Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Near-death experience, physical assault, restrictive dieting, implied anorexia/bulimia
Score: Two out of ten.
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Short review: Icebreaker was awful.

Long review: Icebreaker by Hannah Grace was the worst book I've read this year. I wanted to read it after seeing it in my recommendations, then I got it when it was ready at the library. I glanced at the blurb, which made it seem intriguing, but I lowered my expectations after seeing the ratings. When I closed the final page, I was disappointed.

It starts with Anastasia Allen and Nate Hawkins, each living separate lives, with Anastasia being part of the USA ice skating team for three years, and Nate being part of the ice hockey team. The opening pages are slow, and the pacing continues to be this way. A slow pace only works when I like the characters, but unfortunately, I found it hard to connect or relate with them. I didn't like them either. There's only one plot in Icebreaker: the relationship between Anastasia and Nate, but the author didn't write them well, so I didn't feel like they had any chemistry. I would've liked to see more of the side characters, but Icebreaker didn't dedicate any subplots or page time to them, and the narrative still managed to span more than 400 pages. Removing filler pages and adding more subplots would've improved the reading experience. There's no literary value or diversity either.

Icebreaker sent a worrying message of unhealthy eating when I saw Anastasia dieting, meaning she didn't eat as much as she should. Even worse, she gets away with it for most of the narrative, and her issues are only visible when she gets bruises more easily. Where are the support systems? There aren't any as far as I can see, much to my dismay. Ten chapters have spicy scenes, which I found hard to read, and I almost gave the work a DNF, and I should've. The jarring juxtapositions detracted from the storyline, as sometimes there can be discussions of serious topics, contrasting with the overall lighthearted tone. At least the climax is a high note, with Anastasia and Nate continuing their relationship. ( )

Great characters. I want more. ( )

I didn't hate this novel I just felt that it was strange. It felt like it was wrote by a teenager that thinks they know how adult relationships work. The main characters in the book mention sex every other sentence. The events in the book are also highly unrealistic. There isn't much to this book, and I felt myself struggling to finish this one. Spoiler the main character gets pregnant. Which isn't much of a spoiler because if you read the books they hint at it every other time they are talking or having sex. ( )

Recommended by a friend who truly enjoyed it. Don't want to rate because I found myself unable to finish. I think I've outgrown a certain type of book, which I take as evidence my depression is lifting.

When a prank goes wrong and puts one rink out of commission, the hockey team and figure skaters at Maple Hills College in LA need to share the remaining rink, and skater Anastasia Allen gets into a complicated relationship with hockey captain Nate Hawkins. Fremenies that become lovers, neither 21-year-old has been in a committed relationship in college, although Stas has a friend with benefits and is also in a committed professional relationship with her dysfunctional skating partner, Aaron.

When Aaron gets beat up–and blames it on the hockey team–Nate takes the blame, and although at first it results in a rift with him and Stas, Nate proves himself to be a stand-up guy and eventually becomes her figure-skating partner when Aaron is put of commission a second time; throwing Stas and Nate together is the last thing Aaron wants, and his manipulation has an undesired effect for him–they pretty much move in together and their domesticity is sweetly detailed. It’s also an opportunity to address Stat’s disordered eating around her skating partner’s controlling and unhealthy diet plan for her.

Most novels don’t open with the protagonists sleeping with other people, but it serves to set a scene for how right these two are for one another. Chapters alternate point of view between Stas and Nate as Stas tries to resist Nate’s charm, but cannot. There is some drama–it’s definitely a new adult book, with bad choices and living in the moment and detailing the college scene, but it’s elevated by strongly portrayed, diverse, distinct supporting characters. The complicated relationships each has with their parents adds depth: Stas is adopted, has Olympic dreams, has been in therapy half her life, is on scholarship, and worries about her parents pinning their hopes and dreams on her; Nate doesn’t want to go into his family’s ski resort business, is in a leadership position as the captain of the hockey team, and is used to taking care of people. The characters are young and real and flawed, and they grow in their relationship in very healthy ways. The abusiveness of Stas’s partner Aaron is painted as complex, but it’s pretty obvious to the reader that his volatile personality is inappropriate for any type of relationship.

The writing is fast and emotional, the banter is fun and flirty, and the sexy scenes are athletic and spicy with a lot of dirty talk. I couldn’t quite believe or relate to 21-year-olds thinking about knocking up their partner or getting married, but they come after months of dating, the protagonists question these thoughts (and how rapidly they are falling in love with one another).

https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/2023/03/29/icebreaker-by-hannah-grace/ ( )