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megkm 's review for:
Cold Day in the Sun: Life Is Short, Take the Shot
by Sara Biren, Sara Biren
Me while reading (sitting in my hammock in the dead of summer in the southern US): I really miss winter. The frigid cold air. Waking up to 20F with a 10 below wind-chill. The ice. I think I just miss hockey. Yeah, probably that.
This book had me missing days on the ice in the winter up north and I never liked the snow or cold that much. It had me right in the feels the entire time. The hockey feels. The mushy-romance feels. The feminist feels. All of it. I remember seeing this book when it first came out and wanting to read it, but I never got around to it till now (albeit in the middle of summer). I don’t have any strong feelings either way so I’ll keep it short. (CW)Content/trigger warnings and nutshell thoughts at the end!
What was good?
The plot. The story follows Holland, the only girl on the boy's hockey team. She works hard every day to prove her place on the team. One day she starts to fall for her team captain and feels ensue! I really liked this story. It was empowering for females and had its cute ‘n fluffy moments too. As a hockey gal I was soaking up every moment she was on the ice and as a romance gal I was loving the relationship.
The characters I loved Holland’s character. She’s hella inspiring. Holland faces a lot of pressure and criticism simply because of her gender, but she powers through it. She’s great on the ice, but she has goals and dreams for her off-ice career. I wish there was a bit more development with the journalism aspect of it, but it still flowed nicely. I also loved her sarcastic remarks. Wes was a good love interest. He that perfect love-interest: Handsome, captain of the hockey team, smart, and caring. Although, I wish his character had a bit more complexity to him since we didn’t deep dive into his past or future goals. He did have some character flaws but overall was fun to follow.
Hockey. If y’all know me, you know I love me some hockey. This is my shit and I love it. All the references to NHL players and different parts of the game. Every time Holland (or any other character) was talking about feeling at home on the ice or the love of the game, I was right there with her. It had me wanting to sit down and watch all the lame hockey movies on Disney+ or go outside and work on some stick tricks. The love of the game, y’know
Feminism. This book had way more empowering and heavy topics than I expected. (I was thinking cute romance with a side of hockey, but instead, I got a double side of feminist hockey and spicy hockey). This book really points out the heavy injustices' female athletes face all the time. It has a great message about women in male-dominated sports and simply women in sports in general. This became a big part of the book and I was loving it.
What was not-so-good?
The pacing sometimes felt off. The relationship was a bit rushed, especially in the beginning. It felt like they hated each other then they were going on dates all of a sudden?
Side note on Wes and their relationship:
Alright, I graduated high school about a year ago. when I was reading, there were parts where I felt it was written by someone who went to school in the 80s or 90s. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but at times it was weird since it's supposed to be present-day, right? However, The references to 80s glam bands were perfectly fine, and honestly, I loved it. I have friends who are obsessed with classics and that’s practically all they listen to, so it worked nicely.
Finally, the tone? Sometimes heavy and angsty but other times cute 'n fluffy. It was a bit confusing at times. Basically, there were moments where everything felt like a fluffy, romance story with some ups and downs, plus some fun hockey. Then, it would get heavy and angsty. The message about female athletes and the cyber-bullying issues were important and impactful but almost took a backseat to the romance. At times, it just felt like a tug-of-war, that’s all.
With all that, I would definitely re-read this book and recommend it to anyone interested in hockey, romance, female athletes, or just a fun ya rom-com. In a nutshell: Not perfect, but: Adorable, average (in the best way!), fluffy, fun YA romance.
☆twitter | tumblr| letterboxd ☆
general spoiler-y notes
— I’d like my gravestone to read, She had a perfect backhand.
—SAY IT WITH ME: CONSENT IS SEXY! The consent was so beautiful. Please everyone take note.
—the blog was really fun to read. Also, awesome music recs!
—
Trigger and content warnings: Sexism, strong language, mild violence, brief mentions of anxiety, brief mentions of drinking, brief mentions of cyber-bullying, sexual harassment, moderate sexual content.
POST-REVIEW: (6/24/20) okay I just finished. I'm in love. I miss hockey. Review to come as soon as I can collect my hockey feels.
This book had me missing days on the ice in the winter up north and I never liked the snow or cold that much. It had me right in the feels the entire time. The hockey feels. The mushy-romance feels. The feminist feels. All of it. I remember seeing this book when it first came out and wanting to read it, but I never got around to it till now (albeit in the middle of summer). I don’t have any strong feelings either way so I’ll keep it short. (CW)Content/trigger warnings and nutshell thoughts at the end!
What was good?
The plot. The story follows Holland, the only girl on the boy's hockey team. She works hard every day to prove her place on the team. One day she starts to fall for her team captain and feels ensue! I really liked this story. It was empowering for females and had its cute ‘n fluffy moments too. As a hockey gal I was soaking up every moment she was on the ice and as a romance gal I was loving the relationship.
The characters I loved Holland’s character. She’s hella inspiring. Holland faces a lot of pressure and criticism simply because of her gender, but she powers through it. She’s great on the ice, but she has goals and dreams for her off-ice career. I wish there was a bit more development with the journalism aspect of it, but it still flowed nicely. I also loved her sarcastic remarks. Wes was a good love interest. He that perfect love-interest: Handsome, captain of the hockey team, smart, and caring. Although, I wish his character had a bit more complexity to him since we didn’t deep dive into his past or future goals. He did have some character flaws but overall was fun to follow.
Today, I’m playing for myself. Today, I trust myself. Today, I know I’m enough.
Hockey. If y’all know me, you know I love me some hockey. This is my shit and I love it. All the references to NHL players and different parts of the game. Every time Holland (or any other character) was talking about feeling at home on the ice or the love of the game, I was right there with her. It had me wanting to sit down and watch all the lame hockey movies on Disney+ or go outside and work on some stick tricks. The love of the game, y’know
Feminism. This book had way more empowering and heavy topics than I expected. (I was thinking cute romance with a side of hockey, but instead, I got a double side of feminist hockey and spicy hockey). This book really points out the heavy injustices' female athletes face all the time. It has a great message about women in male-dominated sports and simply women in sports in general. This became a big part of the book and I was loving it.
What was not-so-good?
The pacing sometimes felt off. The relationship was a bit rushed, especially in the beginning. It felt like they hated each other then they were going on dates all of a sudden?
Side note on Wes and their relationship:
Spoiler
I feel like them needing to go public didn’t make any sense. Holland had legit fears, and it just blew up in her face. Also, Wes didn’t really listen to Holland when she didn’t want to tell others about their relationship. It just pissed me off when he was like, ‘they will find out eventually’ like, hon it's not eventually just yet so chill. I know they talked about it and recovered, but still.Alright, I graduated high school about a year ago. when I was reading, there were parts where I felt it was written by someone who went to school in the 80s or 90s. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but at times it was weird since it's supposed to be present-day, right? However, The references to 80s glam bands were perfectly fine, and honestly, I loved it. I have friends who are obsessed with classics and that’s practically all they listen to, so it worked nicely.
Finally, the tone? Sometimes heavy and angsty but other times cute 'n fluffy. It was a bit confusing at times. Basically, there were moments where everything felt like a fluffy, romance story with some ups and downs, plus some fun hockey. Then, it would get heavy and angsty. The message about female athletes and the cyber-bullying issues were important and impactful but almost took a backseat to the romance. At times, it just felt like a tug-of-war, that’s all.
With all that, I would definitely re-read this book and recommend it to anyone interested in hockey, romance, female athletes, or just a fun ya rom-com. In a nutshell: Not perfect, but: Adorable, average (in the best way!), fluffy, fun YA romance.
☆twitter | tumblr| letterboxd ☆
general spoiler-y notes
— I’d like my gravestone to read, She had a perfect backhand.
—SAY IT WITH ME: CONSENT IS SEXY! The consent was so beautiful. Please everyone take note.
—the blog was really fun to read. Also, awesome music recs!
—
Spoiler
I slightly wish there was an epilogue. Like, did she ever becomes a captain? Did she get into the journalism program? I know use my imagination and all but come on.Trigger and content warnings: Sexism, strong language, mild violence, brief mentions of anxiety, brief mentions of drinking, brief mentions of cyber-bullying, sexual harassment, moderate sexual content.
POST-REVIEW: (6/24/20) okay I just finished. I'm in love. I miss hockey. Review to come as soon as I can collect my hockey feels.