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This book was so beautiful and wonderful. Tal writes the most heartfelt, devastating, and warm fuzzy books ever. I love me a hockey book and the way Bryce and Hunter came together was so wonderful. One of my favorite things about this book was the team! They were all hilarious in their own way and they truly were their own family.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Qualitatively fine writing, albeit a bit cheesy. Full of insta-love, which is just personally not my thing. These guys fell in full-on love over the course of two days. Also, there‘s a bunch of serious hospital stuff in there, and I never would have read the book had I known.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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
This one s PERFECTION.
Hero worship thing isn’t my favourite but it is when the said hero is not just kind but falls faster and harder.
Let me mention that this is the first hockey mm I’ve read that could FEEL the chemistry between Leads on the rink, during the game (mind you I was barely 15% in). It was convincingly written that I shipped them deeply from the get go.
I also love that their sexuality was answered together. Their description of each other was so stunning I didn’t want to blink.
I love that they trusted each other right off the bat and though miscommunication was there, it created delicious angst and longing.
I could write an essay praising this book but the just of it is that everyone should read it.
Hero worship thing isn’t my favourite but it is when the said hero is not just kind but falls faster and harder.
Let me mention that this is the first hockey mm I’ve read that could FEEL the chemistry between Leads on the rink, during the game (mind you I was barely 15% in). It was convincingly written that I shipped them deeply from the get go.
I also love that their sexuality was answered together. Their description of each other was so stunning I didn’t want to blink.
I love that they trusted each other right off the bat and though miscommunication was there, it created delicious angst and longing.
I could write an essay praising this book but the just of it is that everyone should read it.
Strong character development:
No
started out fine, went downhill. most of this is going to be spoilers because the plot is most of what i'm mad about but gotta get some other stuff out of the way first.
1. the idea that hockey unites literally all of canada and how hockey players are the equivalent of football players in the states. i am canadian. i do not care about hockey. i am not unique in this. also idk are football players really that famous unless they are like mega-stars?
2. just lots of "has never been to canada" vibes. like saying how in canada we don't have real mountains, just tall hills with pointy tops. excuse me have you never heard of BC?
3. i've read too many Poetic books lately and it's starting to get annoying.
alright now the plot stuff. this is gonna be a rambling mess. also i think basically all of this is after the 70% point of the book.
i'm gonna keep going with my numbers from above.
4. sports romances that give one of the main characters a potentially career (or even life) ending injury are almost always doing it because the author couldn't figure out how to make the rest of the plot happen otherwise. this definitely is what happened here. the author couldn't figure out how to move the relationship along and was like oh i know what to do! i'll just almost kill one of my characters. and then they didn't even grow as a couple or anything after to make it semi worth it. ridiculous.
5. also we don't get bryce's POV about the injury HE GOT until he basically completely healed and he was just like "well everyone believed in me so i didn't get sad or have any complicated feelings about my boyfriend doing all the work caring for me and me being unable to complete my only purpose in like aka play hockey" and it basically made him lose all depth he previously had as a character.
6. so bryce is in the hospital severely injured and the whole team is waiting for him to wake up from surgery. and hunter is just like "we're together. i love him" and some guy on the team was just like yeah we knew that the whole time. no! this cheapens and makes pointless the worry and angst that goes into coming out in a way that makes me feel gross. if these two characters didn't come out prior to this moment it is because they felt they were unable to. so when the rest of the cast is just like oh it's fine we been knew it makes the whole thing reek of thoughtlessness. also i know that this is a romance novel so it's gonna be romanticising stuff but that was ridiculous.
7. and then hunter kisses bryce on the lips in front of everyone when bryce wakes up after outing bryce (well apparently not but the sentiment is the same) to basically bryce's entire family (hockey team). and bryce can't even fucking talk on account of the massive injury to the throat he just had and has no idea what's going on. bad vibes abound.
anyways basically i think the last third of this book is just poorly thought out plot choice after poorly thought out plot choice and it made me want to scream. ugh.
1. the idea that hockey unites literally all of canada and how hockey players are the equivalent of football players in the states. i am canadian. i do not care about hockey. i am not unique in this. also idk are football players really that famous unless they are like mega-stars?
2. just lots of "has never been to canada" vibes. like saying how in canada we don't have real mountains, just tall hills with pointy tops. excuse me have you never heard of BC?
3. i've read too many Poetic books lately and it's starting to get annoying.
alright now the plot stuff. this is gonna be a rambling mess. also i think basically all of this is after the 70% point of the book.
i'm gonna keep going with my numbers from above.
4. sports romances that give one of the main characters a potentially career (or even life) ending injury are almost always doing it because the author couldn't figure out how to make the rest of the plot happen otherwise. this definitely is what happened here. the author couldn't figure out how to move the relationship along and was like oh i know what to do! i'll just almost kill one of my characters. and then they didn't even grow as a couple or anything after to make it semi worth it. ridiculous.
5. also we don't get bryce's POV about the injury HE GOT until he basically completely healed and he was just like "well everyone believed in me so i didn't get sad or have any complicated feelings about my boyfriend doing all the work caring for me and me being unable to complete my only purpose in like aka play hockey" and it basically made him lose all depth he previously had as a character.
6. so bryce is in the hospital severely injured and the whole team is waiting for him to wake up from surgery. and hunter is just like "we're together. i love him" and some guy on the team was just like yeah we knew that the whole time. no! this cheapens and makes pointless the worry and angst that goes into coming out in a way that makes me feel gross. if these two characters didn't come out prior to this moment it is because they felt they were unable to. so when the rest of the cast is just like oh it's fine we been knew it makes the whole thing reek of thoughtlessness. also i know that this is a romance novel so it's gonna be romanticising stuff but that was ridiculous.
7. and then hunter kisses bryce on the lips in front of everyone when bryce wakes up after outing bryce (well apparently not but the sentiment is the same) to basically bryce's entire family (hockey team). and bryce can't even fucking talk on account of the massive injury to the throat he just had and has no idea what's going on. bad vibes abound.
anyways basically i think the last third of this book is just poorly thought out plot choice after poorly thought out plot choice and it made me want to scream. ugh.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
Update (6/6/23): Just reread this book and since I’ve read so many hockey romances since my first read, I can confidently say Gravity still stands out as a top tier sports romance. I love its swoon-worthy French pining, its dynamic hockey plays that keep you on the edge of your seat, and its grounding writing style that makes even the most formulaic parts of sports romance feel precious and new.
This latest read through I noticed how Bauer emphasizes that how this is a sport that these men love, but won’t love back. There’s bruises and broken bones and chances of fatal injuries. There’s fast trades, fickle reporters, and homophobia. But a team can still choose to give their teammates their hearts, and love their brothers the way hockey never will. And for two teammates in love, that joy is a hundred times more vivid.
—
It’s a charming Québécois gay romance that will make you want to learn more French and maybe see a hockey game. The teammates are awesome, and I personally would’ve loved more of their stories too. It’s friends-to-lovers, falling into each other’s gravity story for two men who’ve never dated men before. If you need a pick me up, this is a good choice.
Spice: 3/5
This latest read through I noticed how Bauer emphasizes that how this is a sport that these men love, but won’t love back. There’s bruises and broken bones and chances of fatal injuries. There’s fast trades, fickle reporters, and homophobia. But a team can still choose to give their teammates their hearts, and love their brothers the way hockey never will. And for two teammates in love, that joy is a hundred times more vivid.
—
It’s a charming Québécois gay romance that will make you want to learn more French and maybe see a hockey game. The teammates are awesome, and I personally would’ve loved more of their stories too. It’s friends-to-lovers, falling into each other’s gravity story for two men who’ve never dated men before. If you need a pick me up, this is a good choice.
Spice: 3/5
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced