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A review by ladydewinter
Skater Boy by A.E. Wasp
3.0
Sadly, I'm a little disappointed with this series. I quite liked the first book, but the second was already not as good as it could have been, and this? Was frustrating because it had so much potential that was pretty much wasted.
I loved Alex and Sergei - Alex, a French-Canadian figure skater and Sergei, the big Russian goalie. The two have been best friends for years, but after a bad break up Alex moves in with Sergei who tells him that he wants them to be more than friends. It takes them a while to renegotiate their new relationship, and it gets more complicated when they suddenly have to take care of Sergei's kids.
Alex and Sergei were 1000% lovable. I am all over queer Russian hockey players, and I love friends-to-lovers stories. I also adore stories about queer dads, so by all rights I should have loved it. But this sadly suffered from mediocre writing and awkward pacing.
The biggest problem for me was how fast problems were solved most of the time. Conflict is what makes stories interesting, and while it doesn't need to be dragged out endlessly, it can go a little longer than two pages. Just when I was settling into feeling all angsty about "ooh I wonder how living together will be when they want to be more than friends but Alex isn't ready" that was already over and we move over to the next part. And that happened again and again.
The twins also read more like props than actual kids - they were so quiet on the page it was as if they were dolls.
And while I am not an expert, I felt like Sergei's sexuality wasn't very convincing. I mean, props for trying to include a demisexual character, but it just felt not very... realistic? Serge's backstory also felt too much like a byline for it to have the impact it deserved.
Considering my complaints, the three stars may surprise you. I do think this book could be great with some tighter writing and proper pacing, and I did love the characters - the whole cast - a lot, so if you liked the characters in the earlier novels you may enjoy this one. I will keep reading this series because hockey, but I hope the next book's quality will be closer to the first one's.
I loved Alex and Sergei - Alex, a French-Canadian figure skater and Sergei, the big Russian goalie. The two have been best friends for years, but after a bad break up Alex moves in with Sergei who tells him that he wants them to be more than friends. It takes them a while to renegotiate their new relationship, and it gets more complicated when they suddenly have to take care of Sergei's kids.
Alex and Sergei were 1000% lovable. I am all over queer Russian hockey players, and I love friends-to-lovers stories. I also adore stories about queer dads, so by all rights I should have loved it. But this sadly suffered from mediocre writing and awkward pacing.
The biggest problem for me was how fast problems were solved most of the time. Conflict is what makes stories interesting, and while it doesn't need to be dragged out endlessly, it can go a little longer than two pages. Just when I was settling into feeling all angsty about "ooh I wonder how living together will be when they want to be more than friends but Alex isn't ready" that was already over and we move over to the next part. And that happened again and again.
The twins also read more like props than actual kids - they were so quiet on the page it was as if they were dolls.
And while I am not an expert, I felt like Sergei's sexuality wasn't very convincing. I mean, props for trying to include a demisexual character, but it just felt not very... realistic? Serge's backstory also felt too much like a byline for it to have the impact it deserved.
Considering my complaints, the three stars may surprise you. I do think this book could be great with some tighter writing and proper pacing, and I did love the characters - the whole cast - a lot, so if you liked the characters in the earlier novels you may enjoy this one. I will keep reading this series because hockey, but I hope the next book's quality will be closer to the first one's.