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thebiglittlelibrary 's review for:
Icebreaker
by Hannah Grace
2.5⭐️ I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either.
I can see why people may like this book. The premise is interesting enough, the romance is sweet and sexy, the college atmosphere is fun and I LOVE Henry. However, there were too many issues for me to enjoy the story. And it got to the point where about halfway, I kept thinking, "When is this over."
So what were the issues?
1. The story was too long. Not only is it extremely wordy but there are completely unnecessary plot points. 100 pages minimum should have been cut.
2. The pacing was off. The first half of this book is mostly random college shenanigans and romance development, but around 50% I was wondering, what's the point of this story? Shortly after, the real sports drama happens. But by that point, I'm 200 pages in, the romance is completely developed and I have another 200 pages to go....I lost interest.
3. The romantic arc was complete at 50%, but for a romance novel, it should have happened much later. By 50%, Anastasia and Nathan are happy, in love, and playing house. There's no tension and their relationship doesn't really go through any hardships after. So romantically, the story was boring by this point.
4. The sex scenes were great but repetitive to the point where once again I lost interest. Tension and buildup are key to any great romance. And they have that for maybe 30% of the book and then it all just comes together. Boring.
5. Nathan has zero flaws. Looks, I like how sweet and supportive he is, but I like stories where both characters have things to work through. It just makes them more 3-dimensional and interesting.
5. Anastasia was frustrating. To some people who try to push her around, she was stubborn and curt, but only to Aaron was she a massive pushover. And why on earth was she constantly overlooking and forgiving him for the TERRIBLE things he did and said??? Why?? Because he was her skating partner? Because she couldn't find another? That is not a good enough reason in my opinion. Especially when this girl has been to therapy since she was 10 years old, yet she somehow justified Aaron's toxic behavior and put his needs above hers. It also pissed me off that Lola didn't see this behavior as being toxic either, and how EVERYONE on the hockey team did, yet neither girl would believe them or take action.
It also really bothered me when Nathan brought up real concerns about Aaron, Anastasia tells him he needs to talk more respectfully to her when he in reality wasn't being disrespectful; he was just frustrated. But then she lets Aaron talk to her like she's garbage???? Make it make sense.
Also, Anastasia makes a comment that Nathan can't process emotions as well as her because he hasn't had hours of therapy like her. First off, rude of you to make assumptions. Second, false. She has been walked over by Aaron for years, so I don't really think she's one to talk.
6. College is not like this. Yes, there are parties and hot athletes, but these relationships were just so far-fetched I couldn't ever believe it, even for the sake of the story. There's no way a house full of hockey players get along that well and welcome two random girls to live with them. But really, the most unrealistic part is two girls living in a hockey house. lol There's no way they would want to live there because there's NO WAY that house would be sanitary. I don't care what anyone says. I've been to my fair share of frat and athlete parties, and I had NEVER seen a clean college all-boys house.
7. I still don't get Aarons's motives. Was he in love with Anastasia or was he just controlling? Maybe both? Idk. I also don't really care.
8. What was the point of Ryan? He and Anastasian were casually hooking up and then later stop because she was with Nathan and he was with another girl. I thought there would be a love triangle. But they remain friends...'best friends' according to Anastasia. This was weird and unrealistic. It's weird because Lola is actually her best friend and Anastasia interacts with the other hockey guys more throughout the book. Yet she calls Ryan her bestie but he only seems to randomly pop back up in her life to push the story along. It's also an unrealistic relationship because there is ZERO chance of college 'best friend' f*ck buddies being mature enough not to catch more feelings and stay friends after the arrangement. It always ends messy. So yeah, this relationship is a nice idea, but not plausible. So I'll ask again, what was the point of him in this story? My guess is it was to show Anastasia casually has sex and doesn't want commitment. But the author could have just told me this without introducing another pointless character.
9. The trope that shows up in the epilogue is not my cup of tea. I expected it because it was brought up multiple times throughout the story, but I'm not a fan.
Overall, Icebreaker had A LOT of potential but ultimately fell flat for me. My biggest issue though was the length. If it were shorter, I would have enjoyed it more.
I can see why people may like this book. The premise is interesting enough, the romance is sweet and sexy, the college atmosphere is fun and I LOVE Henry. However, there were too many issues for me to enjoy the story. And it got to the point where about halfway, I kept thinking, "When is this over."
So what were the issues?
1. The story was too long. Not only is it extremely wordy but there are completely unnecessary plot points. 100 pages minimum should have been cut.
2. The pacing was off. The first half of this book is mostly random college shenanigans and romance development, but around 50% I was wondering, what's the point of this story? Shortly after, the real sports drama happens. But by that point, I'm 200 pages in, the romance is completely developed and I have another 200 pages to go....I lost interest.
3. The romantic arc was complete at 50%, but for a romance novel, it should have happened much later. By 50%, Anastasia and Nathan are happy, in love, and playing house. There's no tension and their relationship doesn't really go through any hardships after. So romantically, the story was boring by this point.
4. The sex scenes were great but repetitive to the point where once again I lost interest. Tension and buildup are key to any great romance. And they have that for maybe 30% of the book and then it all just comes together. Boring.
5. Nathan has zero flaws. Looks, I like how sweet and supportive he is, but I like stories where both characters have things to work through. It just makes them more 3-dimensional and interesting.
5. Anastasia was frustrating. To some people who try to push her around, she was stubborn and curt, but only to Aaron was she a massive pushover. And why on earth was she constantly overlooking and forgiving him for the TERRIBLE things he did and said??? Why?? Because he was her skating partner? Because she couldn't find another? That is not a good enough reason in my opinion. Especially when this girl has been to therapy since she was 10 years old, yet she somehow justified Aaron's toxic behavior and put his needs above hers. It also pissed me off that Lola didn't see this behavior as being toxic either, and how EVERYONE on the hockey team did, yet neither girl would believe them or take action.
It also really bothered me when Nathan brought up real concerns about Aaron, Anastasia tells him he needs to talk more respectfully to her when he in reality wasn't being disrespectful; he was just frustrated. But then she lets Aaron talk to her like she's garbage???? Make it make sense.
Also, Anastasia makes a comment that Nathan can't process emotions as well as her because he hasn't had hours of therapy like her. First off, rude of you to make assumptions. Second, false. She has been walked over by Aaron for years, so I don't really think she's one to talk.
6. College is not like this. Yes, there are parties and hot athletes, but these relationships were just so far-fetched I couldn't ever believe it, even for the sake of the story. There's no way a house full of hockey players get along that well and welcome two random girls to live with them. But really, the most unrealistic part is two girls living in a hockey house. lol There's no way they would want to live there because there's NO WAY that house would be sanitary. I don't care what anyone says. I've been to my fair share of frat and athlete parties, and I had NEVER seen a clean college all-boys house.
7. I still don't get Aarons's motives. Was he in love with Anastasia or was he just controlling? Maybe both? Idk. I also don't really care.
8. What was the point of Ryan? He and Anastasian were casually hooking up and then later stop because she was with Nathan and he was with another girl. I thought there would be a love triangle. But they remain friends...'best friends' according to Anastasia. This was weird and unrealistic. It's weird because Lola is actually her best friend and Anastasia interacts with the other hockey guys more throughout the book. Yet she calls Ryan her bestie but he only seems to randomly pop back up in her life to push the story along. It's also an unrealistic relationship because there is ZERO chance of college 'best friend' f*ck buddies being mature enough not to catch more feelings and stay friends after the arrangement. It always ends messy. So yeah, this relationship is a nice idea, but not plausible. So I'll ask again, what was the point of him in this story? My guess is it was to show Anastasia casually has sex and doesn't want commitment. But the author could have just told me this without introducing another pointless character.
9. The trope that shows up in the epilogue is not my cup of tea. I expected it because it was brought up multiple times throughout the story, but I'm not a fan.
Overall, Icebreaker had A LOT of potential but ultimately fell flat for me. My biggest issue though was the length. If it were shorter, I would have enjoyed it more.