sydverse 's review for:

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

4.0

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I thought this book was very good! There is some incredible mental health representation in here (I appreciate

dorian’s trich

! never read a character w that in a book before and is something I wish was discussed more often in relation to coping with depression and anxiety etc).

The characters were all pretty interesting though I wish some of the side characters could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. The ending felt quite rushed, we see

Mickey start meds and then it isn’t really brought up again until his drunken break down

. His resolution with his Dad was also quite rushed to me and perhaps not entirely earned. 

Mickey and Jaysen’s relationship, didn’t completely buy it. I think there was chemistry but wasn’t developed as consistently as I would’ve liked. I just wanted more development of both those things, this book had 5 star potential with how visceral Mickey’s feelings felt throughout the book, I thought that part was expertly done. His depression and anxious feelings felt so real and vulnerable and I really found myself drawn in by how it was written. But with how rushed the ending was I’m left feeling a bit unsatisfied unfortunately. 

Still a great book and a really important story for the hockey genre.