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A review by fishreads
Changing the Game by J.J. Mulder
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Troy Nichols is one of the stars on the South Carolina hockey team (that’s it; the team is just called South Carolina Team). He is an openly gay player, generally beloved by his teammates—possibly thanks to the fact that he is always happy-go-lucky. In this case, "openly gay" means that nobody outside his team and close friends is aware of the fact (yeah, not even that homophobic player on the other team knows).
Troy loves training camps and arriving at practice hours before everyone else. On the first day of the new season, he meets Sam Jackson, who Troy initially mistakes for a new addition to the team. Finding out that Sam is actually a paid intern doesn’t stop Troy from trying to befriend the new guy.
At first, Sam is slightly standoffish and unsure of what to make of Troy. You see, Sam used to play hockey at Harvard, but after he didn’t get drafted and his ("gold digger") girlfriend dumped him immediately afterward, he’s just trying to get his feet under him and keep his head above water. Still, it doesn’t take long for Sam to be completely charmed by Troy’s personality, so when Troy offers him his spare room to stay in, Sam can’t help but accept, despite knowing it might not be the best idea.
A week into living with Troy, Sam can’t deny his attraction, so he kisses him completely out of the blue. Troy has a mini freak-out, but they have a short conversation about liking each other, and bam! Next time we see them, they’re on a date. Sam has zero doubts about dating a man and is ready to inform HR of their relationship. While it was nice of Sam to be so certain about dating Troy, I’m not sure any person would actually act like that without first needing a moment to adjust how they perceive themselves.
Anyway, from that point on, Sam jumps right into doing all the "gay things" with Troy, and everything is sunshine and rainbows, with a sprinkle of rampant misogyny and casual biphobia here and there. That is, until 85% of the way through the story, when the "evil witch" that is Sam’s ex-girlfriend finally makes an on-screen appearance.
If I’m completely honest, the longer this story dragged on with just Troy and Sam being all schmoopy and having copious amounts of perfect but boring sex, the more I found myself waiting for the homophobic ex-girlfriend to make her appearance and at least make things more interesting. I really struggled getting through this snooze-fest of a story.
There were so many character actions in this story that didn’t make sense to me. Troy calling his huge ranch home an "apartment" as an inside joke with his sponsor dad—if it was an inside joke, then it hardly made sense to use it when talking to people who weren’t in on the joke. Sam not blocking his ex’s number from the beginning, when it was obvious he didn’t want to hear from her and was done with her. It made it hard for me to sympathize with Sam when he was being such a fucking muppet. A scene where Troy cuts cucumbers into thin slices, but then says the slices need to be "less than a centimeter thin." Less than a centimeter is actually pretty thick, especially if we’re talking about cucumber slices. Also, where was Troy supposed to be from if he was using centimeters? Troy being so predestined to be a hockey star that nobody even had to show him how to skate the first time he got on the ice as a child. Really?
If I’m completely honest, the longer this story dragged on with just Troy and Sam being all schmoopy and having copious amounts of perfect but boring sex, the more I found myself waiting for the homophobic ex-girlfriend to make her appearance and at least make things more interesting. I really struggled getting through this snooze-fest of a story.
There were so many character actions in this story that didn’t make sense to me. Troy calling his huge ranch home an "apartment" as an inside joke with his sponsor dad—if it was an inside joke, then it hardly made sense to use it when talking to people who weren’t in on the joke. Sam not blocking his ex’s number from the beginning, when it was obvious he didn’t want to hear from her and was done with her. It made it hard for me to sympathize with Sam when he was being such a fucking muppet. A scene where Troy cuts cucumbers into thin slices, but then says the slices need to be "less than a centimeter thin." Less than a centimeter is actually pretty thick, especially if we’re talking about cucumber slices. Also, where was Troy supposed to be from if he was using centimeters? Troy being so predestined to be a hockey star that nobody even had to show him how to skate the first time he got on the ice as a child. Really?
But even more importantly, there was so much misogyny and occasional biphobia in the story. Women at the bar referred to as "puck bunnies." Random female team employee giving Troy her number despite being aware he was gay. Sam discovering he’s a cuddler after all when it comes to sharing a bed with men, instead of women. The ex-girlfriend only being a gold digger and dumping Sam when it was obvious he wasn’t going to the NHL.
I also didn’t understand why this story had to be 325 pages long when they got together before even reaching the 100th page, and hardly anything happened after that.
I also didn’t understand why this story had to be 325 pages long when they got together before even reaching the 100th page, and hardly anything happened after that.
I already stopped reading this book once because I found it so boring, and I hardly looked back. But then I’ve decided to start reading it again, in order to take it off my Currently Reading list and push through to the end this time. Even though I thought the characters were pretty paper-thin and I didn’t find them particularly likable, despite the author’s best efforts to convince me otherwise, it was obviously a debut novel. I don’t think it deserved more than 2 stars because the writing and plot were so unpolished.
I really hate myself for once again choosing to torture myself this way. I was so relieved when I was finally finished with this story. I just couldn’t stand the way Troy and Sam’s relationship was portrayed. I found it overly schmoopy and too perfect to be true, especially considering Sam’s bisexual awakening. The casual misogyny and biphobia also didn’t help my enjoyment of the story.
That said, I did enjoy the secondary characters, even those who made brief appearances, like Nigel St. James and Grayson Brody. It was obviously setting up characters for future books, but I didn’t mind it much since Nigel St. James was the only interesting thing about this book. I won’t give up on this author just yet and will see if I enjoy Corwin and Nigel’s story next.
Themes: dual POV, hockey player/team employee, roommates, bisexual awakening, NHL
That said, I did enjoy the secondary characters, even those who made brief appearances, like Nigel St. James and Grayson Brody. It was obviously setting up characters for future books, but I didn’t mind it much since Nigel St. James was the only interesting thing about this book. I won’t give up on this author just yet and will see if I enjoy Corwin and Nigel’s story next.
Themes: dual POV, hockey player/team employee, roommates, bisexual awakening, NHL
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Homophobia