Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Icebreaker

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

britt93414's review against another edition

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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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abidavisf's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I was prepared to fall head over heels in love with Icebreaker and it did capture my attention, but I found myself feeling like, for such a long book, a lot of scenes were rushed.

I’d heard a lot about Icebreaker: that it’s spicy (I would say it’s spice adjacent), that’s its emotional (I would say it could have been had the more serious scenes been broken down more), and that it’s addictive (I have been thinking about it a lot but more in a ‘why did it play out like that?’ kind of way).

Icebreaker is an easy read if that is what you are looking for. It touches on some really important and hard topics and handles them well. It also has a diverse cast of characters which is refreshing. I would say, however, that it lacks depth and you may find yourself wanting to know more than you are being given.

I’m definitely interested to read Wildfire so stay tuned for my thoughts on that. I’ve heard it’s a lot more thorough.

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ammah's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

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sunshinehwngs's review against another edition

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The plot is what you expect but what I didn’t expect is how unlikeable the main character is, but that’s not even my main issue. My main issue is her relationships with the men around her, including her best friend and love interests. TW: Disordered eating , body image issues

The best friend of the main character constantly criticizes how and what she eats to the point where she’s tracking how many pieces of popcorn she’s eating. They’re figure skaters so he constantly is shitting on her because in his eyes any amount of weight gain will make it difficult for him to lift her which is bullshit because the body naturally fluctuates it’s weight. THEN how the author describes these men compared to her is disgusting - in that hour I listened to it, on FOUR accounts the author talks about how big these men are, 6 foot plus beefcakes, and how tiny and delicate she is in comparison. Like we got it the first time but this combined with the disordered eating was far too much.

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swolds's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

Loved it. The book has everything. It is more of a cozy, heartwarming romance story rather than the wicked witch of the west romances. It is a great book if you’re after an emotional, but greatly written book. It was easy to fall in love and get to know the characters (well, most of them anyway). This is definitely a book I’ll read again.

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ilovebooks_54's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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dropshift5568's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Too much filler and not enough plot to balance well. But also a new plot point hitting every few chapters with minimal resolution. We never got more info on Aaron’s actions. Half of the storyline in the book description didn’t happen until 50% in, which is bizarre.

Started off well but ended up being a rage finish to be able to stop reading the book.

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gabichatslit's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

Icebreaker is easily one of the cutest romances I’ve read this year.

Stassie and Nate are so personal to me and I love them so much. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this bc of how hyped this book was on TikTok and that can go either way. But this one was truly amazing.

I loved how committed to her dreams and growth Anastasia was. And how protective and easy with his affection to those he loves, Nate was.

It was really nice to read/see how Stas overcame her disordered eating issues (which I could relate to) and see her supported by Nate through her struggles with it. There’s a moment towards the end of the book where Stas reflects and says how when Nate finally alerted her to her unhealthy relationship with food, how he valued her health and wellbeing over whether or not her feelings would be hurt (via the critique of her routines which she highly values/valued) and I thought about how necessary that is sometimes— to have someone who cares so much that temporary hurt feelings have to take a back burner in favor of one’s wellbeing. And Nate being able to discern that as well.

And I loved watching Stas get more comfortable and firm in drawing boundaries with the people in her life— both big and small, and especially with Nate. I was so proud of her watching her hold space for his valid feelings about various situations while simultaneously affirming that no matter how valid he might be feeling, she was owed respect and autonomy in their conversations and interactions. Like as “perfect” as Nate was as a friend and a boyfriend, he isn’t infallible. I was like your therapist would be so proud Stas lol

Also Kiss Me by Sixpence being their song was just too cute and I’ll associate that song with them now. Also also, I’m glad Nate got his lick back with Aaron— I know Henry was proud of him when he found out lol.

Also x3, I really enjoyed the spice scenes. Stas’ teasing nature in her and Nate’s dynamic was my favorite, and Nate always gave as good as he got. Both in and outside the bedroom. Which was another thing I loved about the main characters— they felt equally coupled, like it made sense they would be together.

And critiques of Stas being “mean” fell flat for me, she wasn’t a mean girl, she’s a woman with a lot on her plate, dealing with college shit and falling in love fast, her responses felt understandable.

I would’ve liked to see Nate dig a bit deeper to his issues with his dad, and his protective nature, and how those things were intertwined but I loved seeing him take on a big brother/dad role with Henry and Russ throughout the book. Like those are really his boys. In the other side of that though, I think we saw him work through those things with himself and with the boys when they would give him the harsh truth. Also the moments between Stas’ dad and him were so healing and sweet.

I’ve seen a lot of people talk highly of the romance— which is definitely deserved, but the true highlight of Icebreaker for me was the found family that was threaded throughout the story.

Stas and Nate, were the ultimate mom and dad friends with the boys and I loved it so much. And I appreciated how fleshed out the side characters felt, like I genuinely cared about each of them and they didn’t feel cursory. Also I’m so excited for Russ and Henry’s respective books— this wasn’t even his story and I had a whole tab color dedicated to Henry, I’m already in love with him lol

Ms. Hannah Grace, you did your big one with this book babe and I’m so glad you published this.

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