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booshort's review against another edition
DNF @ 46%
If I could give this book negative stars I would.
Someone please point me in the direction of the plot, I seem to have lost it entirely.
The Writing:
11% in, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like this book. I really should’ve trusted my gut. If you like books holding your hand through the entire process, this book is for you. There is not one iota of *showing* in this book. There is literally only *telling*.
There’s no description of any surrounding scenery, people’s emotions or expressions; there is only the brief description of each characters appearance when they’re introduced, but you better have a notebook handy, because it’s up to you to remember who is who after that. At one point there wasn’t even a physical description, the FMC was meeting the hockey team members and eventually just said something along the lines of “I mean how else do you describe a hockey player other than big”… and that was it.
Good luck trying to remember who is who and what they look like, because there is about 50 characters that have no reason being there. The author went about describing a group of people at one point leaving an auditorium because they were not-so-subtly called out and shamed by a school admin giving an assembly. We got to know each one of their names, what their situation was, and where they lived… and that’s it. That was the first and last time I had ever heard of those characters.
There is also an obscene amount of time skips, not altogether too long, but the POV character will just offhandedly mention having a conversation with another character “off-screen” so to speak, quite a lot. And it’ll vaguely describe whatever the conversation was, even if it was conflict that could’ve been added to the non-existent plot, it was just swept under the rug as an “oh ya and this happened, anyways…”
The “Plot”:
Now don’t get me wrong when I say this, I in fact am a large consumer of smut and plot-light romance books and I do thoroughly enjoy them; but believe me when I say that this book seriously has *zero* plot.
The “conflict” is the hockey and figure skating teams have to share one ice rink because the other one is broken or something. But they very quickly compromise and are able to build a schedule for both teams without really effecting anyone too much; all within about one chapter. Now everyone is fine, they get their practices in, they just see one another more often.
This all happens and is “resolved” within about the first 15% of the book.
The only other conflict I witnessed other then meaningless drama Anastasia created, was Aaron claimed to be beat up by Nate and he wouldn’t be able to skate anymore. Everyone backed up Nate when he said Aaron was lying, Aaron had literally no proof of anything, but Anastasia believed him. Aaron was skating the next chapter.
So like, why is this book 429 pages?
The Characters:
Jesus Christ the characters. None of them are interesting, the ones you remember are either extremely unlikable or kiddie pool shallow. I know some people are saying Nate and Henry are the only saving grace, and I could agree with that if they were actually well written characters.
Let’s go through the ones I can remember:
FMC/Anastasia: rude, mean, no reason for any of her actions. I get what the author was trying to do, I really do. I struggle with some abandonment issues myself, and I could see how some people would want to avoid it at all costs by being non-committal. What I don’t understand is her being able to pick and choose. She commits to being in a figure skating partnership and *LIVING WITH* one of the most annoying and abusive characters I’ve ever read (more on Aaron later). But can’t commit to people who care and want to support her in a healthy way. Ex. She’s about to go to funky town with our MMC Nate. Nate, responsibly speaks up and says he doesn’t want to have sex with her while they’re both drunk, but that he does want to have sex when they’re sober. Anastasia cries, pretends to go to sleep, but tries to call an Uber after Nate falls asleep. The next day Nate feels like shit, and Anastasia is mad at him. She just seems to be mean, lash out, tease, or cause drama for no apparent reason, yet claims she likes and is good at talking about her feelings. K.
MMC/Nate: hockey guy. Seems nice. I would hang out with him I guess. Deserves better in the love interest, and the writing department.
Aaron: blatantly harassed, belittles, and emotionally/mentally abuses and manipulates people. But *NO ONE* calls him out for it. And if they try to, or start to, Anastasia stops them, or gets mad at them. This man just flat out lies and Anastasia believes it because…?
Lola: stereotypical theatre nerd. Can’t remember anything else.
Ryan: fuck buddy of Anastasia. Actually might be the only side character I thought was written well. Not counting how he slept shirtless with a woman who wasn’t the girl he was dating. Don’t care if it’s right at the beginning of the relationship, if you’re gonna write sus things in your books, those characters better be explaining themselves.
Robby/Bobby: Robby is in a wheelchair but it’s only ever mentioned once. And he was kinda a dick to his best friend to threw him a sick birthday party. I have no idea who Bobby was, but their name kept popping up and I kept getting confused.
Rose/Briar/Kitty/Summer/Aurora/Liv: random women whose only purpose was to sleep with a guy. I think one of the names is unintentionally made up by me, and one is from the synopsis of the second book. I can’t remember which for each.
Henry: oh dear. Let me preface this by saying I am a professionally diagnosed autistic woman. Now, how do I put this without going into a long diatribe about autistic representation in media. I don’t think I can. So I’ll try to keep it to bullet form;
- he is an autistic-*coded* character. And a poor one at that.
- His only reason for existing in this book is to be autistic.
- He has no personality other than “I am blunt and speak my mind no matter what”
- Every other characters reaction to him flip-flops between “omg he’s so cute/quirky!”, “wtf he’s such a dick”, and “we must protect him :,(“
Safe so say I was not happy with this representation. If you’d like to read well written romance books about autistic characters, please read Helen Hoang.
If I could give this book negative stars I would.
Someone please point me in the direction of the plot, I seem to have lost it entirely.
The Writing:
11% in, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like this book. I really should’ve trusted my gut. If you like books holding your hand through the entire process, this book is for you. There is not one iota of *showing* in this book. There is literally only *telling*.
There’s no description of any surrounding scenery, people’s emotions or expressions; there is only the brief description of each characters appearance when they’re introduced, but you better have a notebook handy, because it’s up to you to remember who is who after that. At one point there wasn’t even a physical description, the FMC was meeting the hockey team members and eventually just said something along the lines of “I mean how else do you describe a hockey player other than big”… and that was it.
Good luck trying to remember who is who and what they look like, because there is about 50 characters that have no reason being there. The author went about describing a group of people at one point leaving an auditorium because they were not-so-subtly called out and shamed by a school admin giving an assembly. We got to know each one of their names, what their situation was, and where they lived… and that’s it. That was the first and last time I had ever heard of those characters.
There is also an obscene amount of time skips, not altogether too long, but the POV character will just offhandedly mention having a conversation with another character “off-screen” so to speak, quite a lot. And it’ll vaguely describe whatever the conversation was, even if it was conflict that could’ve been added to the non-existent plot, it was just swept under the rug as an “oh ya and this happened, anyways…”
The “Plot”:
Now don’t get me wrong when I say this, I in fact am a large consumer of smut and plot-light romance books and I do thoroughly enjoy them; but believe me when I say that this book seriously has *zero* plot.
The “conflict” is the hockey and figure skating teams have to share one ice rink because the other one is broken or something. But they very quickly compromise and are able to build a schedule for both teams without really effecting anyone too much; all within about one chapter. Now everyone is fine, they get their practices in, they just see one another more often.
This all happens and is “resolved” within about the first 15% of the book.
The only other conflict I witnessed other then meaningless drama Anastasia created, was Aaron claimed to be beat up by Nate and he wouldn’t be able to skate anymore. Everyone backed up Nate when he said Aaron was lying, Aaron had literally no proof of anything, but Anastasia believed him. Aaron was skating the next chapter.
So like, why is this book 429 pages?
The Characters:
Jesus Christ the characters. None of them are interesting, the ones you remember are either extremely unlikable or kiddie pool shallow. I know some people are saying Nate and Henry are the only saving grace, and I could agree with that if they were actually well written characters.
Let’s go through the ones I can remember:
FMC/Anastasia: rude, mean, no reason for any of her actions. I get what the author was trying to do, I really do. I struggle with some abandonment issues myself, and I could see how some people would want to avoid it at all costs by being non-committal. What I don’t understand is her being able to pick and choose. She commits to being in a figure skating partnership and *LIVING WITH* one of the most annoying and abusive characters I’ve ever read (more on Aaron later). But can’t commit to people who care and want to support her in a healthy way. Ex. She’s about to go to funky town with our MMC Nate. Nate, responsibly speaks up and says he doesn’t want to have sex with her while they’re both drunk, but that he does want to have sex when they’re sober. Anastasia cries, pretends to go to sleep, but tries to call an Uber after Nate falls asleep. The next day Nate feels like shit, and Anastasia is mad at him. She just seems to be mean, lash out, tease, or cause drama for no apparent reason, yet claims she likes and is good at talking about her feelings. K.
MMC/Nate: hockey guy. Seems nice. I would hang out with him I guess. Deserves better in the love interest, and the writing department.
Aaron: blatantly harassed, belittles, and emotionally/mentally abuses and manipulates people. But *NO ONE* calls him out for it. And if they try to, or start to, Anastasia stops them, or gets mad at them. This man just flat out lies and Anastasia believes it because…?
Lola: stereotypical theatre nerd. Can’t remember anything else.
Ryan: fuck buddy of Anastasia. Actually might be the only side character I thought was written well. Not counting how he slept shirtless with a woman who wasn’t the girl he was dating. Don’t care if it’s right at the beginning of the relationship, if you’re gonna write sus things in your books, those characters better be explaining themselves.
Robby/Bobby: Robby is in a wheelchair but it’s only ever mentioned once. And he was kinda a dick to his best friend to threw him a sick birthday party. I have no idea who Bobby was, but their name kept popping up and I kept getting confused.
Rose/Briar/Kitty/Summer/Aurora/Liv: random women whose only purpose was to sleep with a guy. I think one of the names is unintentionally made up by me, and one is from the synopsis of the second book. I can’t remember which for each.
Henry: oh dear. Let me preface this by saying I am a professionally diagnosed autistic woman. Now, how do I put this without going into a long diatribe about autistic representation in media. I don’t think I can. So I’ll try to keep it to bullet form;
- he is an autistic-*coded* character. And a poor one at that.
- His only reason for existing in this book is to be autistic.
- He has no personality other than “I am blunt and speak my mind no matter what”
- Every other characters reaction to him flip-flops between “omg he’s so cute/quirky!”, “wtf he’s such a dick”, and “we must protect him :,(“
Safe so say I was not happy with this representation. If you’d like to read well written romance books about autistic characters, please read Helen Hoang.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Body shaming, Sexual content, Fatphobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
zc2's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
Spicier than expected but the way the whole plot ties the book together is beautiful. One of the finest romcoms I’ve read in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Alcohol, Cancer, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Violence
sauger's review
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
4.0
Loved this book!! So fun and great plot development with the two main characters. They work together to resolve the conflict rather than the conflict be an arbitrary miscommunication third act breakup, which I love
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Vomit
severelyhopefulcloud's review
The two leads felt vapid and shallow. I didn't want to spend a whole with them much less a romance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
ellaniji's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Gaslighting and Infidelity
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Sexism
readingwithlyss's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.5
𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢．𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒．
⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ This book contains contents about : Emotional abuse, eating disorder, gaslighting, death of a loved one, and body image issues ⚠️
I had a love hate relationship with Anastasia at first, with her attitude and how she treated Nathan I couldn’t stand her 😂 BUT I loved how that girl knew what she wanted 🫡💗 She was unbelievably hardworking, insanely stubborn, organized and definitely VERY sassy/grumpy while still having her sweet moments 🫶🏻
And then there is Nathan Hawkins…𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑭**𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒂𝒘𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒔 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻..This man definitely made himself #1 on my fictional boyfriend list 😍 The way he unconditionally loved Anastasia was just *𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒇𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔* 🤌🏻 He’s confident, thoughtful, dedicated, and loyal 🥹💗 𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑬𝑺𝑫𝑶𝑵’𝑻 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑳 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑯𝑨𝑾𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑺 😭💗💍
Now I do want to say that THE ONLY reason I gave this book 4⭐️’s was because the story was definitely dragged out which made it to where it took me FOREVER to finish this book 😭 I started in December and finished in February 🫣🤦🏻♀️ I still very much enjoyed the book but I started to lose interest 😕
The side characters were absolute perfection as well 🥹🫶🏻 Without giving too much away, I absolutely LOVED Henry! I’m sorry, but the fact that he kept a box of women’s essentials in his bathroom…𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷- I would read any book about that man in a heartbeat! Can he get his own story?! 👀💗
And since we are on the topic of side characters…Aaron….I have never disliked a character as much as I disliked him 🤢 I want to take my hat off to Hannah Grace for being able to write an absolute phenomenal “𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏” 👏🏻💗
Now finally, if you want spice…THIS IS YOUR BOOK! 🥵📖 When I say this book had me 𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮, hot, weak at the knees, and embarrassed when reading a spicy scene in public 🤭🌶️💗 Oh my goodness..🫠🫣🤌🏻
Overall, I recommend reading this book if you’re looking for a reverse grumpy/sunshine trope 😠☀️, love college sports romance 💗, hockey/ice skating 🏒⛸️, and dual POV 📖
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Vomit, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent and Death
mattimeous's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Vomit, Infidelity, and Alcohol
kelly_e's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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? Yes
4.0
Title: Icebreaker
Author: Hannah Grace
Series: UCMH, #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: August 23, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Trendy • Delightful • Spicy
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Anastasia has been a figure skater since she was five years old. Now competing with her partner Aaron at Maple Hills, she dreams of landing a spot on the US Olympic team. Her determination and drive to win means she diligently schedules every minute of her day, yet she's a commitment-phobe.
Nathan is the captain of Maple Hills' hockey team, a responsibility he takes very seriously. When an incident forces the closure of one rink, Nate takes the blame to avoid his whole team being benched. And this forces the skating and hockey teams to share a rink - much to everyone's dismay. Benched yet again, in the aftermath of Anastasia’s partner getting hurt, he finds himself swapping his stick for tights.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Romance isn't one of my go-to genres, yet every now and then the mood strikes, and I find myself looking for something lighthearted. That mood struck mid-January, and as an avid hockey fan, Icebreaker felt like a perfect winter read. I was right!
This novel has very good representation including mental health, disability, and LGTBQIA+. Not only that, but it also opens up much needed discussion surrounding relationship consent, as well as therapy things that are often overlooked in literature. It also demonstrates the importance of open and good communication in a relationship, which I loved.
There are a lot of characters introduced, yet it seemed quite straightforward to keep everyone straight. Both protagonists felt well-developed and layered. And don't even get me started on Henry! Everyone needs a Henry in their life. And even though it played a smaller role, I loved the encouragement Nate received from Stassie's dad. It just felt so genuine, and like something he'd been missing out on his entire life.
My main complaint for this one is the length. Because so much happens, it felt quite a bit longer than it needed to be. I think it could have easily been shortened by 80-100 pages and still accomplished what it set out to do. Additionally, the college aspect felt a little immature and like the author was capitalizing on Tik Tok trends. Lastly, I wished her friendship with Ryan had continued into the second portion of the book. There was something about the relationship that I gravitated toward.
For me, this was a solid romance with quite a bit of depth, and some sex scenes that made me blush. It tries to tackle a lot, yet I think Hannah Grace did a fair job putting it all together. I've heard this is going to be a series, and I am definitely looking forward to a second book. I am secretly hoping book two will follow Ryan or Henry.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a new book boyfriend
• fans of sports romance
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We’re still individuals, but we’re individuals together, and I never knew relationships could be like this."
Author: Hannah Grace
Series: UCMH, #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: August 23, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Trendy • Delightful • Spicy
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Anastasia has been a figure skater since she was five years old. Now competing with her partner Aaron at Maple Hills, she dreams of landing a spot on the US Olympic team. Her determination and drive to win means she diligently schedules every minute of her day, yet she's a commitment-phobe.
Nathan is the captain of Maple Hills' hockey team, a responsibility he takes very seriously. When an incident forces the closure of one rink, Nate takes the blame to avoid his whole team being benched. And this forces the skating and hockey teams to share a rink - much to everyone's dismay. Benched yet again, in the aftermath of Anastasia’s partner getting hurt, he finds himself swapping his stick for tights.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Romance isn't one of my go-to genres, yet every now and then the mood strikes, and I find myself looking for something lighthearted. That mood struck mid-January, and as an avid hockey fan, Icebreaker felt like a perfect winter read. I was right!
This novel has very good representation including mental health, disability, and LGTBQIA+. Not only that, but it also opens up much needed discussion surrounding relationship consent, as well as therapy things that are often overlooked in literature. It also demonstrates the importance of open and good communication in a relationship, which I loved.
There are a lot of characters introduced, yet it seemed quite straightforward to keep everyone straight. Both protagonists felt well-developed and layered. And don't even get me started on Henry! Everyone needs a Henry in their life. And even though it played a smaller role, I loved the encouragement Nate received from Stassie's dad. It just felt so genuine, and like something he'd been missing out on his entire life.
My main complaint for this one is the length. Because so much happens, it felt quite a bit longer than it needed to be. I think it could have easily been shortened by 80-100 pages and still accomplished what it set out to do. Additionally, the college aspect felt a little immature and like the author was capitalizing on Tik Tok trends. Lastly, I wished her friendship with Ryan had continued into the second portion of the book. There was something about the relationship that I gravitated toward.
For me, this was a solid romance with quite a bit of depth, and some sex scenes that made me blush. It tries to tackle a lot, yet I think Hannah Grace did a fair job putting it all together. I've heard this is going to be a series, and I am definitely looking forward to a second book. I am secretly hoping book two will follow Ryan or Henry.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a new book boyfriend
• fans of sports romance
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We’re still individuals, but we’re individuals together, and I never knew relationships could be like this."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Body shaming
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Sexual assault
near drowning, adoptionjosxphinchen's review
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Alcohol, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness
Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infidelity