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chelseafrieske's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
howdyhoward's review
I wanted a cute romcom and this was exactly that. Staci and Nate’s banter in the first third made me giggle and I was rooting for them for the most part. I wasn’t into their particular type of dirty talk but that was easy to overlook. Listening to the audiobook narrator say “fuuuuuuck” every time Nate was aroused got a little old and started making me laugh by the end. But above all I flew through this long audiobook and mostly had a really nice time.
I will say the epilogue struck me as gross. Staci and Nate have an accidental pregnancy, which would be fine in most scenarios, but they had had a very intentional conversation earlier in the book about how Staci wanted to adopt because of her own adoption and this ending felt like it was really undermining her agency. That choice alone makes me nervous about picking up other books from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence and Pregnancy
njgenxmama's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Sexual content
paigeh132's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Icebreaker is a lighthearted, easy read. There were a couple of parts where I physically laughed out loud (glad I was at home for those bits!) and more than a few explicit scenes. Sex isn't the main plot but it does feature fairly often in this book.
It's a nice story with some loveable (and some hate-able) characters. The ending was very predictable, honestly. But I don't read easy romance novels for cliffhangers so it wasn't a big issue for me.
[Spoliers ahead. Will spoil the ending. Turn back now!]
I sort of wish Stas hadn't ended up pregnant. It was incredibly predictable and I was expecting it from the first time they decided not to use protection, especially with her nervous vomiting. At least the pregnancy was left for the epilogue and after she had won her medal.
It's a nice story with some loveable (and some hate-able) characters. The ending was very predictable, honestly. But I don't read easy romance novels for cliffhangers so it wasn't a big issue for me.
[Spoliers ahead. Will spoil the ending. Turn back now!]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
miranda_luvsbks56's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
tallard's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
ana_stassie333's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
kateb15's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent
nickoliver's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
I'm gonna be honest, I went into this book with zero expectations. A TikTok-hyped romance between two straight people? Yeah no, I did not have good experience with those. But it actually kind of blew me out of the park?
What surprised me the most was how healthy the relationship was. Anastasia and Nate were so good to each other and showed a great deal of support, talked their issues out, and weren't even a little bit toxic or abusive. At times, Nate was a little bit too possessive for my liking, but he actually learnt from his behaviour and evolved. Men, take notes.
The only criticism about Nate in particular could maybe be that he felt a bit too unrealistic. At one point toward the end, Anastasia calls him a "man written by a woman", and yeah. It was hard to believe that a man like him with his emotions this well regulated could exist in the real world, and that sometimes took me out of the story a little for some reason. But nonetheless, he was dreamy and lovely and such a nice change to what I've seen in other romance books.
The pacing of the romance was done so well, too. Admittedly, the hate part of the story wasn't all too long, but while they hooked up quite quickly, the actual being-in-love-and-dating part wasn't immediate. It felt believable to me. I do think the book could've been a bit shorter because some things in it were a bit pointless, but overall, I really liked the build-up.
I also really liked the side characters, most of which were developed incredibly well and never felt like Grace abandoned them at the curb. Especially the hockey team and their love for Anastasia was so sweet and cute (I cannot wait to get to Henry's romance). The book had a lot of really strong platonic bonds that lacked any jealousy (or a lot of it, anyway), and we do not see nearly enough of that in romance books.
There was also a surprising amount of diversity that I didn't expect. For example, one of Nate's friends was disabled and wheelchair-bound, and another one was a brown, pansexual man. And it felt well done and not relegated to the sidelines too much (not that there was an incredible focus on it, but Grace didn't let these things be random comments that never got relevant again).
I would have liked to see more of both Anastasia and Nate's families, because while they were mentioned a lot and both of them had issues that stemmed from their relationships with their parents, it wasn't focused on nearly enough. The problems just miraculously solved themselves - which was fine in Anastasia's case, but in Nate's? There definitely needed to be more conflict, and more distinct conflict-solving. His sister as well felt half-finished.
Plot-wise, like I said, there were a few things that didn't really need to be in there. Plus, some conflicts were incredibly drawn out, especially the one with Aaron. While I was aware I was supposed to dislike Aaron, he did make enjoying the book very hard. Anastasia gave him the benefit of the doubt for way too long, and even when she stopped doing that, he still kept being in her life. Which I understood, Anastasia explained it well, but again, it drove me insane. I basically spent like 400 pages or so just dreaming about someone telling Aaron everything he did wrong and leaving him behind completely. Which I did end up getting, but just ... way too late.
At the same time, like I mentioned above, sometimes conflicts weren't dealt with properly. The characters would mention, for example, what a nightmare XYZ was (for example, how horrible Nate's father was ), and you kind of expected there to be this huge blowup, but it never ended up coming. The conflict just solved itself in a few pages and was never truly mentioned again.
For a while, it also seemed too sex-heavy. There was barely any plot anymore; instead, Anastasia and Nate just had sex all the time. And while the sex scenes were written very well (very heavy on consent as well, which I appreciated), it just got really boring after a while. Maybe it's because I'm asexual, but reading a book that abandons its plot in favour of several chapters of almost pure sex just isn't appealing to me. Thankfully, at a certain point, the balance between plot and smut got better, but regardless, I was struggling for a while to be interested.
Despite the fact that the book was set at college, you barely saw them in class at all. At certain points in the book, it seemed all they did was either figure skate or party. I'm not saying I needed to get a detailed report of what they did in class, but just a hint here and there that they did, in fact, also have school work to do would've gone a long way. Seeing them drunk off their tits also got tired really quick. (Grace also made some weird plot decisions in that regard. For example, Nate refused to have sex with Anastasia at first when they were drunk because he wanted their first time to not be a drunk hook-up, yet only a day or two later, they had their first time together ... while being drunk. Which suddenly wasn't an issue anymore despite the fact that they didn't talk about being okay with it beforehand? It was very confusing and frustrating.)
The only thing about the book I truly hated was the ending, specifically the epilogue. Literally why was it there. It felt especially weird if you took the fact that this was a college romance into account. Like, that was the kind of thing I'd read about as a teenager in chick-lit books about women in their late twenties, not in books with 21-year-old protagonists. I know they said it happened accidentally, but Anastasia saying in the story itself that she wanted to adopt only to end up pregnant pissed me off so hard. Especially someone like her who spent the entire book emphasising how important her career was should not have been this happy to throw it all away at 23 for a baby in her belly. And of course they also got engaged! It's been a while since a romance book I've read went the "and then in the epilogue they got married and had children" route, and I forgot how much I hated it, especially when it went against everything the character had been saying for 400+ pages.
What surprised me the most was how healthy the relationship was. Anastasia and Nate were so good to each other and showed a great deal of support, talked their issues out, and weren't even a little bit toxic or abusive. At times, Nate was a little bit too possessive for my liking, but he actually learnt from his behaviour and evolved. Men, take notes.
The only criticism about Nate in particular could maybe be that he felt a bit too unrealistic. At one point toward the end, Anastasia calls him a "man written by a woman", and yeah. It was hard to believe that a man like him with his emotions this well regulated could exist in the real world, and that sometimes took me out of the story a little for some reason. But nonetheless, he was dreamy and lovely and such a nice change to what I've seen in other romance books.
The pacing of the romance was done so well, too. Admittedly, the hate part of the story wasn't all too long, but while they hooked up quite quickly, the actual being-in-love-and-dating part wasn't immediate. It felt believable to me. I do think the book could've been a bit shorter because some things in it were a bit pointless, but overall, I really liked the build-up.
I also really liked the side characters, most of which were developed incredibly well and never felt like Grace abandoned them at the curb. Especially the hockey team and their love for Anastasia was so sweet and cute (I cannot wait to get to Henry's romance). The book had a lot of really strong platonic bonds that lacked any jealousy (or a lot of it, anyway), and we do not see nearly enough of that in romance books.
There was also a surprising amount of diversity that I didn't expect. For example, one of Nate's friends was disabled and wheelchair-bound, and another one was a brown, pansexual man. And it felt well done and not relegated to the sidelines too much (not that there was an incredible focus on it, but Grace didn't let these things be random comments that never got relevant again).
I would have liked to see more of both Anastasia and Nate's families, because while they were mentioned a lot and both of them had issues that stemmed from their relationships with their parents, it wasn't focused on nearly enough. The problems just miraculously solved themselves - which was fine in Anastasia's case, but in Nate's? There definitely needed to be more conflict, and more distinct conflict-solving. His sister as well felt half-finished.
Plot-wise, like I said, there were a few things that didn't really need to be in there. Plus, some conflicts were incredibly drawn out, especially the one with Aaron. While I was aware I was supposed to dislike Aaron, he did make enjoying the book very hard. Anastasia gave him the benefit of the doubt for way too long, and even when she stopped doing that, he still kept being in her life. Which I understood, Anastasia explained it well, but again, it drove me insane. I basically spent like 400 pages or so just dreaming about someone telling Aaron everything he did wrong and leaving him behind completely.
At the same time, like I mentioned above, sometimes conflicts weren't dealt with properly. The characters would mention, for example, what a nightmare XYZ was (for example,
For a while, it also seemed too sex-heavy. There was barely any plot anymore; instead, Anastasia and Nate just had sex all the time. And while the sex scenes were written very well (very heavy on consent as well, which I appreciated), it just got really boring after a while. Maybe it's because I'm asexual, but reading a book that abandons its plot in favour of several chapters of almost pure sex just isn't appealing to me. Thankfully, at a certain point, the balance between plot and smut got better, but regardless, I was struggling for a while to be interested.
Despite the fact that the book was set at college, you barely saw them in class at all. At certain points in the book, it seemed all they did was either figure skate or party. I'm not saying I needed to get a detailed report of what they did in class, but just a hint here and there that they did, in fact, also have school work to do would've gone a long way. Seeing them drunk off their tits also got tired really quick. (Grace also made some weird plot decisions in that regard. For example, Nate refused to have sex with Anastasia at first when they were drunk because he wanted their first time to not be a drunk hook-up, yet only a day or two later, they had their first time together ... while being drunk. Which suddenly wasn't an issue anymore despite the fact that they didn't talk about being okay with it beforehand? It was very confusing and frustrating.)
The only thing about the book I truly hated was the ending, specifically the epilogue. Literally why was it there. It felt especially weird if you took the fact that this was a college romance into account. Like, that was the kind of thing I'd read about as a teenager in chick-lit books about women in their late twenties, not in books with 21-year-old protagonists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
alexlong's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I hated this book but kept reading because I thought, “Surely booktok is obsessed with this for a good reason, right?” Nope. It’s just bad! A rambling, convoluted, kitchen sink mess. Soooo much heavy-handed smut, shallow drunk fights, personality disorders and toxic relationships galore, a near-death experience out of nowhere, enemies (for NO reason) to lovers (begrudgingly?), and highly unrealistic outcomes… and all of the above was poorly written, with repetition, cheesy dialogue, and expository writing. I wish I could get the time back, honestly. I’m especially bummed because my husband is a hockey player so I’d been excited to read a hockey romance! Womp womp.
The reason it gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because I appreciate the author’s normalization of diverse sexual and gender identities in the book. Well done on that front.
The reason it gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because I appreciate the author’s normalization of diverse sexual and gender identities in the book. Well done on that front.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail