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brontesauruses 's review for:
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy
by Faith Erin Hicks
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an egalley in exchange for an honest review!
Man, I think I raised my expectations too high. I enjoyed it, but the inciting incident was just so...not unrealistic, I guess? I just had a really hard time buying it, is all. In what way does it make sense for a team captain to be so relentlessly mean to a teammate? How does that help build a successful, cohesive team? Why is she allowed to do this? Maybe I've just been out of high school for too long. Maybe the coach just sucks. Who knows.
Also, it felt like it needed to be longer than it was (maybe even going into a second volume?); some ideas didn't get enough room to breathe, some plot points don't get to finish playing out, at least not where we can see them - although we can kind of uhhhh make an educated guess about at least one of them lol - and the ending we get felt more like an epilogue than an actual wrapping up of events.
All that said? Alix and Ezra are so sweet together, and I loved their love. I love the gender role subversion! I love that she's taller than him! I love queer rep! (Ezra doesn't put a label on himself, but he is somewhere in the bi/pan ballpark). Even with my gripes, I'd read another story with them in it for sure.
Man, I think I raised my expectations too high. I enjoyed it, but the inciting incident was just so...not unrealistic, I guess? I just had a really hard time buying it, is all. In what way does it make sense for a team captain to be so relentlessly mean to a teammate? How does that help build a successful, cohesive team? Why is she allowed to do this? Maybe I've just been out of high school for too long. Maybe the coach just sucks. Who knows.
Also, it felt like it needed to be longer than it was (maybe even going into a second volume?); some ideas didn't get enough room to breathe, some plot points don't get to finish playing out, at least not where we can see them - although we can kind of uhhhh make an educated guess about at least one of them lol - and the ending we get felt more like an epilogue than an actual wrapping up of events.
All that said? Alix and Ezra are so sweet together, and I loved their love. I love the gender role subversion! I love that she's taller than him! I love queer rep! (Ezra doesn't put a label on himself, but he is somewhere in the bi/pan ballpark). Even with my gripes, I'd read another story with them in it for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence
Moderate: Biphobia, Toxic friendship