Early Review: Icebreaker

Okay, you guys, I need you to listen up because this book I’m about to talk about is AMAZING and it deserves attention and I haven’t heard a lot of word of mouth going around about it and it should be getting A LOT more love than it is. 

Icebreaker is a wonderful, queer YA hockey romance that deserves all the love. I discovered it via NetGalley, gave it a try based on the premise, and was so glad I did because it was amazing. The romance is wonderful, the hockey is exciting and accurately portrayed, and the writing is fantastic. More importantly, the book delves into several serious topics and themes. This is Graziadei’s first book but it definitely won’t be their last. Check it out and give it some love! (GoodReads review below.)

Pub Date: January 18, 2022

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

I LOVED this!! I was excited to dive into this one and I enjoyed it even more than I expected to. I’ve been itching to read more hockey romances (Taylor Fitzpatrick is the gold standard, imo, and has spoiled me for them) and this one hooked me right from the first line. Really well written and character-driven, this checks so many boxes of Things I Love in a Romance. 

College hockey player Mickey is struggling with depression, feeling the weight of being the third generation of a line of elite NHL legends. The pressure from the expectations his family’s legacy has dropped on him is becoming too much.

I sometimes struggle with the enemies/rivals to lovers trope but this relationship developed very naturally and didn’t feel forced (or hateful). And I really liked Mickey - he’s such a great character. He’s really funny, totally low key and down to earth. He is definitely an enjoyable and relatable character to read in the first person POV. 

The book is heavy on the hockey (which I love!) and I thought the hockey elements were really well done. The author definitely knows what they’re talking about - the lingo, the game, the overall culture are all captured brilliantly. (And the chirping is top notch. 😂) 

Honestly, everything in this book is well done. I’m impressed with the writing; all the characters - Mickey’s sisters, friends, and teammates - are wonderful; the humor is great (I was laughing so hard during the team bonding exercise); there’s excellent LGBTQ+ rep; mental health discussions play a large role here and topics like homophobia, bi erasure, misogyny/patriarchal standards, privilege, and toxic/hyper masculinity (in sports culture in general and the NHL in particular) are addressed. Those bits were particularly interesting to me. I really appreciated Graziadei incorporating all of those issues, especially from the vantage point of a character like Mickey since they all play a role in his life.

I really really wish the digital ARCs allowed for highlighted passages to be uploaded to GR because there are so many amazing lines and bits that I felt were important and beautiful and just so well said, I might hafta buy the kindle version when it’s released so I can do exactly that. I will definitely be getting a hard copy for my shelf. 

📚 

Highlights:

❤️ ALLL THE HOCKEYYYYY
❤️ Mickey’s relationship with his sisters 🥺
❤️ It’s so funny
❤️ A realistic depiction of depression
❤️ The ending

5 stars out of 5   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Go preorder or order it now! 

Many thanks to NetGalley and McMillan Publishing for providing the digital ARC.