Reviews

Game Misconduct by Ari Baran

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This is the story of an unlikely and unwanted attraction between two rival hockey players. It is raw and painfully beautiful. Even though I sometimes just wanted to smack these two on the head for being such idiots, I learned to really love them as I listened to this book, one chapter after another.
25-year-old defenseman Mike Sato and 35-year-old veteran enforcer Danny Garcia play on rival hockey teams and get into fights every single time they meet, without fail. Their animosity is legendary. But when they accidentally bump into each other during the off-season, outside of the rink, their intense dislike manifests in a completely different way … something neither of them can forget. Because of their mutual hate, they focus on each other so much that they discover heartbreaking pieces that are completely hidden from anyone else. The verbal and physical jabs turn into dares and messages exchanged with shockingly private information … and so their intense, angsty, sometimes painful, sometimes kinky, sometimes hopeful story unfolds over some time. This is not a pretty book but it holds so much need, want, and ultimately love that I believe it is a must-read. Baran’s writing style is very casual but I think it actually worked very well with the audio version, it conveyed how lost, scared, and unsure both guys felt at times, and how their mental states affected their lives. Do heed the trigger warnings, again, this is not a fluffy and light read!

Rivals to Lovers
Age Gap
Mental Health Rep
Some Kink
All the Insults
Steamy

Please check the TW for sensitive content!

madscientistcat's review

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emotional 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad tense

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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

spacerebel's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

4.0

pkrantz's review

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emotional sad 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

4.0

cheye13's review

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emotional sad tense 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

4.0

This was much more than I bargained for; I was looking for a fun hockey romance and instead got a very moving one. I appreciated both characters' personal journeys and loved reading about them helping each other heal. I also loved that we got to see quite a bit of the game as well, and didn't have to exchange that for getting to know the characters. It was a little darker – or more intense – of a story that I was expected, but the author's content warnings and general tone of the writing style readjusted my expectations before it was an issue. A pleasant read all-around.

Content Warnings

jce's review

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3.75

So hard to rate this. I have found both this author’s books so frustrating because they have the potential to be great and I do really enjoy parts of them. But as with the other book I read by this author, we don’t get the part of the story I most want. I enjoyed this book much more than the other one but this needed to be longer and to focus more on what comes next for these two. I want to actually see some healing and recovery and life changes. This ending felt ridiculously rushed and focused on the wrong things. And again it had the potential to be really outstanding. So very frustrating! I cared enough about these characters that I desperately wanted to read about good things for them and to see them get to a better place.

dsauriol1991's review

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4.0

Oh boy where to start with this one. There was a lot that I loved about this book, Mike’s growth is so so well done. While Danny’s descent to rock bottom is both frustrating and heartbreaking because you get where he’s coming from. The sex scenes were right at my line of what I enjoy but the author does warn at the top that this book has under negotiated kink and it is all consensual. Also this book heavily deals with substance abuse issues so if that could be triggering I would skip this one for sure. Saying all that though I did enjoy this book the more I read it which ultimately led to my rating.