Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Icebreaker

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

43 reviews

sunshinehwngs's review against another edition

The plot is what you expect but what I didn’t expect is how unlikeable the main character is, but that’s not even my main issue. My main issue is her relationships with the men around her, including her best friend and love interests. TW: Disordered eating , body image issues

The best friend of the main character constantly criticizes how and what she eats to the point where she’s tracking how many pieces of popcorn she’s eating. They’re figure skaters so he constantly is shitting on her because in his eyes any amount of weight gain will make it difficult for him to lift her which is bullshit because the body naturally fluctuates it’s weight. THEN how the author describes these men compared to her is disgusting - in that hour I listened to it, on FOUR accounts the author talks about how big these men are, 6 foot plus beefcakes, and how tiny and delicate she is in comparison. Like we got it the first time but this combined with the disordered eating was far too much.

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swolds's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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? Yes

5.0

Loved it. The book has everything. It is more of a cozy, heartwarming romance story rather than the wicked witch of the west romances. It is a great book if you’re after an emotional, but greatly written book. It was easy to fall in love and get to know the characters (well, most of them anyway). This is definitely a book I’ll read again.

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ilovebooks_54's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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dropshift5568's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Too much filler and not enough plot to balance well. But also a new plot point hitting every few chapters with minimal resolution. We never got more info on Aaron’s actions. Half of the storyline in the book description didn’t happen until 50% in, which is bizarre.

Started off well but ended up being a rage finish to be able to stop reading the book.

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gabichatslit's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

Icebreaker is easily one of the cutest romances I’ve read this year.

Stassie and Nate are so personal to me and I love them so much. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this bc of how hyped this book was on TikTok and that can go either way. But this one was truly amazing.

I loved how committed to her dreams and growth Anastasia was. And how protective and easy with his affection to those he loves, Nate was.

It was really nice to read/see how Stas overcame her disordered eating issues (which I could relate to) and see her supported by Nate through her struggles with it. There’s a moment towards the end of the book where Stas reflects and says how when Nate finally alerted her to her unhealthy relationship with food, how he valued her health and wellbeing over whether or not her feelings would be hurt (via the critique of her routines which she highly values/valued) and I thought about how necessary that is sometimes— to have someone who cares so much that temporary hurt feelings have to take a back burner in favor of one’s wellbeing. And Nate being able to discern that as well.

And I loved watching Stas get more comfortable and firm in drawing boundaries with the people in her life— both big and small, and especially with Nate. I was so proud of her watching her hold space for his valid feelings about various situations while simultaneously affirming that no matter how valid he might be feeling, she was owed respect and autonomy in their conversations and interactions. Like as “perfect” as Nate was as a friend and a boyfriend, he isn’t infallible. I was like your therapist would be so proud Stas lol

Also Kiss Me by Sixpence being their song was just too cute and I’ll associate that song with them now. Also also, I’m glad Nate got his lick back with Aaron— I know Henry was proud of him when he found out lol.

Also x3, I really enjoyed the spice scenes. Stas’ teasing nature in her and Nate’s dynamic was my favorite, and Nate always gave as good as he got. Both in and outside the bedroom. Which was another thing I loved about the main characters— they felt equally coupled, like it made sense they would be together.

And critiques of Stas being “mean” fell flat for me, she wasn’t a mean girl, she’s a woman with a lot on her plate, dealing with college shit and falling in love fast, her responses felt understandable.

I would’ve liked to see Nate dig a bit deeper to his issues with his dad, and his protective nature, and how those things were intertwined but I loved seeing him take on a big brother/dad role with Henry and Russ throughout the book. Like those are really his boys. In the other side of that though, I think we saw him work through those things with himself and with the boys when they would give him the harsh truth. Also the moments between Stas’ dad and him were so healing and sweet.

I’ve seen a lot of people talk highly of the romance— which is definitely deserved, but the true highlight of Icebreaker for me was the found family that was threaded throughout the story.

Stas and Nate, were the ultimate mom and dad friends with the boys and I loved it so much. And I appreciated how fleshed out the side characters felt, like I genuinely cared about each of them and they didn’t feel cursory. Also I’m so excited for Russ and Henry’s respective books— this wasn’t even his story and I had a whole tab color dedicated to Henry, I’m already in love with him lol

Ms. Hannah Grace, you did your big one with this book babe and I’m so glad you published this.

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sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

3.5

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sop17hie's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? No

4.5

So fun

Someone asked me on the bus if I was reading ice breaker and she was so giddy, gushing about how much she liked the book.

Not a slow burn!

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sophieann1998's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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katie_lacour's review

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I love the consent, besides that, it was an okay book but nothing memorable. The conflict of the story between Anastasia, Aaron, and Nate was a bit trite. It also felt like some of the diverse characters (aka the only one, JJ) was added as a bit of an afterthought. I also felt like the part depicting the body shaming and food restriction was brushed over way too much. Not only do I think the main character should have gotten more justice in terms of that, I also think it should have been discussed more. People don’t get over restricting their diet for years so heavily in a matter of months. I like that the book focused on positive aspects of her learning to eat healthy, but it also should have included some of the more negative aspects. I also wish this would have included a content warning for disordered eating, body shaming, sexual harassment, and severe gaslighting. Aaron deserved so much worse, and although justice isn’t always obtained in real life, some more justice for Aaron would have been appreciated. Although I recognize Anastasia is a victim, it would have been empowering to see her get more closure and empowerment in her interactions with Aaron throughout the book but instead it felt like she continued to let him trample her until the very end.

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marblepancake's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

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