pinktrashpandareads 's review for:

Jaded by Lex Easton

2.5

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Thank you GRR for the arc! 

I struggle to rate this book, but ultimately I think I've settled on 2.5 stars.

I really wanted to like it more than I did, but there were some aspects that held the story back. 

I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style and the long bits of monologue both Olli and Nat had in their respective chapters. It almost made me want to quit, but I kept going to see where the story went.

The story is gritty, messy and feels real, but I just wish there were fewer areas of focus.

You've got the single dad ex hockey player who doesn't trust his daughter's boyfriend, and the boyfriend reminds him off his younger self. 

He's also a mess and needs to be bailed out constantly.

He's working in the rink as a Zamboni driver and a skate sharpener bc he can't leave the ice. He's also got a legacy family who left to become big stars.

The town also has this underground illegal ice out hockey fighting ring that he takes part in. 

He's also a repo man to cover the bills to support his kid for wherever she decides to go next. 

Then when he's already struggling with all this, Olli enters the picture and he's got him questioning everything in his life.

The both of them come with a lot of baggage, but they seem to instantly connect and they can't stay away from each other.

Maybe it was also how gloomy the setting was, but I did appreciate the shift when Olli came into the story. 

He brought humor and helped connect with people, understanding them better than they understood themselves. 

Olli has ADHD and it honestly felt like an accurate rep, with the highest highs and the lowest lows, which is an often overlooked aspect of it, so I appreciate that. 

There was also some demi rep and I feel like that was well done too!