Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Icebreaker

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

455 reviews

sara33bear's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

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wondahwoman's review against another edition

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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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jeanettesreadingcorner's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-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

3.5

What I liked:

Once I read past 200 or so pages, it’s like the author found the plot and the story actually began. I started to enjoy the characters the romance, and everything else more. Nate and Anastasia are really cute. I enjoyed how they supported each other and their character growth, together and as individuals. The hockey team guys are funny and sweet too. I loved their found family dynamics.

- Nate punching Aaron was really satisfying.

I’m curious to read Wildfire to see how it compares to this one and I liked the characters enough to continue reading in the Maple Hills book world.
The ending was astronomically better than the beginning of the book. Overall, I eventually liked Icebreaker and I could see why it’s popular. There are some aspects that bothered me about it though…

What I disliked:
- Aaron The Asshole sucks and I hate him, especially the way he treated Anastasia.

the beginning is a mess. There’s no direction or storyline. The characters are just partying and having sex, talking about sex, or insinuating it. I don’t mind sex scenes and they don’t bother me. However, they don’t need to be so frequent and in every moment the main characters are together. It was just too much in one book. That’s something that I don’t like about adult romance books.
British phrases in a book set in the USA and the characters are American? So weird. I guess it could be the quirky thing that the author writes but it seemed so odd and out of place to me.
The book is written in dual pov, which I usually prefer and love, but it did feel repetitive at times in this one.

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sou_readings's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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1jessicabearx's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

“I’d say she’s going to ruin all other women for me, but I don’t think about anyone but her. ”

If you love found family, and friendship groups you end up dying to be a part of, then this book is definitely for you. This book was the first time I'd properly experienced the found family trope and I can't describe the level of happiness it brought me! Especially JJ, that man has my absolute heart. These characters are not only hilarious (I'm talking eye wateringly funny) but stupidly romantic too? The sentences that came out of some of these boy's mouths, I was shocked (“Looking at her makes me want to be the funniest guy in the room, so I can be the one to make her laugh.” ...excuse me what do you mean?!) The characters are also mad fuckable but don't tell anyone.

This book has some serious spice (that taxi scene - GIRL.) which I wasn't fully prepared for going in but was definitely a fan. This did mean it took me longer to read though because I felt like I had to really be in the mood to appreciate certain chapters, and ended up not wanting to read them because I knew I had a spice scene coming up. I mean to some it up; “It’s not porn. It’s a romance book that happens to have a little bit of sex in it.”

Aaron is the worst in the world that boy needs to shut up. But apart from him this book is a dream.

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