994 reviews for:

Rival Darling

Alexandra Moody

3.63 AVERAGE

funny lighthearted 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
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
funny relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Listen, I love hockey romances and will mindlessly read through them like I've never read a hockey romance before in my life.

That being said, this book truly felt more like a high school hockey romance than a college romance and it gave me the ick. I wanted to enjoy it and there were certain things I did enjoy but after a while it was just too much and I had to DNF.

the grammatical errors, cringey cliches, and bad writing made me feel like i was in 2013 reading a romance novel on wattpad.
lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is written by an Australian and it’s YA. 

I think there were alot of hockey details that might have been overlooked in the romanticising of the book, though what do I know as an Australian? But I’m sure you can’t really figure skate and do jumps and twirls on ice hickey skates. 

Plot wise it’s a girl meets boy in meet cute (sort of, after they already met). Both have different reasons for trying to p/$$ off her ex so they decide to fake date, which they do, catch feelings, and fall out. Will they or won’t they get back together? 

So he’s a bad boy from the wrong side of town. She’s … well not really a developed character and I thought more could have been made of her. She was portrayed as naive in one sense, when she initially seemed more aware, and I wonder if all the negative feedback I’m seeing about her could have been avoided by giving her a little more credibility. 

Some good peer relationships, a little too much ‘boys being boys’ attitude for his brothers but a decent YA offering for the right readers. 


funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Literally dnf’ed it at 70% because I realised I don’t have to force myself to finish this and I have free will.