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A review by novelbloglover
Hockey Karma by Howard Shapiro
5.0
Book Review
Title: Hockey Karma (Forever Friends Trilogy #3)
Author: Howard Shapiro
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to Hockey Karma was great, we re-join Jake and Tom who seems a lot older than he did in Hockey Saint and Felicity even mentions kids, but Jake isn’t himself at all and might be coming to the end of his career. Tom, on the other hand, has finally got a chance at his dream girl Jaelithe after getting her number after his parent’s death.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the story, the people and times around Jake are changing rapidly and he isn’t ready for these changes. Despite being a father of two beautiful children he doesn’t seem content with his life and is fighting to be the superstar he once was but after being bumped down to third line it is clear that isn’t happening, and he is moving closer and closer to retirement and he is having some major issues. Meanwhile, Tom is still trying to change the world with the help of some old friends and decades after high school he finally gets the chance to go on a date with the girl of his dreams.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the story, Tom’s seems to be on the up with his relationship with Jaelithe going well and he is heading back to his home town for a reunion where he will be able to see all his old friends again, so I couldn’t wait to see them again. Jake, on the other hand isn’t fairing so well, his feud with a rival player is getting worse and after being injured in practice Jake is too stubborn to accept that one wrong move could not only end his career but his life as well. Despite seeing a nice side to Jake in Hockey Saint, here he comes off as a self-centred ass with no concern or consideration for his health and what would be best for his family, he only thinks of himself.
As we approach the halfway mark in the story, Tom finally confronts Jake about what is going on, but he just brushes it off as usually despite the fact he is developing quite a high dependency on painkillers just to be able to make it through the day because he has refused surgery until the end of the season but given the state of things I don’t think Jake is going to make it that far. However, Tom can’t dwell on it as he is flying to his home town the next day for his reunion.
As we cross into the second half of the story, both Jake and Tom are having to make some really big decisions. Jake must decide what is more important to him; hockey or his family, and Tom is contemplating moving back to his home town as he really likes Jaelithe and wants to be with her but as the mother of an eight-year-old son a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work. Tom also realises during the reunion that he has moulded himself around Jake and doesn’t really have any idea of who he is as a person and wants to learn but to do that he needs to distance himself from his best friend of many years.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the story, everything is coming together Jake finally decides to pull himself together and focus on family. Getting off the drugs and setting this straight worked out well for him and he also decides that he will play one last game and then retire but I don’t have a good feeling about this last game. Tom also realises that a relationship with Jaelithe isn’t going to work out at this point in his life and he makes peace with that and throws all his energy into his other projects.
In the final section of the story, I was really happy to see both Jake and Tom manage to not only stay friends but support each other when they need it most and find a way to move forward together despite everything they have gone through. I highly recommend the forever friends trilogy, they are quick reads but filled with social and sometimes political commentary and really focuses on issues that the everyday person faces in their lives like poverty, death, illness and more.
Title: Hockey Karma (Forever Friends Trilogy #3)
Author: Howard Shapiro
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to Hockey Karma was great, we re-join Jake and Tom who seems a lot older than he did in Hockey Saint and Felicity even mentions kids, but Jake isn’t himself at all and might be coming to the end of his career. Tom, on the other hand, has finally got a chance at his dream girl Jaelithe after getting her number after his parent’s death.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the story, the people and times around Jake are changing rapidly and he isn’t ready for these changes. Despite being a father of two beautiful children he doesn’t seem content with his life and is fighting to be the superstar he once was but after being bumped down to third line it is clear that isn’t happening, and he is moving closer and closer to retirement and he is having some major issues. Meanwhile, Tom is still trying to change the world with the help of some old friends and decades after high school he finally gets the chance to go on a date with the girl of his dreams.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the story, Tom’s seems to be on the up with his relationship with Jaelithe going well and he is heading back to his home town for a reunion where he will be able to see all his old friends again, so I couldn’t wait to see them again. Jake, on the other hand isn’t fairing so well, his feud with a rival player is getting worse and after being injured in practice Jake is too stubborn to accept that one wrong move could not only end his career but his life as well. Despite seeing a nice side to Jake in Hockey Saint, here he comes off as a self-centred ass with no concern or consideration for his health and what would be best for his family, he only thinks of himself.
As we approach the halfway mark in the story, Tom finally confronts Jake about what is going on, but he just brushes it off as usually despite the fact he is developing quite a high dependency on painkillers just to be able to make it through the day because he has refused surgery until the end of the season but given the state of things I don’t think Jake is going to make it that far. However, Tom can’t dwell on it as he is flying to his home town the next day for his reunion.
As we cross into the second half of the story, both Jake and Tom are having to make some really big decisions. Jake must decide what is more important to him; hockey or his family, and Tom is contemplating moving back to his home town as he really likes Jaelithe and wants to be with her but as the mother of an eight-year-old son a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work. Tom also realises during the reunion that he has moulded himself around Jake and doesn’t really have any idea of who he is as a person and wants to learn but to do that he needs to distance himself from his best friend of many years.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the story, everything is coming together Jake finally decides to pull himself together and focus on family. Getting off the drugs and setting this straight worked out well for him and he also decides that he will play one last game and then retire but I don’t have a good feeling about this last game. Tom also realises that a relationship with Jaelithe isn’t going to work out at this point in his life and he makes peace with that and throws all his energy into his other projects.
In the final section of the story, I was really happy to see both Jake and Tom manage to not only stay friends but support each other when they need it most and find a way to move forward together despite everything they have gone through. I highly recommend the forever friends trilogy, they are quick reads but filled with social and sometimes political commentary and really focuses on issues that the everyday person faces in their lives like poverty, death, illness and more.