Reviews

All Hail the Underdogs by E.L. Massey

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ladybird4prez's review

This was cute, but I had forgotten the details of the book description by the time it came off hold at my library and I just dove right in. So, I was very thrown off when it was mentioned they were still in high school. This fact only became more surprising considering the responsibilities they took on later. These are actual babies doing all this? I get why they wanted to, but I don’t know if it’s all that realistic. Also, it’s extremely light on the hockey. In fact, Maura’s signature Habs hat may be the most consistent hockey we get. The pacing and development felt a bit off at the beginning but I thought it started improving, only for the latter half to delve into everything I thought was unrealistic for teenagers. Also felt like maybe some aspects and characters were underdeveloped, but I think I felt that way about the first book in the series too.
I guess I’m never beating the heartless allegations but I swear it was cute! I kept picking it up! I just don’t know how I feel about it altogether.

pigpink100's review

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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

4.5

cosmicxcolour's review

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challenging emotional 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

4.0

ravenyoongi's review

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3.75

Good and sweet for what it was. I can definitely tell this author wrote fanfiction lololol……. And it felt like it was just a happy trajectory - there wasn’t the everything goes wrong, every insecurity is brought to light climax at 85%. Which in a way was good and kept things light. Of course, I really love angst so I wouldn’t have minded a litttle but more. But still it was fairly good I liked it.

gaymathnerd's review

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emotional hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

moonchildshine's review

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emotional informative 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? No

4.25

With this, I conclude that I will love everything that Erica writes. She can write about anything and I would read it. Hell, she can write an essay about her grocery list or something and I would gladly read it.

There's just something about her writing that makes me feel so giddy with excitement and generally happy. I know this ever since I read her drarry fanfiction couple of years ago and all of her other fanfiction in ao3 even if I didn't know the fandom. That's how much I love her writing. And now after I can finally get hold of her books, this further cemented that my obsession with her writing is not limited to fanfiction but everything she writes.

Regarding this book, I still think the ending is too good to be true because it feels like a happily ever after in a fairy tale and in no way reality can be that good. but who cares??? Everyone's happy and I am happy and this is a fiction after all and if I live vicariously through all these characters so whatttt.

fanboyriot'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

♡ Found Family

♡ Wholesome Friendships

♡ Queer Hockey Romance

I loved this book since chapter one, the characters and plot were so good! It was so easy to fall in love with the characters and be cheering for them the whole time.

The character development was everything. I can’t get over the friendships and relationships in this book, it was so good. It was so easy to love all the characters—they were all literally so amazing!

The sense of humor in this book was so great as always and while this book was super wholesome and cute it also touched on some topics like: white privilege, racism and discrimination. There are mentions to child neglect and abuse that leads the one main character to get emancipated.

This gives the grumpy x sunshine vibe all the while both characters are a bit broken. The sunshine needing just as much comfort as the grumpy one. Rome dealing with a bad home life growing up with years of abuse from a parent. They both do a good job at comforting the other even if it starts out as a slight enemies to lovers moment. And Damien dealing with abandonment issues that only get worse with misunderstandings with his parents until he finally says something.

This lived up to the hype I had for it! I could talk about this for hours, I adored this so much. Rome and Damien had such a trusting relationship and it had a nice slow burn vibe at the beginning. And can I just say all the hand holding—and the not being allowed to talk about the hand holding was absolutely amazing. The level of vulnerability they let each other see was so good! Being able to see them trust each other, Rome especially.

And don’t get me started on the whole Finley thing, especially in the epilogue. It was so wholesome it nearly took me out.

Safe to say I adored this book.

Spice Level: 🌶️ (1/5)

Angst Level: 💧💧💧 (3/5)

POV: Duel, Third Person

Release Date: 26, August 2023

Rep: Bisexual (Main Character), Gay (Main Character), Transfem (Side Character), LGBTQIA+ (Main and Side Characters), BIPOC (Main and Side Characters)

Content Warnings

prehistoricpotatoes's review

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emotional 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

3.5

Homey and warm like Massey’s other books. Liked the characters and how their family relationships were included, though I do think lots of the themes like race, privilege, money, family and heritage, could’ve been more deeply explored?

beesneysbooks's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

gay hockey ! gay hockey ! gay hockey !
i love this series with my whole heart and soul. i feel like so many books have conflict that directly relate to the couple miscommunicating/having relationship issues and it’s always so refreshing to see books with other conflict. i love how this book brought back some of my favorite characters at the end, told a new story that fits into the others, and celebrated people from all backgrounds.

delainey_hutch's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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