Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

45 reviews

wondahwoman's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

While I thoroughly enjoyed the romance between Anastasia and Nate, the main source of conflict throughout the story felt a bit forced to me.

Spoilers for the antagonist/conflict below:

Stassi’s skating partner, Aaron, is nothing short of emotionally abusive, and it seemed unrealistic to me that Stassi would forgive/excuse SO MANY of his actions. Even towards the end when she had become disillusioned by all of his manipulative behavior, she continued excusing awful things. I wish there’d been more development into why she was so deep under his spell after having only been his partner for two years.

I appreciate that the drama between the two love interests was very minimal (see also: no third act breakup!) but the conflict that was there made it hard to finish near the end. It was worth it for the romance, but I wish the antagonist had been more thought out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

jeannethinks's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book took some time to get into the flow,  but once you got past the slow start it kept you entertained. It was the best of cold weather sports, hockey and ice skating.  Throw in the college shenanigans and the frenemies to lover it made for a fun read.  There is just enough balance of the sports, romance and great use of mental health awareness to offer something interesting for most readers.  Also be prepared to really dislike Aaron, for sure.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Misogyny, Infidelity, and Vomit

tgreene507's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Fatphobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

queerbookworm's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I actively avoided this book for over a year because it was a "booktok book" and I genuinely regret not reading it sooner. It's not perfect but it is way better than I expected and an enjoyable read. It's not all spice with no plot which was a very real concern of mine going in but it's a good story with spice throughout, the only proper way to write a spicy book in my opinion as a smut reader since the age of 13. The plot gets a bit predictable at points but is still able to grip you. The characters are lovely (

except Arron

) and were where I got most of my enjoyment from. I will absolutely be reading more from this author in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Body shaming, Alcohol, Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Vomit

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Medical content, Pregnancy, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Minor: Violence, Vomit, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Death

cinderrunner's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The book was cute. The relationship was cute. There were some genuinely precious moments that gave me butterflies. I would have rated it higher if not for two things. 1) Aaron was ABUSIVE and that is never properly tackled. The behavior he exhibits is incredibly dangerous. He

sexually assualts

Anastasia. But it is never called that. He is never held accountable, he never faces consequences, and even when Anastasia does cut him off the gravity of what he did is underplayed in the plot. I believe everything he did was premeditated, i cannot accept that

he didnt know he was underfeeding Anastasia (especially given how she calls him out for lifting well over her body weight. Why would he make such a fuss about her weight if he could lift it unless he was trying to exert power over her and manipulate her relationship to food to keep her dependent on him? Which would fall under emotional abuse btw).

, and given that he intentionally lied about

how he broke his arm (again in order to try to manipulate her)

it only stands to reason that he knew damn well what he was doing the whole time. The characters are constantly trying to either excuse his behavior, justify it, or questioning what his motives could possibly be. But nobody (even Anastasia with all her therapy) ever points out the obvious of him being an abuser and him wanting control over his victim. Seriously, Aaron was textbook red flag abuser. The way it is downplayed in this book truly disgusts me. If you ever meet someone like Aaron, RUN. 2) i HATE a

pregnancy

trope and that epilogue pissed me off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

emmasmidnightlibrary's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Sexual content

kashrae99's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

cutepatzie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

This is nice and light book to read. I like that it is a book to really good shows how manipulation can look like not only in relationships between friends like also coworkers. I am really happy that many of the inappropriate situations was addressed and no one made victims look bad. And I like good character development. And I can see how many of the characters have been through it. And it was nice to read that. My only complaint was sometimes the time skips to fast and tha was not enough for me plesurble to read but this is something that came maybe pist me of so will not change my grade. A good book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Sexism, and Gaslighting

britt93414's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy