love story.
Because, it is a love story.
And sometimes love stories don't have a HEA, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful or perfect.
It also, unquestionably, broke my heart; I'm literally in tears right now, as I have been for the past 30 minutes of reading this beautiful love story.
Because, it is a love story.
And sometimes love stories don't have a HEA, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful or perfect.
If only I could give 6 stars to this book !
This book is definitely one of my favorite this year !
3 days after reading it I’m still heartbroken, wondering why Mike had so much barriers, wondering about all the could have, should have been… but so so grateful for these 2, because their love story will always be a part of me now.
This is an amazing love story… (and the sex is so
This book is definitely one of my favorite this year !
3 days after reading it I’m still heartbroken, wondering why Mike had so much barriers, wondering about all the could have, should have been… but so so grateful for these 2, because their love story will always be a part of me now.
This is an amazing love story… (and the sex is so
3.5 Stars
This was quite good. The main characters, Mike and Liam, were likeable but also flawed and relatable and I felt invested in their lives. I’m not really a sports person, but there’s not too much hockey-talk in this book. I’m also not a huge crier, but even I shed just a couple of tears at the end of this - this is an emotional journey that will tug on your heartstrings.
I don’t mean to make this review a list of things that I’m not, but another thing that I’m not is much of a romance reader. I love a good, well-written romance if there’s other stuff going on, but I’ve read very few books where the romance *IS* the plot. This book falls into the second category, and so I personally did find it kind of slow, but since romance is a massively popular genre, this won’t be a problem for most people.
My other absolutely teeny, tiny (and admittedly kind of weird) issue was the type of swearing - I don’t give the slightest fuck about swearing, but some (not all!) of the time in this book it just felt unnatural. I sort of feel like the author herself never swears and just went through and inserted as many ‘fuck’’s as she could in random locations and it didn’t really flow quite right (this could easily be a cultural thing too though- like I (English/Kiwi/Aussie) would say “this fucking cup of tea” whereas as Mike would say “this cup of fucking tea” which sounds odd to me, but maybe that’s what they do in North America?). It’s not a problem at all, just something I observed.
This was quite good. The main characters, Mike and Liam, were likeable but also flawed and relatable and I felt invested in their lives. I’m not really a sports person, but there’s not too much hockey-talk in this book. I’m also not a huge crier, but even I shed just a couple of tears at the end of this - this is an emotional journey that will tug on your heartstrings.
I don’t mean to make this review a list of things that I’m not, but another thing that I’m not is much of a romance reader. I love a good, well-written romance if there’s other stuff going on, but I’ve read very few books where the romance *IS* the plot. This book falls into the second category, and so I personally did find it kind of slow, but since romance is a massively popular genre, this won’t be a problem for most people.
My other absolutely teeny, tiny (and admittedly kind of weird) issue was the type of swearing - I don’t give the slightest fuck about swearing, but some (not all!) of the time in this book it just felt unnatural. I sort of feel like the author herself never swears and just went through and inserted as many ‘fuck’’s as she could in random locations and it didn’t really flow quite right (this could easily be a cultural thing too though- like I (English/Kiwi/Aussie) would say “this fucking cup of tea” whereas as Mike would say “this cup of fucking tea” which sounds odd to me, but maybe that’s what they do in North America?). It’s not a problem at all, just something I observed.