Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

158 reviews

teamlauren11's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Eating disorder

sldibened's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

Entertaining and an easy read. Only qualm is there are a lottttt of characters which made it confusing and tricky to follow at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

cpatton's review against another edition

emotional 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

Hints of spice, it a very slow burn romance where he falls first but it was enjoyable for me for my first none fantasy romance 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse

samanthas_stories's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

***May contain spoilers***

***Scroll to the bottom for my rating***

I am happy to announce that I finally tackled one of my “24 in 2024” book goals by completing Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. This book has circled my feed for months, and I couldn’t wait to give it a chance. A shoutout to Sunshine Soul Library on Instagram for gifting me my copy. I don’t know that I would have gotten to it as soon without you! (Book buying bans and such).

With two athletes trying to go pro, competitive nature through the roof, and sex appeal for days, it’s no surprise that Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins have a connection. After a mishap with rink one and a pissed-off athletic director, Anastasia and Nate are forced to share the ice while trying not to get in each other’s way. 

Except Nate wouldn’t exactly mind being in Anastasia’s vicinity. His well-intentioned introduction to the strong-willed figure skater quickly turns sour with a bit of miscommunication. Not one to give up, it doesn’t take long for Nate to break down Stas’s walls and find out what’s really going on. 

Their unexpected close proximity and his protective nature draw them together when her skating partner can’t seem to stop throwing hissy fits. Learning that he really is a good guy, Stas reluctantly finds herself falling for Nate. 

In a journey to better themselves for their future while also learning to live in the moment, Icebreaker is a captivating tale of love, loss, and recovery. 

My take on the book is this: I loved it, binged it in about 24 hours, and I definitely have Nate Hawkins fever. Add a new book boyfriend to the roster because dayum. 

Although there was a lot of smut throughout the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed, there was still a really good plot. It may have been predictable or a little unrealistic at points, but I still found myself eager to read more. 

I was enamored with Grace’s diverse cast of characters. She did a great job at including people of different cultural backgrounds, different sexual orientations, people with disabilities, and a variety of different familial situations. A lot to tackle in one book, yet it wasn’t overbearing, and I thought all of these details were handled exceptionally well. I quickly found a soft spot for most of the characters. 

Additionally, Grace included complex topics like bullying, verbal abuse, unplanned pregnancy, eating disorders, therapy, and manipulation. She didn’t shy away from these topics and embraced them in her writing, which I commend her for. She emphasized ways to notice someone dealing with an ED, being manipulated, and fighting back with grace against your abuser. She shines a light on the effectiveness and importance of therapy when used the right way and is very sex-positive throughout the entire story. 

Although I wish there was more hockey throughout, I found the moments on the ice equally enjoyable and possibly even more so than a typical hockey romance. For the above reasons and my overall enjoyment of the book, I am rating Icebreaker 4 out of 5 stars, with a 4 on the spice scale. I recommend reading if sports romance, spice, and the previously mentioned topics are compelling to you. 

As always, thanks for reading! 💜

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pregnancy

leftreads's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit

annabelleg's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

hjewels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Bullying

Aaron does it

cutepatzie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

This is nice and light book to read. I like that it is a book to really good shows how manipulation can look like not only in relationships between friends like also coworkers. I am really happy that many of the inappropriate situations was addressed and no one made victims look bad. And I like good character development. And I can see how many of the characters have been through it. And it was nice to read that. My only complaint was sometimes the time skips to fast and tha was not enough for me plesurble to read but this is something that came maybe pist me of so will not change my grade. A good book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Sexism, and Gaslighting

lizdon's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

theverycraftyvegan'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

4.0

I really enjoyed the story of finding love where you don’t expect it, friends who are there for you no matter what, toxic people getting their comeuppance, and that while having a team/partner beside you is great you can also do things solo and be okay. 

That being said, I found this book to be too sexy? Like there was so much sex it was eventually just background noise. Definitely not an audiobook to listen to with the kids around, but by about half way I could have skipped through the sex scenes and still enjoyed the book. 

All sex aside, I loved the communication between all the characters (friendship and romantic relations) and the amount of times Nate and Stas mentioned therapy and how beneficial it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy