Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Long Game

A beautiful end to Shane and Ilya’s story and it was so rewarding to see these two get their hard-won HEA

I’ll admit that it did drag in spots but the emotional payoff was definitely worth it. I also loved the mental health representation and how things aren’t magically fixed by being in a relationship or when life is generally going well

For anyone wondering if they need to read the whole series before reading this book, I read only Heated Rivalry and the Long Game and did not feel lost at all. The universe, side characters, and hockey teams are all easy to follow. I’m sure it is even more rewarding to read the series in order, but I’m impatient and not sad that I could read Shane and Ilya’s full story all at once

Content Warnings

reniareads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

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evaorange's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

4.75

I would read 7 more books about these two.

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jayreadsss's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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silver_lining_in_a_book's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful relaxing sad tense slow-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

4.25

Kiss me, Ilya wanted to say. Kiss me and hold me in front of all these people. Pull me onstage and do it. I don’t care anymore. Please. I’m dying. “Nothing,” Ilya said, and stepped away. “Nothing.”

This book cover, unfortunately, is not at all representative of how difficult some parts of this book were to read, particularly in the first half of the book. I was expecting to just have a tonne of fun as I did with the first part of Ilya and Shane's love story, but instead, I was greeted with depictions of untreated depression, undiagnosed (and not discussed) orthorexia, and Ilya's heartbreaking and under-appreciated sacrifices for Shane's sake. Many of the discussions in this book were so important, but I found them to be so mentally draining at times.

However, after slightly struggling through the first part of the book, I finally found myself sinking into the story and I couldn't stop reading it. Shane's behaviour in this sequel slightly disappointed me - he didn't quite feel like the same person at times and I thought he was really taking Ilya for granted - but he did get better throughout this novel. Ilya, on the other hand, has to be one of my favourite characters. I absolutely loved him because of how relatable he was to me. His emotions and actions felt very realistic and true to his character; I appreciated the depiction of his mental health struggles and how well he understood his own emotions, and my heart absolutely went out to him.

Overall, I think this was a really great book and it must be one of the best follow-ups to an enemies-to-lovers romance that I have ever read. It didn't feel like Reid was forcing any unnecessary conflict into the book, but there were still lots of high stakes and emotions throughout!

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cluckieduck's review

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emotional funny fast-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

4.0

Oh man, I am having a hard time reviewing this one because it is so obviously fan-service - filled with soooo much Rozander smut, but also touching on some really heavy issues surrounding depression, trauma, and stress which would have been better handled (I think) if there was more focus on the plot > porn. So, on the one hand I loved it - inject as much Ilya ❤ Shane content into my veins as possible, please. On the other hand, the writing felt a bit rushed with all the forced conflict to progress the story, which I felt was a disservice.

I loved how the story overlapped with some of the timeline in Role Model, especially surrounding a particular incident.

This go-round is very Ilya-centric and he does a lot of the heavy lifting plot-wise. A lot of the reviews shit on Shane, and yeah, he was a bit oblivious, but stress manifests differently in every one. Shane very obviously exhibited signs of disordered eating, but it was only brought up in a joking manner with an eye-roll at his expense. He also, IMO, showed signs of dissociation. Neither of these were really dealt/written about beyond the surface. Perhaps if he was given as much depth as Ilya was, maybe he could have been a bit more sympathetic of a character.

Before Ilya sought out his therapy, Shane directly asked him if he was ok, and that he would be there for him whether Ilya wanted to talk to him or not. Being in a relationship is hard enough (not even counting the fact that it's a secret one), but being in a relationship with a depressed partner presents it's own challenges. Especially when said partner keeps trying to push you away because they don't think they're good enough and deserving of happiness.

On a lighter note, there were so many cute moments in this one - I mean...Uncle Ilya & painting nails!?! Major swoon. And their talks about a future with children?? I just can't. I feel greedy in saying this, but I think they need another book (at least a novella) without any angst where they can just be settled, grounded, and happy in their relationship.

I have an idea about who the next book will be about (perhaps a certain Centaur rookie), so I look forward to seeing more of our past couples pop up in the future!

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fraise's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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marysbookinit's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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