Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Icebreaker

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

519 reviews

deckleeditproof's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

4.0

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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.0

2 Play House Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I should have DNFed this because this was UTTER BLOODY TORTURE!

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
This is a dual POV that follows Anastasia and Nathan. Anastasia is a figure skater whose dream it is to go to the Olympics. Nathan is a Hockey player and of course, Anastasia immediately dislikes him. BUT then the world basically ends because the ice rink the hockey team uses is vandalised so now the two have to share the ice...and then they realise they like sharing other things too... like a bed and bodily fluid...

I will not write this review like I normally do... because I CANNOT... So instead have fun with this...

Why I should have DNFed:
1. Nathan does a lot of screaming into his pillow... Maybe since this book is so "pro-therapy" he should see one cause that behaviour needs professional help.

2. Of course he is "Just so big" that it can barely fit, she can hardly take it and can't close her fingers around it. CAN WE NORMALISE A NORMAL SIZED PENIS PLEASE?

3. Why is Henry such a HIMBO? he is cute and sweet and naive at times which I liked that he was so innocent but then at times it felt OVERLY stereotyped and so generalised - a PERSON LIKE THIS DOES NOT EXIST.

4. ON THE TOPIC OF A PERSON WHO DOES NOT EXIST... Nathan. He is too BLOOODY PERFECT. You have the most sweetest, caring and understanding man who is also gorgeous and cocky. He is basically perfect and asks for consent and WEARS GREY SWEATPANTS... There is even a JOKE in the text that He was written by a woman and YOU BETCHA because men like him DO NOT EXIST. He is also a total contradiction being so nice but also being smart and cocky... I know there are some unrealistic expectations of what men are like in romance novels... but he needs a little more "roughness" because without it he feels like a make-believe prince who lives in nothing BUT A FANTASY!

5. The Therapy chapters were unnecessary, they were boring to read and I didn't care.

6. WHY are they already in love at 30% of the book? There are still like 300 pages left in the story for what?

7. THERE WAS NO PLOT... or I didn't see the plot... Even though the romance is pretty fast-burn and instalovvie, there is a whole bunch of unnecessary drama and NOTHING HAPPENING, for no reason. The story goes nowhere SLOWLY (besides the sex because that is happening in spades)

8. Anastasia is such a bitch. She is a child, overdramatic and feels like a total stereotype of a "grumpy kitten" who tries to be vicious but people think it's cute. BUT IT IS NOT. She annoyed the crap out of me because she is bossy, shallow and mean for no reason and had two personality traits, being sassy or glaring.

9. WHY IS SHE ALWAYS CRYING?

10. How can someone who has been in therapy for over 9 years not see how emotionally abusive her friend is?

11. WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE and they all have similar names I swear! Or have a nickname so on top of having to remember like 100 people, some have 2/3 names and it just got confusing and I could not care about who they were and what they added to the story.

12. What is the point of adding in Ryan to the plot? Sassie states multiple times that he is her best friend but she hangs out with the Hockey Boys more than him. He is only ever shown in the story for added drama. At some point in the story, he becomes inconsequential and is never mentioned again and just "forgotten about" because there isn't any more drama his presence can add any more to the story.

13. Surprising there is no miscommunication because NATHAN DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO COMMUNICATE HIS FEELINGS ABOUT HIS FAMILY... Yeah remember that mention of therapy - insert the same comment here...

My Reasons why I didn't DNF:
1. She likes Twilight.
2. Anastasia is a Virgo Sun, Cancer Moon and I am a Virgo Sun, Cancer Moon
3. I thought it would get better and it never did.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Am I late to the party reading this? Yes
Do I care? No…

I just bloody well hope it lives up to the hype because I DO NOT WANT TO START OCTOBER WITH A SHIT BOOK

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enchantingreads_rosyreviews's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

"It's like being verbally abused by Tinkerbell."

In a world with many hockey romances, this one felt like it took a unique angle on a popular story. Yes, they are both athletes who skate, but there are conversations about emotional intelligence, toxic relationships, difficult relationships with food, working through challenging communication & therapy! But really, some of my favorite scenes involved the other teammates & friends… I loved the cast of characters Hannah’s created. And this book was funny! A true romcom which had me laughing out loud in many chapters. Overall, this was an easy, comfortable read with a bit of heart & a bit of laughs.

"… every time he looks at me, and the corner of his mouth tugs up, I forget every thought.
I’ve been totally and utterly unhinged by a man. I’m disgusted with myself, for being distracted, for knowingly letting every sliver of feminism shrivel up and die over dimples and thick thighs."

I honestly really liked this book & I know people seem to have strong feelings about it. If books are meant to be entertaining, then this is definitely that (with a side of heart & unique story elements). However, there was a character/storyline in this book that wasn't vital to the storyline, in my opinion, which contributed to the book feeling slightly longer than what I thought necessary. And the spice felt like it was on a level inconsistent with the rest of the story: here we were strolling along one path, humming a song & enjoying this entertaining romance, until BAM! ultra spicy scene coming atcha! While that may be some reader's cup of tea, it felt a little abrupt for me.

"… it’s cemented for me that breaking up is not a reality I ever want to live. I know it’s rare to meet someone who makes you feel like your whole life is brighter. I know I’m lucky that I have someone by my side who would go to war for the people she loves, and it’s made me realize, right now, she’s going to war for herself.
And I need to be by her side, not attacking her from a different spot on the field."

That being said, I'm not on the clock app & don't really know the conversations that happen over there. I do know people seem to love or hate this book. And that's simply not the boat I'm in. I really liked it. It isn't perfect, it isn't something I'm obsessed with & some parts of it gave me "the ick," so it's not a 5-star read. But with quotes like the ones I've shared here, it's easy for me to find this a likeable, entertaining story.

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theabibliophobe's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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ejsidor's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-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? No

3.5

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jordynbixman's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.25

this was honestly kinda hard to get through for me! i just wasn’t super interested at first. i definitely became more invested the further i got into it, but i just didn’t love it.

quick summary: Anastasia (Stas/Stassie) is a figure skater who’s incredibly hard on herself and thinks everything she does has to be scheduled and executed perfectly. Nathan is the captain of their college’s hockey team and of course he’s a trust fund baby. the figure skating team and hockey team end up having to share a rink and Stassie is ✨pissed✨ bc this is apparently going to ruin her very scheduled life. oh! forgot to mention! her skating partner (Aaron) sucks! just in general. like, as a person…which kinda makes the situation worse. anyway, Nate tries to win Stassie over since she’s so upset about the rink-sharing arrangement and of course it’s a frenemies to lovers situation. pretty predictable plot (in my opinion).

there is quite a lot of discussion regarding disordered eating (which i wasn’t aware of and really didn’t want to become a theme…but it did…so just be aware of that!).

honestly, there were so many names being thrown around that i couldn’t keep up. why do i need to know the name of every player on the hockey team? names were being brought up and i seriously had to sit and think for a hot sec about who this person was.

Nate is cute. very nice. considerate. entirely understand the appeal! he and Stassie are cute together.

Stassie made me want to rip my hair out at multiple points 🤠👍🏻 i just could not understand how she wasn’t seeing how horrible Aaron was and why no one prior to Nate pointed it out to her? but then, even when it was pointed out, she continued to try to make excuses for him? she really thinks he’s this amazing person deep down but…what has he done to actually prove that to you? in no way did we ever actually read about Aaron’s “good side” that she had allegedly experienced in their friendship.

side note: if we’re comparing this to The Deal, it’s 100x better. i thought i just didn’t like hockey romance, but this was a WAY better experience than the one i had with The Deal.

overall, this isn’t a horrible book. i didn’t love the epilogue and the beginning felt slow/boring, but the middle and end weren’t bad. this was a book i’d consider a “brain break” (something you read that doesn’t take really any brain power and doesn’t absolutely emotionally destroy you). i don’t expect “brain break” books to be incredible, i just expect them to be easy to get through and entertaining enough for me to want to continue. this pretty much meets those standards, so i’m not mad!

characters: 3.5⭐️
writing style: 3⭐️
reading experience: 3⭐️
total: 3.17⭐️ (rounded up to 3.25!)

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