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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
it was fine. i just felt like there was no actual chemistry between the mcs
I was a little disappointed in this book after having read Offside (the first in the series). I felt like this book didn’t draw me in as much and that their wasn’t as much to the story to keep me intrigued as there was in the first book, I did still finish it through and thought the ending was fitting, but it all just felt very meh to me. The idea and concept was beautiful, but it just felt very lacking. Definitely prefer the first book in this series.
Shutout by Avery Keelan
I read this book not too long after Offside back in April.
If you haven't read this book, I'd highly recommend it! It's the second book in the Rules of the Game Series, and it truly does not disappoint.
This author does a really good job at blending two characters with almost opposite ways of life. A prime example is the conversation about the Scandinavian architect and the raccoon on meth. It's super funny and honestly had me cackling, while I would indulge you on the context behind that moment I'm going to be evil and tell you to read the book and find out yourself *gasp* I know I'm honestly the worst *tee hee*
Ty and Ser really are two pieces that fit perfectly together. And I honestly couldn't have hoped for a better story. Also, those bonus chapters?!!? ARGGG *chefs kiss* literally kicking my feet screaming into the book!!!!
My opinion go read the book. Avery Keelan does not disappoint, and honestly, if you've read Offside and enjoyed it, then you'll have just as much fun reading about Chase's little sister and his teammates' relationship
I read this book not too long after Offside back in April.
If you haven't read this book, I'd highly recommend it! It's the second book in the Rules of the Game Series, and it truly does not disappoint.
This author does a really good job at blending two characters with almost opposite ways of life. A prime example is the conversation about the Scandinavian architect and the raccoon on meth. It's super funny and honestly had me cackling, while I would indulge you on the context behind that moment I'm going to be evil and tell you to read the book and find out yourself *gasp* I know I'm honestly the worst *tee hee*
Ty and Ser really are two pieces that fit perfectly together. And I honestly couldn't have hoped for a better story. Also, those bonus chapters?!!? ARGGG *chefs kiss* literally kicking my feet screaming into the book!!!!
My opinion go read the book. Avery Keelan does not disappoint, and honestly, if you've read Offside and enjoyed it, then you'll have just as much fun reading about Chase's little sister and his teammates' relationship
Once again Avery pulls you into this world, loved the chemistry and their story. Get this book you will not be disappointed and I can't wait for the physical copy to come out.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
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 Tinkerbell Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
This was good, but not Offside good...
𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
This follows Seraphina Carter (the younger sister of the MC in Offside) who had a one-night stand with an amazing guy at a Halloween Party, but they don't exchange names. Now she moves into her Brother's "Hockey" House with his teammates and is a little surprised to find out one of her new roommates IS THE GUY! Tyler Donahue the GOALIE on her brother's team, and one of his best friends who her brother will literally murder if he found out that he and her had sex. So cue the tension-filled and crazy dynamics because these two have an undeniable attraction, magnetism, and sexual tension towards each other so will they or won't they?
𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
So I am going to jump into why I preferred Offside to Shutout, and it was because it felt like Carter and Bailey felt more mature. Now, even though this one dealt with serious topics of mental illness and cancer, it just felt a little bit more juvenile in how the characters were dealing with the situation. And I don't mean juvenile as in "bad" at how they are being handled, I just meant that these felt like young adults needing to learn how to handle difficult situations. It's blatantly obvious these are university students. Their issues, lack of communication, behaviour, and just how they acted felt very "college and young adult", and it didn't feel as mature and emotionally driven as we had seen in Chase and Bailey's story.
Sera has ADHD and she struggles with it and it's impacts her life. She's also got a lot of stress and anxiety relating to her mother's cancer diagnosis and the implications of what that means for her and her possible future.
Tyler is the silent broody type. He doesn't open up very easily, and he doesn't communicate easily, so the fact that he does so with Sera is a big thing. He was just an utter sweetheart in how well he handled her mental illness as well as being there to support her. Way more than her brother because he NEVER NOTICED she was actually struggling... Like worst bro award ever!
AND THAT IS WHY THIS FELT SO OFF FOR ME... because I absolutely loved Carter in the previous book and he just felt very different from that guy that I adored because in offside he was so thoughtful and caring. Yet in this, he was huffy, aggressive and immature at times and it really bothered me that he didn't even realize that his sister was struggling with what she was going through, even if she didn't open up to him until the end.
Overall there was a lot of non-communication that happened and I think that is something that you learn as you become a little bit more of an "adult" as Sera chose not to talk about her struggles and because of that internalisation this ended up having a bigger impact on her.
𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ One Night Stand
▶ Brother's Team Mate and Friend
▶ Broody Goalie X Party Girl
▶ Roommates to Lovers
and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Under Table Touching
▷ Cages her with his arms
▷ Rolled Sleeves/Forearms
▷ Pierced MMC
▷ Brat
▷ Brings Her Drinks/Food
▷ Texting (a lot)
▷ Good Girl
▷ Were you mauled by a bear?
In the end, I didn't hate this... I think I just had higher expectations given how much I loved Offside that I thought this would be just as amazing!
Spicy Level:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
This was good, but not Offside good...
𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
This follows Seraphina Carter (the younger sister of the MC in Offside) who had a one-night stand with an amazing guy at a Halloween Party, but they don't exchange names. Now she moves into her Brother's "Hockey" House with his teammates and is a little surprised to find out one of her new roommates IS THE GUY! Tyler Donahue the GOALIE on her brother's team, and one of his best friends who her brother will literally murder if he found out that he and her had sex. So cue the tension-filled and crazy dynamics because these two have an undeniable attraction, magnetism, and sexual tension towards each other so will they or won't they?
𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
So I am going to jump into why I preferred Offside to Shutout, and it was because it felt like Carter and Bailey felt more mature. Now, even though this one dealt with serious topics of mental illness and cancer, it just felt a little bit more juvenile in how the characters were dealing with the situation. And I don't mean juvenile as in "bad" at how they are being handled, I just meant that these felt like young adults needing to learn how to handle difficult situations. It's blatantly obvious these are university students. Their issues, lack of communication, behaviour, and just how they acted felt very "college and young adult", and it didn't feel as mature and emotionally driven as we had seen in Chase and Bailey's story.
Sera has ADHD and she struggles with it and it's impacts her life. She's also got a lot of stress and anxiety relating to her mother's cancer diagnosis and the implications of what that means for her and her possible future.
Tyler is the silent broody type. He doesn't open up very easily, and he doesn't communicate easily, so the fact that he does so with Sera is a big thing. He was just an utter sweetheart in how well he handled her mental illness as well as being there to support her. Way more than her brother because he NEVER NOTICED she was actually struggling... Like worst bro award ever!
AND THAT IS WHY THIS FELT SO OFF FOR ME... because I absolutely loved Carter in the previous book and he just felt very different from that guy that I adored because in offside he was so thoughtful and caring. Yet in this, he was huffy, aggressive and immature at times and it really bothered me that he didn't even realize that his sister was struggling with what she was going through, even if she didn't open up to him until the end.
Overall there was a lot of non-communication that happened and I think that is something that you learn as you become a little bit more of an "adult" as Sera chose not to talk about her struggles and because of that internalisation this ended up having a bigger impact on her.
𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ One Night Stand
▶ Brother's Team Mate and Friend
▶ Broody Goalie X Party Girl
▶ Roommates to Lovers
and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Under Table Touching
▷ Cages her with his arms
▷ Rolled Sleeves/Forearms
▷ Pierced MMC
▷ Brat
▷ Brings Her Drinks/Food
▷ Texting (a lot)
▷ Good Girl
▷ Were you mauled by a bear?
In the end, I didn't hate this... I think I just had higher expectations given how much I loved Offside that I thought this would be just as amazing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Cute characters but I don't think I'll remember much of this romance
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After leaving her life in Arizona to be closer to her sick mother, Seraphina moves in with her brother and his two roommates. Coincidentally, one of the roommates is the mysterious stranger she hooked up with 3 months earlier.
Their chemistry was fantastic! While I wasn’t a fan of the nickname “Hades,” Tyler’s nickname for Sera, “Tink,” was adorable. Tyler gives off tattooed, grumpy, bad boy vibes, but his interactions with Sera show a whole other side of him. Seraphina is described as being a “sunshine party girl” which felt to me like more of a surface description. She has so much going on underneath her mask of sunshine which I quite liked as it made her feel more human and relatable.
My biggest annoyance in this book was Abby. What a crappy friend! Doesn’t listen, doesn’t take into account her friend’s feelings, unconcerned when her friend disappears at a party, doesn’t bat an eye at the weird/concerning feelings her (much) older brother has towards her friend. I could go on and on. I am very happy that Sera realized this and refused to continue dealing with that treatment.
I really liked the ADHD rep in the book. My younger siblings have been diagnosed with ADHD and I found that many of Sera’s struggles relate very well to theirs’. Some of the small things, like leaving the cupboard doors open, made me laugh because we are always teasing them about that.
The fact that Seraphina was dealing with her fear and anxiety over the genetic testing by herself was heartbreaking. The anticipation it caused me, as a reader, waiting to find out her test results was done very well. The nerves that caused her to put off the test were very relatable to me. I can understand the anxiety and fear that something like that can induce and I think the author portrayed it very well. She showed us how anxiety can slowly overtake your life until it all ends up bubbling over. I loved that she finally felt secure enough to tell Tyler about it and that he was so willing to go with her to the appointment. That kind of support is instrumental in dealing with scenarios such as this one.
My favourite part of the book was probably the audiobook. IYKYK.
Their chemistry was fantastic! While I wasn’t a fan of the nickname “Hades,” Tyler’s nickname for Sera, “Tink,” was adorable. Tyler gives off tattooed, grumpy, bad boy vibes, but his interactions with Sera show a whole other side of him. Seraphina is described as being a “sunshine party girl” which felt to me like more of a surface description. She has so much going on underneath her mask of sunshine which I quite liked as it made her feel more human and relatable.
I really liked the ADHD rep in the book. My younger siblings have been diagnosed with ADHD and I found that many of Sera’s struggles relate very well to theirs’. Some of the small things, like leaving the cupboard doors open, made me laugh because we are always teasing them about that.
My favourite part of the book was probably the audiobook. IYKYK.