A review by lost_windsock
Shiver by Crea Reitan

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have so many thoughts about this book. Where to begin? Overall, I found this book difficult to put down. Although there were a lot of things that confused me about the writing, plot points that I didn't really love, and a main character I couldn't decide if I hated, I did actually enjoy this book. Ramesh did his damndest to make me hate him, but somehow, I just ended up more annoyed at him than anything. I absolutely hate the "I'm not good enough for him, so I'll leave him without any discussion" trope, and the way it played out in his book didn't improve my opinion of it. This was probably the most dramatic result of that trope I've ever seen, having Egon basically lose his will to live so completely that he lost literal days in a haze of depression. Somehow, instead of that making my eyes roll, I actually felt more connected to Egon and more invested in how he would end up getting back with Rake. Egon was so intensely needy, but I truly wasn't as bothered by that as I thought I would be. This book actually felt like it could have been a Daddy romance for how very Daddy-like Rake was to Egon. I liked that dynamic between them, and once Rake got over himself, I liked him a lot more. The thing about this book that I found the most confusing and that sort of put me off a little was the writing style. It felt like this book was translated from a different language the way the characters thought and spoke. It just hit my brain in a really strange way, and I almost didn't keep reading because I just wasn't jiving with the voice it was written in. I'm glad I kept reading, because I did end up enjoying this book, and I will continue to read the series. I really do hope the author's understanding of hockey improves with each book, too, because there were a good few parts of the hockey bits that just weren't right and...as a hockey romance, those details should matter.
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