Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

42 reviews

mhairi_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Tropes: Frenemies to lovers, reverse grumpy / sunshine, college romance, sports romance, guy falls first.

POV: Dual - Anastasia & Nathan

I fell for the cute cover and the figure skater trope. As a young competitive figure skater these plots really call to me but this wasn’t everything I was hoping it would be.

Nate our MMC and captain of the hockey team is genuinely just *chef’s kiss. I loved him so much. He is completely.

Anastasia is our FMC and a talented figure skater aiming for the Olympics. I did take a little to warm up to her but I loved her in the end. Her take-no-bullshit attitude was fantastic and her positive talk about therapy was something you don’t see too often in books which I appreciated.

Due to a series of events the skaters and hockey players are forced to share the rink at UCMH, essentially where we pick up. As Nate and Stas get closer, Stas’ skating partner Aaron becomes more manipulative and emotionally abusive.

The chemistry between Nate and Stas was well written and I lived for it. The sex scenes - I don’t even have words. The were great! Even just the lazing around scenes showcased a beautiful relationship that literally gave me all the vibes. This is relationship goals right here.

The side characters were honestly just as good as Anastasia and Nate. The puckbunnies had my heart😍. There was definitely a diverse range of characters here and while it was fantastic to see I almost feel like some of the characters were only there to create diversity, if you know what I mean.

⚠️ Content Warnings: Mental health rep, emotional abuse, toxic friendship, disordered eating, death of parent, adoption, alcohol use, sexual content.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Blood, and Pregnancy

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I started seeing it all over bookstagram, and idk why I waited so long but I’m so glad that I read it! I can definitely see why this is so many people’s favorite!! 

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
I liked the writing style and how casual it was. The author nailed the inner monologues of the main characters, and I loved reading from both their POVs. 

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚
I loved Anastasia’s character and her development. I was able to relate to her on some levels and I love how she got the ending she deserved 💗

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐞
Nate is the epitome of the “golden retriever boy”. He was honestly adorable and the way he cared for other people, even when they made mistakes was amazing to see. And the way he listened to Anastasia and helped her get through some tough things was so wholesome 🥹 I’m glad that we get to see a love interest in a romcom that’s genuinely good and supportive 

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
Their relationship is to DIE for!!! It’s such a healthy representation of a good relationship and it was so unlike the previous romcoms I’ve read. I don’t like the miscommunication trope in romance books, so a relationship where they’re honest and communicative was so refreshing to see and I loved it so much!! 

𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
the side characters were such a fun part of the book. Their banter was funny and I loved Anastasia’s friendship with the hockey team. However, there were quite a lot of side characters that we don’t know much about and I was confused whenever they were brought up because I didn’t remember them being introduced. 

𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥
This is definitely a new favorite!! 🫶🏼 The only reason it wasn’t a 5 ⭐️ was because I felt like it was repetitive, it seemed like every other chapter Anastasia and Nate would argue over something, then makeup by hooking up, then go back to arguing. It was just a lot of back and forth. Also, it was a bit too long for my liking. Some scenes really dragged on imo but I’d still highly recommend this!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment and Alcohol

brookesmith's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Blood

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

storieswithbee's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

TikTok (more specifically Booktok) has been pumping my TBR full of books for the last couple of years, so I decided that I needed to tackle a book that I've been curious about for a long time, and that book was 'Icebreaker' by Hannah Grace!

Plain and simple, I ADORED this book! It had the wit, the humour, the contemporary modernism that made you feel like you were reading about a real-life college romance, and some incredible representation. Going past that, this book has literally put me into the BIGGEST reading slump now that I've finished it. On one hand, that's kind of a nice thing because it means that I've taken a little bit to really engage in all my emotions and feelings towards the book. But on the other hand, I have been given far too many ARCs this month that I'm not able to neglect!

The characters were great. The romance was heartwarming. The spice was... *chef's kiss*. Even better again, I live in Australia, so our university system is vastly different to the American college system, but the book was so well written that I didn't feel so polarised as I have been with other college romances. 

Lastly, it was a very classic romance genre HEA epilogue ending, which I think if you're looking for that in a read, then this book is great. At the same time, if you're not in the headspace for that, then this book can come across as a little predictable, and, dare I even say, eye-roll-inducing. 

There are some trigger warnings in this book. It is definitely for 18+ readers, but there is also some themes that some reader may find very uncomfortable. These include sexual content, slut-shaming, sexual assault (on-page), food shaming, dieting & calorie-counting, disordered eating, death of a parent (mentioned), toxic friendship, swearing, pregnancy, etc. Please check if this is the right book for you.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Deadnaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Abandonment

sharebear431's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

luciiee's review against another edition

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

irisvdn's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

chrisljm's review against another edition

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

this shit had me kicking my feet and twinkling my toes 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, and Car accident

mattiedancer's review against another edition

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

4.0

Writing: 3.75⭐️/5 

The writing was unremarkable. There were one or two lines that were quite well done, but mostly it was adequate and even, which made for a really fast reading experience. Also, much of the writing was VERY tell-y versus actually showing the audience. It wasn’t poorly done, necessarily; I just wish it had been finessed a bit more. 

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

The characters are uniquely lovable. I’m not sure how realistic they are, but they’re certainly quite fun to read about. I do wish we got a bit more understanding of the motives behind Aaron, our MC’s skating partner, as we aren’t fully let in to understand why he’s doing the things that he’s doing. Otherwise, the characters were very fun and vibrant. 

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5 

The plot was fun, but not extremely well-paced. Certain sections could have been sped up, while others were much too tell-y and not doing enough to show us what was happening. About three-quarters the way through the book I was confused as to how the story wasn’t over, but then the plot “re-thickened,” even though I kind of thought it was resolving. I really wish this was coalesced a bit better instead of feeling so segmented. 

Post-Reading Rating:  3.25⭐️/5

Could have done without the epilogue honestly. Kind of ruined it for me.

Who Should Read This? 

• Fans of modern-day romance
• Fans of enemies to lovers
• Fans of overprotective-without-being-toxic love interests

CW: Death of a parent, pregnancy, eating disorder, blood, sexual content 

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Car accident