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Icebreaker
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot.
The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.
This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.
Runtime: 8. 49 hours, 7 library CDs
The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.
This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.
Runtime: 8. 49 hours, 7 library CDs
9 pages, Audio CD
First published January 28, 2022
481 people are currently reading
35774 people want to read
About the author
A.L. Graziadei
2 books679 followersA.L. Graziadei was born in Buffalo, New York and raised on Sabres hockey and video games, using their free time to write books inspired by both. Now living in Wisconsin, A.L. still plays plenty of video games and is a proud member of the Displaced Buffalo Sabres Fans group. Icebreaker is their first book.
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January 1, 2025if a rivalry lasts longer than 7 years, then you are no longer rivals. you are gay
March 20, 2022
For a debut novel, I think this was really good. Mickey's character was very interesting to read about. I liked how his issues with depression and anxiety were handled and I loved watching him grow throughout the story. While I didn't fully understand the reasons behind the decisions made by some family members, I appreciated how everything worked out in the end.
The side characters are really great in this story. I absolutely loved Jaysen and I liked the connection between him and Mickey. I loved their whole team, especially Darian and Barbie. I also have to mention Mickey's sisters who are a big part of this story, too, and Mickey's friend Nova. The friendships were really wonderful in this one. The only thing I could have done without is the excessive drinking. While realistic, it did feel a bit too much at times.
The story focuses a lot on hockey, so there are a lot of scenes that take place on the ice. Personally, I enjoyed them all. I feel they were all well written and well balanced with the rest of the story.
The ending might seem a bit rushed and the epilogue unsatisfying, but I'm actually quite happy with how the story ended. Maybe I wished for a different outcome and I wouldn't have minded a couple more sentences, but I get why it ended the way it did. It puts into perspective what is important.
The side characters are really great in this story. I absolutely loved Jaysen and I liked the connection between him and Mickey. I loved their whole team, especially Darian and Barbie. I also have to mention Mickey's sisters who are a big part of this story, too, and Mickey's friend Nova. The friendships were really wonderful in this one. The only thing I could have done without is the excessive drinking. While realistic, it did feel a bit too much at times.
The story focuses a lot on hockey, so there are a lot of scenes that take place on the ice. Personally, I enjoyed them all. I feel they were all well written and well balanced with the rest of the story.
The ending might seem a bit rushed and the epilogue unsatisfying, but I'm actually quite happy with how the story ended. Maybe I wished for a different outcome and I wouldn't have minded a couple more sentences, but I get why it ended the way it did. It puts into perspective what is important.
February 8, 2023
Icebreaker has awoken something inside me. I’ve tried reading sport romances before, and none of them ever felt right, even though I loved the idea of them. I remembered reading the Check, Please graphic novel series, which follows a hockey team, and was excited for the release of Icebreaker when I first heard of it. I was really hoping this would be good, and apparently there is something about hockey romances that just satisfy me.
This is the sort of book you know you’re going to love right away. The writing was so breezy and easy to read. A genuinely wonderful time. When I read romances, I always look for a good combination of fun and lighthearted, and serious and thought-provoking. Icebreaker was the perfect mix. It had all the good rivals-to-lovers action you could wish for, and excellent representation of mental illness. I particularly appreciated the descriptions of dissociation and depression. I liked how several characters openly discussed their mental illnesses and helped each other cope.
Jaysen and Mickey had the perfect romance. Everything progressed so slowly, and they hit all the right milestones in their rivalry before finally getting together. Mickey was an authentic protagonist, and I really engaged with his struggles. The relationship he had with his family, particularly his father, was very complicated, and I loved how that was explored. Jaysen was so soft and tender with Mickey, and their chemistry was superb. I loved how they understood each other’s needs beyond words. This was just everything.
Sometimes books are hard to put into words. You’ll have to take my word on this and read Icebreaker, it’s truly far greater than I could ever describe it. If you’re looking for a contemporary romance with all the slow burn drama, this is the book for you!
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This is the sort of book you know you’re going to love right away. The writing was so breezy and easy to read. A genuinely wonderful time. When I read romances, I always look for a good combination of fun and lighthearted, and serious and thought-provoking. Icebreaker was the perfect mix. It had all the good rivals-to-lovers action you could wish for, and excellent representation of mental illness. I particularly appreciated the descriptions of dissociation and depression. I liked how several characters openly discussed their mental illnesses and helped each other cope.
Jaysen and Mickey had the perfect romance. Everything progressed so slowly, and they hit all the right milestones in their rivalry before finally getting together. Mickey was an authentic protagonist, and I really engaged with his struggles. The relationship he had with his family, particularly his father, was very complicated, and I loved how that was explored. Jaysen was so soft and tender with Mickey, and their chemistry was superb. I loved how they understood each other’s needs beyond words. This was just everything.
Sometimes books are hard to put into words. You’ll have to take my word on this and read Icebreaker, it’s truly far greater than I could ever describe it. If you’re looking for a contemporary romance with all the slow burn drama, this is the book for you!
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November 9, 2022
There are better coming of age/romance/ya/lgbtq+ books out there.
January 19, 2022
I know nothing about hockey. Not about blueliners, not about drafts, not about NHL. The only other book I’ve read about hockey is Beartown. And I loved that one, just like I loved Icebreaker.
Icebreaker is a story to read in one sitting, on a cosy evening or on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I saw reviewers compare it to All for the Game and I can relate to that as it comes to the sports part, but no more. Whereas the All for the Game series is really messed up, Icebreaker is cute and sweet and very easy readable, even if you know nothing about hockey like me. I’d compare this with other (YA) stories that deal with some heavy topics, and are cute and sweet at the same time.
When I started reading this story, for a couple of chapters, I felt like I was reading one of those mainstream enemies to lovers M/M stories instead of a YA. College, banter, sports, parties, and lots of alcohol use. I still believe Icebreaker is more a crossover between YA and NA than real YA, but it’s much more than a simple NA college romance. I loved the themes presented, the execution and the overall representation. In color, in identity and sexuality, and more.
The mental health rep is an important part of the book, and I really loved the way the author handled it. Mickey’s depression was so clearly present and I think a lot of people who are depressed themselves can relate to his feelings.
This story is about more than mental health rep and two hockey players liking each other. It’s also about friendship and family relationships. And it’s about being scared to come out as queer as a professional hockey player. Although Icebreaker breathed hockey all over, it never bothered me. Stories about sports and sexuality are incredibly important because of the queerphobia that’s still present in the (male) sports world. I don’t know if there are any male NHL players who are out yet, but I do know that it’s still difficult for men to come out in a lot of sports, especially those that rely on the masculinity factor, such as soccer and football.
I read Icebreaker in a weekend when I wasn’t feeling great, and this story was the perfect distraction. I snuggled up on the couch, and just read and smiled, and read and swooned, and got teary eyes at the end. I blame my cold 😉.
I received an ARC from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Icebreaker is a story to read in one sitting, on a cosy evening or on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I saw reviewers compare it to All for the Game and I can relate to that as it comes to the sports part, but no more. Whereas the All for the Game series is really messed up, Icebreaker is cute and sweet and very easy readable, even if you know nothing about hockey like me. I’d compare this with other (YA) stories that deal with some heavy topics, and are cute and sweet at the same time.
When I started reading this story, for a couple of chapters, I felt like I was reading one of those mainstream enemies to lovers M/M stories instead of a YA. College, banter, sports, parties, and lots of alcohol use. I still believe Icebreaker is more a crossover between YA and NA than real YA, but it’s much more than a simple NA college romance. I loved the themes presented, the execution and the overall representation. In color, in identity and sexuality, and more.
The mental health rep is an important part of the book, and I really loved the way the author handled it. Mickey’s depression was so clearly present and I think a lot of people who are depressed themselves can relate to his feelings.
This story is about more than mental health rep and two hockey players liking each other. It’s also about friendship and family relationships. And it’s about being scared to come out as queer as a professional hockey player. Although Icebreaker breathed hockey all over, it never bothered me. Stories about sports and sexuality are incredibly important because of the queerphobia that’s still present in the (male) sports world. I don’t know if there are any male NHL players who are out yet, but I do know that it’s still difficult for men to come out in a lot of sports, especially those that rely on the masculinity factor, such as soccer and football.
I read Icebreaker in a weekend when I wasn’t feeling great, and this story was the perfect distraction. I snuggled up on the couch, and just read and smiled, and read and swooned, and got teary eyes at the end. I blame my cold 😉.
I received an ARC from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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October 23, 2023
reminder to self: never read a book w a mc so relatable that they hit you in the feels at 2am.
rtc!
rtc!
March 11, 2022
Look closely at the cover. If you go a little marshmallowy and say awwwww with heart eyes then you will love this book. The chemistry between Mickey and Jaysen was so well written and swoon-worthy. This YA book was also actually about sports and the play by plays were action packed and entertaining. I don't know if it was a case of 'the right book at the right time' but I honestly loved this. All the other amazing characters made the story rich and meaningful. It dealt with mental health issues in a respectful way. I haven't had this 'squeee' feeling about a YA romance book in a while! Yes it's predictable and hits some standard tropes but it really worked for me and I listened to it in one sitting!
CW: Sexual content but not explicit, depression/mental health, anxiety
CW: Sexual content but not explicit, depression/mental health, anxiety
September 8, 2025
September 2025 - reread
This is yet another book that seems like a YA hockey romance, but is actually a character-driven story about mental health.
My head is a bit of a mess, so this review won't be any better. I should give it more time to process, but I won’t be able to sleep without putting at least some of my thoughts into words.
While I loved Icebreaker the first time I read it more than three years ago, I wasn’t able to appreciate it properly because I still wasn’t entirely honest with myself when it came to certain themes depicted here. I didn’t allow more than a passing “feels a bit familiar, huh, weird”, not allowing myself to relate on a deeper level. Yet.
Now, though...it’s safe to say it hit quite differently. Thank god there’s no expiration date when it comes to getting in touch with your own emotions, I guess... though there’s still room for more, because Mickey’s story made me yearn for things that never came when I needed them most... but that’s for my brain to agonize over long into the night, later.
Graziadei is genuinely one of the best authors and storytellers when it comes to depictions of depression, even the high-functioning kind Mickey seems to suffer from. And while the romance subplot between Mickey and Jaysen is cute and I rooted for them till the end, the story is undeniably about Mickey. Mickey and his struggles, his self-hate and self-doubts, while he’s trying to live up to his family’s name famous in the hockey world. Mickey and all the meaningful connections he either already had, or is in the process of making; be it his amazing pack of badass sisters (though I do have a slight beef with Bailey), his great teammates (especially darling Dorian), or his relationship with Jaysen.
What I’m a little sad about isn’t the lack of properly developed romance, but the lack of a scene of Mickey deciding and actually going to a professional for a diagnosis and help. That would’ve been a precious little tidbit. In general, I feel like the author was maybe a bit hesitant to lean into the mental health theme fully without flinching (which they managed brilliantly in In Repair).
It’s safe to say I’ll read anything Graziadei puts out because the way they clearly put their heart into their work will never fail in making me emotional, especially if they’re going to keep up with the mental issues theme.
I’m so damn happy for you, Mickey James. So so happy. And so envious.
I’m leaving my old review as a reminder, mainly to myself, how clueless and in denial one can be, and that it’s never too late to at least try to work on it.
Thank you, my dear Pauline, for actually making me want to read this again even though I don't do rereads - you were completely right (of course you were, you know me well) 💙🧡
July 2022
4,5 ⭐
Now, this was such a pleasant surprise, going into it with low expectations after DNFing The Charm Offensive. And this book is YA, so really, it could've gone either way. And boy, it went amazingly.
I'm glad that it didn't read as a "younger" YA, the characters are freshmen at college. The depression rep is top-notch, the rivals-to-lovers romance was enjoyable (the sexual tension in the first half of the book is a chef's kiss!), and I more or less adored every single side character. Mickey has five sisters and his relationship with them is simply precious.
Mickey, the main character himself, was great, I loved his POV. What endeared him to me was his self-awareness. Sometimes he could be in denial a lot but deep down it was obvious he was aware of his flaws and mistakes, and I'm a sucker for that. In that sense, he was very mature.
The hockey and its jargon kind of flew over my head but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. The anxiety of not really knowing what you want to do with your life while feeling like it should be obvious because everyone makes it so was... very relatable, to say the least.
And the ending, my god. Absolutely perfect. Normally, I don't like open or ambiguous endings but this one fit, I can't imagine a better one. Completely satisfying. Now I'll just sit tight and wait for another book by this author because if this was a debut... *_*
This is yet another book that seems like a YA hockey romance, but is actually a character-driven story about mental health.
My head is a bit of a mess, so this review won't be any better. I should give it more time to process, but I won’t be able to sleep without putting at least some of my thoughts into words.
While I loved Icebreaker the first time I read it more than three years ago, I wasn’t able to appreciate it properly because I still wasn’t entirely honest with myself when it came to certain themes depicted here. I didn’t allow more than a passing “feels a bit familiar, huh, weird”, not allowing myself to relate on a deeper level. Yet.
Now, though...it’s safe to say it hit quite differently. Thank god there’s no expiration date when it comes to getting in touch with your own emotions, I guess... though there’s still room for more, because Mickey’s story made me yearn for things that never came when I needed them most... but that’s for my brain to agonize over long into the night, later.
Graziadei is genuinely one of the best authors and storytellers when it comes to depictions of depression, even the high-functioning kind Mickey seems to suffer from. And while the romance subplot between Mickey and Jaysen is cute and I rooted for them till the end, the story is undeniably about Mickey. Mickey and his struggles, his self-hate and self-doubts, while he’s trying to live up to his family’s name famous in the hockey world. Mickey and all the meaningful connections he either already had, or is in the process of making; be it his amazing pack of badass sisters (though I do have a slight beef with Bailey), his great teammates (especially darling Dorian), or his relationship with Jaysen.
What I’m a little sad about isn’t the lack of properly developed romance, but the lack of a scene of Mickey deciding and actually going to a professional for a diagnosis and help. That would’ve been a precious little tidbit. In general, I feel like the author was maybe a bit hesitant to lean into the mental health theme fully without flinching (which they managed brilliantly in In Repair).
It’s safe to say I’ll read anything Graziadei puts out because the way they clearly put their heart into their work will never fail in making me emotional, especially if they’re going to keep up with the mental issues theme.
I’m so damn happy for you, Mickey James. So so happy. And so envious.
I’m leaving my old review as a reminder, mainly to myself, how clueless and in denial one can be, and that it’s never too late to at least try to work on it.
Thank you, my dear Pauline, for actually making me want to read this again even though I don't do rereads - you were completely right (of course you were, you know me well) 💙🧡
July 2022
4,5 ⭐
Now, this was such a pleasant surprise, going into it with low expectations after DNFing The Charm Offensive. And this book is YA, so really, it could've gone either way. And boy, it went amazingly.
I'm glad that it didn't read as a "younger" YA, the characters are freshmen at college. The depression rep is top-notch, the rivals-to-lovers romance was enjoyable (the sexual tension in the first half of the book is a chef's kiss!), and I more or less adored every single side character. Mickey has five sisters and his relationship with them is simply precious.
Mickey, the main character himself, was great, I loved his POV. What endeared him to me was his self-awareness. Sometimes he could be in denial a lot but deep down it was obvious he was aware of his flaws and mistakes, and I'm a sucker for that. In that sense, he was very mature.
The hockey and its jargon kind of flew over my head but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. The anxiety of not really knowing what you want to do with your life while feeling like it should be obvious because everyone makes it so was... very relatable, to say the least.
And the ending, my god. Absolutely perfect. Normally, I don't like open or ambiguous endings but this one fit, I can't imagine a better one. Completely satisfying. Now I'll just sit tight and wait for another book by this author because if this was a debut... *_*
May 11, 2022
so, i have conflicting feelings about this one. on one hand, i did respect the book's focus on mental illness (depression, in particular, here) and the way that pressure family can place on you - even inadvertently - affects people... but i also didn't really warm up to the two main characters until nearly a quarter of the way through the book fff, and since this book is so character-driven it made that first twentyish percent a bit of a slog to get through for me.
now, i do enjoy antagonistic relationships that turn into romance and enemies-to-lovers is my jam, but this just felt a bit too much to me at times? i know hockey is a physical sport, but the way Jaysen went after Mickey so hard at the start of the book bothered me, especially given their respective sizes. and then when things got better for them, it seemed to go from zero-to-sixty without any real build-up? i respect that that won't be an issue for other people the way it is for me, but i just prefer the slow burn, no-kissing-until-the-last-chapter, heavy on the pining kind of romance lmao. there is pining here, yes, but it lasts, like, one chapter or w/e; it just wasn't enough for me!!!
i also wasn't a fan of the abrupt ending... like, you can't just end it right there, author!! i need to know the outcome of one of the big plotlines of the book omg! that left me a bit unsatisfied, especially because the book ended right there. i think if the author had been vague about it earlier in the book and then we got a flash-forward epilogue, i would've enjoyed the book a bit more, but nope. that unfortunately didn't happen.
that's not to say the book was a complete loss for me, though! i did really enjoy the writing style, and once the romance got going more, i liked the dynamic between Mickey and Jaysen a lot, too. also: i loved Mickey's iffy grammar in his texts to Jaysen and his sisters (using your/you're interchangeably for example), as it had already been established in the book that he's not the best student, so that little detail just really stood out to me and felt like a really thoughtful character decision by the author. 3.25 stars.
now, i do enjoy antagonistic relationships that turn into romance and enemies-to-lovers is my jam, but this just felt a bit too much to me at times? i know hockey is a physical sport, but the way Jaysen went after Mickey so hard at the start of the book bothered me, especially given their respective sizes. and then when things got better for them, it seemed to go from zero-to-sixty without any real build-up? i respect that that won't be an issue for other people the way it is for me, but i just prefer the slow burn, no-kissing-until-the-last-chapter, heavy on the pining kind of romance lmao. there is pining here, yes, but it lasts, like, one chapter or w/e; it just wasn't enough for me!!!
i also wasn't a fan of the abrupt ending... like, you can't just end it right there, author!! i need to know the outcome of one of the big plotlines of the book omg! that left me a bit unsatisfied, especially because the book ended right there. i think if the author had been vague about it earlier in the book and then we got a flash-forward epilogue, i would've enjoyed the book a bit more, but nope. that unfortunately didn't happen.
that's not to say the book was a complete loss for me, though! i did really enjoy the writing style, and once the romance got going more, i liked the dynamic between Mickey and Jaysen a lot, too. also: i loved Mickey's iffy grammar in his texts to Jaysen and his sisters (using your/you're interchangeably for example), as it had already been established in the book that he's not the best student, so that little detail just really stood out to me and felt like a really thoughtful character decision by the author. 3.25 stars.
August 25, 2025
No other book has sat on my tbr for longer and I seriously don’t know wtf took me so long!
Meet Mickey:
He’s hockey royalty - the son of a legendary player, raised under the glare of media attention and the crushing weight of impossible expectations. Every stumble is amplified, every weakness dissected. And now, in college, he’s locked in a rivalry with Jayson, his own teammate and competitor for the no. 1 NHL draft spot, and on top of all that, he somehow has to deal with his clinical depression.
And that was what made this book so great for me. It wasn’t the rivalry or even the romance - it was Mickey himself. His journey of figuring out who he is, what he wants, and how to live with his depression felt so raw and honest. The rep was incredible: the way it showed how hard it can be to accept you’re struggling, even with privilege and success, even when you seem to ‘have it all’ and ‘others have had it so much worse’, was moving and real and beautifully written. Mickey being recognised as not okay - and the people around him stepping up to support and accommodate him - brought me to tears repeatedly. I felt SO protective of him and adored him deeply 🥹
The relationships around him added even more depth. Mickey’s love and adoration for his sisters was one of the most beautiful parts of the book, and the complicated, layered bond with his dad was done so well. His dad wasn’t written off as just terrible - yes, he fucked up in huge ways, but he also genuinely tried to do better, and that nuance mattered. I also loved the team and all the found family vibes it gave me (special shoutout to Dorian, who stole my heart 🥹). And I really appreciated how, even though the story is told from a male POV, Graziadei still highlighted women in sports and the struggles they face - that perspective was such a meaningful addition.
Now for the romance. The gentle connection and tenderness between Mickey and Jayson at the beginning had me swooning and their teasing, careful flirting and banter gave me all the butterflies.
BUT… I wasn’t completely sold on where it went. Jayson never felt fully fleshed out to me, and their friends-with-benefits arrangement lacked the emotional depth I’d hoped for. I missed the tenderness from those early chapters and could have used more feelings overall instead of offhand lines like “yeah we’re having regular sex now.” That said, I don’t want to take off too many points, because at the end of the day, this book isn’t really about the romance - it’s about Mickey. And on that front, it delivered spectacularly.
Also, can we talk about the hockey?? Absolute FIRE. I ate up all the hockey talk and loved how authentic it felt.
On audio, this was a total win too. The (new-to-me) narrator did a fantastic job capturing Mickey’s voice and emotions, and the epilogue left me sobbing. I was so, SO proud of Mickey. And that last sentence?? My jaw dropped. I just sat staring at a wall for five minutes. Brilliant, BRILLIANT decision by the author.
So, even if the romance didn’t fully work for me, Mickey’s growth, the sibling bond, the thoughtful depression rep, and characters like Dorian make this an easy 4.5⭐️.
Meet Mickey:
He’s hockey royalty - the son of a legendary player, raised under the glare of media attention and the crushing weight of impossible expectations. Every stumble is amplified, every weakness dissected. And now, in college, he’s locked in a rivalry with Jayson, his own teammate and competitor for the no. 1 NHL draft spot, and on top of all that, he somehow has to deal with his clinical depression.
And that was what made this book so great for me. It wasn’t the rivalry or even the romance - it was Mickey himself. His journey of figuring out who he is, what he wants, and how to live with his depression felt so raw and honest. The rep was incredible: the way it showed how hard it can be to accept you’re struggling, even with privilege and success, even when you seem to ‘have it all’ and ‘others have had it so much worse’, was moving and real and beautifully written. Mickey being recognised as not okay - and the people around him stepping up to support and accommodate him - brought me to tears repeatedly. I felt SO protective of him and adored him deeply 🥹
The relationships around him added even more depth. Mickey’s love and adoration for his sisters was one of the most beautiful parts of the book, and the complicated, layered bond with his dad was done so well. His dad wasn’t written off as just terrible - yes, he fucked up in huge ways, but he also genuinely tried to do better, and that nuance mattered. I also loved the team and all the found family vibes it gave me (special shoutout to Dorian, who stole my heart 🥹). And I really appreciated how, even though the story is told from a male POV, Graziadei still highlighted women in sports and the struggles they face - that perspective was such a meaningful addition.
Now for the romance. The gentle connection and tenderness between Mickey and Jayson at the beginning had me swooning and their teasing, careful flirting and banter gave me all the butterflies.
BUT… I wasn’t completely sold on where it went. Jayson never felt fully fleshed out to me, and their friends-with-benefits arrangement lacked the emotional depth I’d hoped for. I missed the tenderness from those early chapters and could have used more feelings overall instead of offhand lines like “yeah we’re having regular sex now.” That said, I don’t want to take off too many points, because at the end of the day, this book isn’t really about the romance - it’s about Mickey. And on that front, it delivered spectacularly.
Also, can we talk about the hockey?? Absolute FIRE. I ate up all the hockey talk and loved how authentic it felt.
On audio, this was a total win too. The (new-to-me) narrator did a fantastic job capturing Mickey’s voice and emotions, and the epilogue left me sobbing. I was so, SO proud of Mickey. And that last sentence?? My jaw dropped. I just sat staring at a wall for five minutes. Brilliant, BRILLIANT decision by the author.
So, even if the romance didn’t fully work for me, Mickey’s growth, the sibling bond, the thoughtful depression rep, and characters like Dorian make this an easy 4.5⭐️.
June 2, 2022
☆ The Story : 4 stars
☆ The Audiobook : 3 stars
Impeccably sweet but also very realistic. "Icebreaker" is a beautiful, riveting, eye-opening and heart-warming book. A must read for the fans of "All for the Games" trilogy. The ending was underdeveloped, slightly unsatisfying. Otherwise, every single page of this book screams- PERFECTION.
A. L. Graziadei's Icebreaker is a stunning YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the way. It's a wonderful piece of a novel that follows some most relatable characters ever and explores some very important themes; makes you laugh and makes you sob- all within the boundary of 400 pages.
In this book we are following a 17 years old boy named Mickey James. He from a very privileged family bearing a lot of pressure from family and peers. As a talented hockey player with a family legacy in the NHL, Mickey is a top contender for a spot in the upcoming NHL draft. However, when his rival ends up playing for the same college team, Mickey must work harder to earn his place. While Mickey and Jaysen are rivals, they are also teammates who must learn to work together, and as Mickey starts to get to know his teammate better, he realizes that Jaysen isn’t so bad, and that he may even like him.
I loved our main character Mickey. It's not a secret that I have a soft spot for characters struggling with their mental health. So, of course I loved Mickey very very much. Mickey is bi-sexual. The bi rep is great. Jaysen is also an amazing character and interesting love interest. The siblings dynamic among Mickey and his sisters warmed my heart.
The whole hockey team is great. Jaysen and Mickey's friends are very supportive and loving. Icebreaker portrays the Found Family trope (which is my all time favourite) and it does that flawlessly. I am comparing it to All For The Game trilogy for a reason of course....
I really enjoyed the romance. It is slow-burnt and steady. The build-up is wonderful, you can actually feel the tension brewing between them. Mickey and Jaysen's interactions are nice aThe romance doesn't get enough scene-time. The book actually doesn't even focuses on the romance despite what the blurb hints. The romance is used as a subplot. Overall it is satisfying and sweet.
I loved how Graziadei have approached Mickey’s depression. It’s so clearly present in the way he interacts with others but also in those moments where he’s alone and really turning inward, feeling the utter despair and hopelessness that comes with depression. I myself have suffered from severe anxiety and depression in the past, so without any doubt, I can say that the representation is accurate. I loved the attention Graziadei have given to the details. The book also discusses themes of privilege and dealing with peer pressure. It shows us how important role family plays in our lives. Our families may not be perfect but at the end of the day, they are very dear and near to us.
Icebreaker is a stunning debut that I would highly recommend to everyone out there. The book itself is short and very easy to read. From the writing to characterization- everything is done well. My only complain would be about the writing. It could have been better.
｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡
↠ Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the audio-book arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
☆ The Audiobook : 3 stars
Impeccably sweet but also very realistic. "Icebreaker" is a beautiful, riveting, eye-opening and heart-warming book. A must read for the fans of "All for the Games" trilogy. The ending was underdeveloped, slightly unsatisfying. Otherwise, every single page of this book screams- PERFECTION.
A. L. Graziadei's Icebreaker is a stunning YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the way. It's a wonderful piece of a novel that follows some most relatable characters ever and explores some very important themes; makes you laugh and makes you sob- all within the boundary of 400 pages.
In this book we are following a 17 years old boy named Mickey James. He from a very privileged family bearing a lot of pressure from family and peers. As a talented hockey player with a family legacy in the NHL, Mickey is a top contender for a spot in the upcoming NHL draft. However, when his rival ends up playing for the same college team, Mickey must work harder to earn his place. While Mickey and Jaysen are rivals, they are also teammates who must learn to work together, and as Mickey starts to get to know his teammate better, he realizes that Jaysen isn’t so bad, and that he may even like him.
I loved our main character Mickey. It's not a secret that I have a soft spot for characters struggling with their mental health. So, of course I loved Mickey very very much. Mickey is bi-sexual. The bi rep is great. Jaysen is also an amazing character and interesting love interest. The siblings dynamic among Mickey and his sisters warmed my heart.
The whole hockey team is great. Jaysen and Mickey's friends are very supportive and loving. Icebreaker portrays the Found Family trope (which is my all time favourite) and it does that flawlessly. I am comparing it to All For The Game trilogy for a reason of course....
I really enjoyed the romance. It is slow-burnt and steady. The build-up is wonderful, you can actually feel the tension brewing between them. Mickey and Jaysen's interactions are nice aThe romance doesn't get enough scene-time. The book actually doesn't even focuses on the romance despite what the blurb hints. The romance is used as a subplot. Overall it is satisfying and sweet.
I loved how Graziadei have approached Mickey’s depression. It’s so clearly present in the way he interacts with others but also in those moments where he’s alone and really turning inward, feeling the utter despair and hopelessness that comes with depression. I myself have suffered from severe anxiety and depression in the past, so without any doubt, I can say that the representation is accurate. I loved the attention Graziadei have given to the details. The book also discusses themes of privilege and dealing with peer pressure. It shows us how important role family plays in our lives. Our families may not be perfect but at the end of the day, they are very dear and near to us.
Icebreaker is a stunning debut that I would highly recommend to everyone out there. The book itself is short and very easy to read. From the writing to characterization- everything is done well. My only complain would be about the writing. It could have been better.
｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡
↠ Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the audio-book arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
January 18, 2022
In a Nutshell: This could have been excellent, but it didn’t click with me. Mine is an outlier opinion. Do check out other positive reviews to see if the book would work better for you.
Story:
Where the book worked for me:
😍 Considering that the author belongs to the LGBTQIA+ community, the representation in this book is excellent. They have clearly used their personal experience to show the insecurities and the social judgement faced by this community, regardless of whether they are famous or unknown.
😍 The author is also a sports fan as per their Goodreads bio, and this too shows well in the book. Their writing of the ice hockey games and the team rapport is pretty good. As I am not a sports fan--(and coming from a tropical country, ice hockey is just something I’ve watched in movies)--it is tough for me to enjoy sport-centred books unless they are handled well. This book passes that test.
😍 My favourite part of the book was how it showed that women’s sports doesn’t get the same level of media coverage nor do women players get the same level of praise/acceptance as their male counterparts.
😍 I snooped through some other 2 and 3 star reviews to see if their feelings echoed with mine. The biggest reason for their low rating was the ending which is kind of incomplete. Surprisingly, I loved the ending. It establishes that the competition that lasts throughout the book isn’t the main issue at all. The outcome was immaterial and it was all about self-acceptance. I loved the author’s choice of ending it this way.
😍 I adore the cover! It gives such striking vibes! If I were in a bookshop, this cover would definitely call out to me.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
😕 My biggest grouse: This book isn’t YA in any way except for the age of the protagonists!!! It is almost NA – New Adult – in its writing style. This is a genre I consciously avoid because I hate superfluous sex scenes in books. And this book has quite a few. I wish it had been tagged appropriately. It feels like it's written for hormonal teenagers, which might be partly valid, but it is not suitable for the younger members of the YA reader segment.
😕 Related to the above, which was a complaint about the incorrect genre, this is an issue about the steaminess, again my personal preference. There is only SO much of “cheeks flaming” and “heart thudding” and “lip licking” I can tolerate in books. Nothing against those who enjoy such content, but it’s not for me. All the more when I am hearing the audiobook and I don’t even have the option of flipping through those paragraphs!
😕 Considering that Mickey was the protagonist and narrates the story in first person, I should have liked him (or them?) to like the book. But he was too whiny and self-obsessed for me to feel any kind of connection with him. He is white, rich, and privileged in almost every way but his “depression” is used as an explanation for his grouchiness in almost every scene except the ones where he is feeling lustful for his teammate Jaysen. He made for a very weak mc. Jaysen would have been a much better protagonist as being a Black homosexual player with no family connections and still reaching the top of the sport would have been a far tougher journey to make.
😕 The book refers to Mickey’s depression but he didn’t act “depressed” in any way except when it came to bonding with his team. I don’t think the book represented Mickey’s mental health issues well. The story should have been much darker with a protagonist battling such issues.
😕 As is typical in a sports story, the characters are referred to by first names, last names and nicknames depending on who is calling them. This might work well in the book but in the audiobook, it becomes very confusing and took me ages to figure out who was who. (The problem isn’t made easy by the fact that there are so many characters with first/last/nick names beginning with C or J.) I gave up on my attempt to understand the identities of the characters and just went with the flow after the 20% mark.
😕 I was expecting a combination of “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” and “Beartown”, but this book turned out to be flat. The characters are quite unidimensional with hardly any complexity despite so much potential in the plot to introduce layers to their nature. Even within the uncommon representation lay a lot of clichéd thoughts. There’s no emotional intensity in the content despite the nature of the content.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at 8.5 hours and narrated by the “chocolatey” Tom Picasso. ("Chocolatey" not because of his accent or race but because of his voice that kept reminding me of chocolate – smooth, polished and rich. Yummmm!) I completed the audiobook only because of him. I loved his performance and he does his best to make whiny Mickey sound like a human.
Overall, strong mixed feelings about this one. I really wanted and tried to like it, more so because it is a debut novel, and it is an #OwnVoices story. But I expected a lot more maturity in the writing, which may come with more writing experience. Essentially, it was a typical enemy-to-lovers romance trope with the only difference being in the queer identities of the characters. I might also be the wrong audience for this because as I said, I hate the NA genre and would never have requested this had I known about how many physical-lust references there were in the content. (Something I would expect in romance books but definitely not in YA fiction.) Give me Aristotle and Dante any day!
My thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the ALC of “Icebreaker”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Story:
Mickey James III comes from a long line of sporty achievers. His dad expects him to continue in the tradition and be drafted into the top NHL league. The only person who stands in between Mickey’s journey to the spot is his teammate and rival, Jaysen Caulfield. What irks Mickey even more is that he finds himself strongly attracted to Jaysen. He needs to decide his priorities in life, and take a call on whether he really wishes a career in hockey or is that just to satisfy his father. Adding further issues to the story is the fact that Mickey is a bisexual who is struggling to come out with his sexual identity.
The story comes to us from the first person perspective of Mickey.
Where the book worked for me:
😍 Considering that the author belongs to the LGBTQIA+ community, the representation in this book is excellent. They have clearly used their personal experience to show the insecurities and the social judgement faced by this community, regardless of whether they are famous or unknown.
😍 The author is also a sports fan as per their Goodreads bio, and this too shows well in the book. Their writing of the ice hockey games and the team rapport is pretty good. As I am not a sports fan--(and coming from a tropical country, ice hockey is just something I’ve watched in movies)--it is tough for me to enjoy sport-centred books unless they are handled well. This book passes that test.
😍 My favourite part of the book was how it showed that women’s sports doesn’t get the same level of media coverage nor do women players get the same level of praise/acceptance as their male counterparts.
😍 I snooped through some other 2 and 3 star reviews to see if their feelings echoed with mine. The biggest reason for their low rating was the ending which is kind of incomplete. Surprisingly, I loved the ending. It establishes that the competition that lasts throughout the book isn’t the main issue at all. The outcome was immaterial and it was all about self-acceptance. I loved the author’s choice of ending it this way.
😍 I adore the cover! It gives such striking vibes! If I were in a bookshop, this cover would definitely call out to me.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
😕 My biggest grouse: This book isn’t YA in any way except for the age of the protagonists!!! It is almost NA – New Adult – in its writing style. This is a genre I consciously avoid because I hate superfluous sex scenes in books. And this book has quite a few. I wish it had been tagged appropriately. It feels like it's written for hormonal teenagers, which might be partly valid, but it is not suitable for the younger members of the YA reader segment.
😕 Related to the above, which was a complaint about the incorrect genre, this is an issue about the steaminess, again my personal preference. There is only SO much of “cheeks flaming” and “heart thudding” and “lip licking” I can tolerate in books. Nothing against those who enjoy such content, but it’s not for me. All the more when I am hearing the audiobook and I don’t even have the option of flipping through those paragraphs!
😕 Considering that Mickey was the protagonist and narrates the story in first person, I should have liked him (or them?) to like the book. But he was too whiny and self-obsessed for me to feel any kind of connection with him. He is white, rich, and privileged in almost every way but his “depression” is used as an explanation for his grouchiness in almost every scene except the ones where he is feeling lustful for his teammate Jaysen. He made for a very weak mc. Jaysen would have been a much better protagonist as being a Black homosexual player with no family connections and still reaching the top of the sport would have been a far tougher journey to make.
😕 The book refers to Mickey’s depression but he didn’t act “depressed” in any way except when it came to bonding with his team. I don’t think the book represented Mickey’s mental health issues well. The story should have been much darker with a protagonist battling such issues.
😕 As is typical in a sports story, the characters are referred to by first names, last names and nicknames depending on who is calling them. This might work well in the book but in the audiobook, it becomes very confusing and took me ages to figure out who was who. (The problem isn’t made easy by the fact that there are so many characters with first/last/nick names beginning with C or J.) I gave up on my attempt to understand the identities of the characters and just went with the flow after the 20% mark.
😕 I was expecting a combination of “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” and “Beartown”, but this book turned out to be flat. The characters are quite unidimensional with hardly any complexity despite so much potential in the plot to introduce layers to their nature. Even within the uncommon representation lay a lot of clichéd thoughts. There’s no emotional intensity in the content despite the nature of the content.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at 8.5 hours and narrated by the “chocolatey” Tom Picasso. ("Chocolatey" not because of his accent or race but because of his voice that kept reminding me of chocolate – smooth, polished and rich. Yummmm!) I completed the audiobook only because of him. I loved his performance and he does his best to make whiny Mickey sound like a human.
Overall, strong mixed feelings about this one. I really wanted and tried to like it, more so because it is a debut novel, and it is an #OwnVoices story. But I expected a lot more maturity in the writing, which may come with more writing experience. Essentially, it was a typical enemy-to-lovers romance trope with the only difference being in the queer identities of the characters. I might also be the wrong audience for this because as I said, I hate the NA genre and would never have requested this had I known about how many physical-lust references there were in the content. (Something I would expect in romance books but definitely not in YA fiction.) Give me Aristotle and Dante any day!
My thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the ALC of “Icebreaker”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
April 11, 2022
They’re fighting to be the best on the ice—but what happens when rivalry melts into romance? This is the question at the core of A.L. Graziadei's
Icebreaker
.
Mickey James III was born to be a hockey star. Literally. His father and grandfather (Mickey James and Mickey James Jr.) were legendary players, and it’s been said that he has five sisters because his parents were desperate for a boy to carry on the familial legacy. His future is planned—he’ll play hockey in college for one year, then get drafted by the NHL as the #1 pick and head wherever his team is.
It’s as simple as that. The only thing he doesn’t count on is that his main rival for the top draft spot, Jaysen Caulfield, is attending the same college. He’s got a real chip on his shoulder about all the attention Mickey gets, and the foregone conclusion he’ll be #1. Jaysen is determined to make Mickey beat him or he'll prove he's better.
The last thing either is counting on is their rivalry turning into something else, something far more serious and with longer-term potential. But can they be together if both want to be #1? And is that dream what both want?
Icebreaker was a fantastic book. In addition to the hockey talk and the rivalry and the romance, a lot of attention is paid to mental health issues, as well as the way female athletes' accomplishments get short shrift when compared with their male counterparts. It’s also a powerful look at dreams vs. legacy, what you want vs. what you’re trained or raised to want.
I loved the open way different sexual orientations were treated in the book, even among college athletes. Even in a world where openly gay athletes are still a relative rarity, this wasn't presented as a real issue in the book, and it was great to be free of that drama. I loved Mickey and Jaysen and their relationship, and while the discussion of mental health was tough for me coming at a time when mine is in shreds, it brought so much more depth and emotion to this book.
I loved everything about Icebreaker .
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2021 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2021.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Mickey James III was born to be a hockey star. Literally. His father and grandfather (Mickey James and Mickey James Jr.) were legendary players, and it’s been said that he has five sisters because his parents were desperate for a boy to carry on the familial legacy. His future is planned—he’ll play hockey in college for one year, then get drafted by the NHL as the #1 pick and head wherever his team is.
It’s as simple as that. The only thing he doesn’t count on is that his main rival for the top draft spot, Jaysen Caulfield, is attending the same college. He’s got a real chip on his shoulder about all the attention Mickey gets, and the foregone conclusion he’ll be #1. Jaysen is determined to make Mickey beat him or he'll prove he's better.
The last thing either is counting on is their rivalry turning into something else, something far more serious and with longer-term potential. But can they be together if both want to be #1? And is that dream what both want?
Icebreaker was a fantastic book. In addition to the hockey talk and the rivalry and the romance, a lot of attention is paid to mental health issues, as well as the way female athletes' accomplishments get short shrift when compared with their male counterparts. It’s also a powerful look at dreams vs. legacy, what you want vs. what you’re trained or raised to want.
I loved the open way different sexual orientations were treated in the book, even among college athletes. Even in a world where openly gay athletes are still a relative rarity, this wasn't presented as a real issue in the book, and it was great to be free of that drama. I loved Mickey and Jaysen and their relationship, and while the discussion of mental health was tough for me coming at a time when mine is in shreds, it brought so much more depth and emotion to this book.
I loved everything about Icebreaker .
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2021 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2021.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
December 8, 2022
🏒 Full Review Posted! 🏒
No thoughts, just vibes. Icebreaker was exactly what I needed in between my unbearable amount of schoolwork, and even though it is very late right now, bingeing this book was so worth it. My romance phase might be kicking in again….
Rivals-to-lovers can be a delicious trope when executed well, and this book definitely did it well. Icebreaker felt so true to the teenage experience; Mickey and Jayson’s rivalry was more surface level than it was composed of genuine hatred, seen as the two go from bickering to striking up a reluctant friendship as they unwillingly compete for the #1 NHL draft spot. It was great to be inside Mickey’s head as he dealt with the repercussions of being forced into a future that he’s not so sure he wants, feeling obligated to keep playing hockey because of the pressure that comes with being descended from a family of NHL stars. Having Mickey and Jayson attend the same college—temporarily playing for the same team—was the perfect set up for a tension-filled romance. In addition, his college experience made way for a lot of commendable mental health representation, friendships, and family dynamics.
I hardly expected Icebreaker to hit me in the heart this hard, but A.L. Graziadei definitely got me to shed some tears through this protagonist’s journey of self discovery. For one, Mickey and his roommate talking about their depression and finding a safe space with each other was so beautiful!! I’m a sucker for male friendships built on trust and the ability to be vulnerable with each other, since that’s a fairly rare dynamic to see in YA. I also looooved the family dynamic between Mickey and his (five!!) older sisters. Each one of them had a distinct personality that brought a lot of vibrance to the story, plus, I could totally relate to them wanting to protect Mickey in any way possible (especially being an older sister myself). The resolution between Mickey and his father near the ending was the nail in the coffin for me; something about parents reconciling their relationship with their kids is so touching, and I was unbelievably happy to get a messy yet realistic resolution between those two!
And of course, we have the romance…. lord, it was everything. The tension-filled banter between Mickey and Jayson was impossible not to be drawn in by. Being a hockey lover myself, the sports aspect of their forced-proximity relationship only heightened my enjoyment of this story. I loved how effortless the transition between rivals to friends to lovers was, with their eventual relationship being passion-filled, rather than slowly built up with time. For such a short book, I’m impressed with how much Graziadei was able to accomplish! I loved every character that played a role in Mickey’s life, and really appreciated the importance placed upon family, friends, and the right to choose your own future.
I’m so glad to say I had the best time with this book. My only complaint is that it felt too short! (I wanted more from that ending…). All the same, this was easily one of the most purely enjoyable books I’ve read this year! :)
No thoughts, just vibes. Icebreaker was exactly what I needed in between my unbearable amount of schoolwork, and even though it is very late right now, bingeing this book was so worth it. My romance phase might be kicking in again….
Rivals-to-lovers can be a delicious trope when executed well, and this book definitely did it well. Icebreaker felt so true to the teenage experience; Mickey and Jayson’s rivalry was more surface level than it was composed of genuine hatred, seen as the two go from bickering to striking up a reluctant friendship as they unwillingly compete for the #1 NHL draft spot. It was great to be inside Mickey’s head as he dealt with the repercussions of being forced into a future that he’s not so sure he wants, feeling obligated to keep playing hockey because of the pressure that comes with being descended from a family of NHL stars. Having Mickey and Jayson attend the same college—temporarily playing for the same team—was the perfect set up for a tension-filled romance. In addition, his college experience made way for a lot of commendable mental health representation, friendships, and family dynamics.
I hardly expected Icebreaker to hit me in the heart this hard, but A.L. Graziadei definitely got me to shed some tears through this protagonist’s journey of self discovery. For one, Mickey and his roommate talking about their depression and finding a safe space with each other was so beautiful!! I’m a sucker for male friendships built on trust and the ability to be vulnerable with each other, since that’s a fairly rare dynamic to see in YA. I also looooved the family dynamic between Mickey and his (five!!) older sisters. Each one of them had a distinct personality that brought a lot of vibrance to the story, plus, I could totally relate to them wanting to protect Mickey in any way possible (especially being an older sister myself). The resolution between Mickey and his father near the ending was the nail in the coffin for me; something about parents reconciling their relationship with their kids is so touching, and I was unbelievably happy to get a messy yet realistic resolution between those two!
And of course, we have the romance…. lord, it was everything. The tension-filled banter between Mickey and Jayson was impossible not to be drawn in by. Being a hockey lover myself, the sports aspect of their forced-proximity relationship only heightened my enjoyment of this story. I loved how effortless the transition between rivals to friends to lovers was, with their eventual relationship being passion-filled, rather than slowly built up with time. For such a short book, I’m impressed with how much Graziadei was able to accomplish! I loved every character that played a role in Mickey’s life, and really appreciated the importance placed upon family, friends, and the right to choose your own future.
I’m so glad to say I had the best time with this book. My only complaint is that it felt too short! (I wanted more from that ending…). All the same, this was easily one of the most purely enjoyable books I’ve read this year! :)
October 2, 2021
Mark my words, I will not rest until every single one of my friends who loves the All for the Game trilogy or Rachel Reid's Game Changers series has read this outstanding book!! 😍
- rivals to lovers? Check.
- all the banter? Check.
- authentic bi rep? Check and check.
- the best (found) family rep? Check.
- female characters that slay? Check.
- the best and most relatable depression rep I've read in years? CHECK.
Honestly if this book won't make your top 2022 list, I will riot 😂
- rivals to lovers? Check.
- all the banter? Check.
- authentic bi rep? Check and check.
- the best (found) family rep? Check.
- female characters that slay? Check.
- the best and most relatable depression rep I've read in years? CHECK.
Honestly if this book won't make your top 2022 list, I will riot 😂
February 17, 2023
welcome to 202-Queer 🌈✨
50 in February: 28/50
🏒 writing reviews sucks, so we're doing notes again
🏒 the baby gays and bis were really cute, i did enjoy reading about them. the rest of the cast was also cute. overall this was a bunch of really polite boys. they literally played a game that was like "for every mean thing you say about the other person, you have to say something nice" and then proceeded to say things like "you smell bad" and "you have beautiful eyes" - truly a case of boys will be boys, in the non-toxic way it's supposed to be
🏒 this was less about sports and more about sport politics. it was just a competition on who gets drafted first and that conflict was the main part of the story. they barely actually PLAYED hockey. idk if i actually want my sports romance to have more sport but also -.. yes i think i do
🏒 the romance was the second main part of the story and yet it was somehow barely there? i can not explain and i won't
🏒 i really liked the mental health aspect of the whole thing
🏒 can i just say that parents who push their children into becoming a professional athlete and basically "breed" them to be a sports star SUCK. i wish the father a very enjoy hell, idc that he allegedly changed by the end of it - he sent a ten year old away from home for the chance! of him becoming a successful hockey player without ever asking him what HE wants. i do not forgive (i might forget because i have shit memory but boy do i hold a grudge)
🏒 overall this was more enjoyable than i thought it would be. 3.5 stars
50 in February: 28/50
🏒 writing reviews sucks, so we're doing notes again
🏒 the baby gays and bis were really cute, i did enjoy reading about them. the rest of the cast was also cute. overall this was a bunch of really polite boys. they literally played a game that was like "for every mean thing you say about the other person, you have to say something nice" and then proceeded to say things like "you smell bad" and "you have beautiful eyes" - truly a case of boys will be boys, in the non-toxic way it's supposed to be
🏒 this was less about sports and more about sport politics. it was just a competition on who gets drafted first and that conflict was the main part of the story. they barely actually PLAYED hockey. idk if i actually want my sports romance to have more sport but also -.. yes i think i do
🏒 the romance was the second main part of the story and yet it was somehow barely there? i can not explain and i won't
🏒 i really liked the mental health aspect of the whole thing
🏒 can i just say that parents who push their children into becoming a professional athlete and basically "breed" them to be a sports star SUCK. i wish the father a very enjoy hell, idc that he allegedly changed by the end of it - he sent a ten year old away from home for the chance! of him becoming a successful hockey player without ever asking him what HE wants. i do not forgive (i might forget because i have shit memory but boy do i hold a grudge)
🏒 overall this was more enjoyable than i thought it would be. 3.5 stars
January 30, 2022
This was both an amazing enemies to lovers hockey romance with lots of banter, and a great contemporary about a main character who deals with depression and anxiety. I loved the focus on Mickey struggling to connect with people and learning to let them in, both his family and his teammates, and his journey to seeking help for his depression and figuring out what he wants, as opposed to what he thinks is expected of him as a hockey legacy.
March 23, 2025
Second Read- February 2025: Can confirm that this has been living rent free in my head since years and I am so glad i loved it just as much as the first time. Highly recommend. One of my fav reads of all time. I will try to write a detailed review soon!
................................
First Read- March 2022: Bumping this to 5 stars as its been living in my head rent free for the past 2 weeks. It isn't that good from a technical point of view, but I believe its worthy of 5 stars form my side. RTC.
................................
I loved this read so much, I was smiling the entire time while reading it. Review to come.
................................
First Read- March 2022: Bumping this to 5 stars as its been living in my head rent free for the past 2 weeks. It isn't that good from a technical point of view, but I believe its worthy of 5 stars form my side. RTC.
................................
I loved this read so much, I was smiling the entire time while reading it. Review to come.
April 21, 2022
Icebreaker va del romance entre dos rivales, James III y Jaysen Caulfield, quienes son los mejores prospectos de jugadores de hockey profesional y están compitiendo por ser el número uno. Sin embargo, el libro va más sobre James III enfrentándose a la depresión y la ansiedad, mientras se enamora de su rival.
Me leí este libro en un día y yo, a estas alturas de mi vida, ya casi no siento la necesidad de quedarme pegada a un libro hasta acabarlo, así que si este lo logró es por algo. En un comentario dije que no creía que fuera una obra maestra, pero es buenísimo dentro de su tipo, yo no le voy exigir a un libro algo que ni siquiera tiene la intención de dar. Este libro no fue escrito para ser una obra maestra, fue escrito para que las personas que sufrimos depresión, nos sintamos identificadas. Y en eso Graziadei ha acertado completamente. Esta es una de las pocas veces en las que se nota que ele autore realmente sabe de lo que está escribiendo y no solo entró a Google, hizo una breve investigación sobre los síntomas de la depresión y luego se puso a escribir. James es un personaje realista, la forma en la que su romance con Jaycen avanza, es real, no es como si después de su primer beso los problemas desaparecieran y ahora lo único que importara fuera su relación. James no ve a Jaycen como un centro de rehabilitación, aunque reconoce que estar enamorado de él lo impulsa a mejorar. Por eso lo vuelvo a decir: ele autore lo ha hecho genial en casi todos los aspectos (el "casi" va más por mí que por nada), sobre todo porque sabe que la depresión es más parecida a no sentir nada que a estar triste todo el tiempo. Así que, ¿quién dijo que no se podía hacer un romance tocando temas así y hacerlo bien?
Con todo, el libro está catalogado como romance (al menos donde yo lo conseguí), así que las escenas de James y Jaycen son muy buenas, eso sí, al ser rivales, su relación no va más allá de provocaciones hasta la segunda mitad del libro, pero antes de eso podemos ver ese «odio sexual» que se tienen. Supongo que a quienes les guste el romance intenso, este libro no les va a encantar, aquí los protagonistas nunca llegan a ser codependientes, este es un libro más del tipo amor libre que amor asfixiante y por eso a mí me gustó tanto. Ya he leído demasiado sobre parejas que se mueren sin el otro y ya me fastidiaron, básicamente sabes que o acaban juntos o acaban muertos (? aquí no puedes anticiparte a nada, que los protagonistas sean tan independientes hace que sea difícil adivinar cómo va acabar su historia de amor o qué decisiones van a tomar.
No le doy cinco estrellas porque tiene un final abierto y no me gustó que se dejara en el aire algo que básicamente se venía mencionando desde la página uno, como que entiendo porqué se dejó en el aire pero igual no me gusta 🤷🏻♀️
El libro solo está disponible en inglés, pero es un inglés fácil, yo diría que B1.
Me leí este libro en un día y yo, a estas alturas de mi vida, ya casi no siento la necesidad de quedarme pegada a un libro hasta acabarlo, así que si este lo logró es por algo. En un comentario dije que no creía que fuera una obra maestra, pero es buenísimo dentro de su tipo, yo no le voy exigir a un libro algo que ni siquiera tiene la intención de dar. Este libro no fue escrito para ser una obra maestra, fue escrito para que las personas que sufrimos depresión, nos sintamos identificadas. Y en eso Graziadei ha acertado completamente. Esta es una de las pocas veces en las que se nota que ele autore realmente sabe de lo que está escribiendo y no solo entró a Google, hizo una breve investigación sobre los síntomas de la depresión y luego se puso a escribir. James es un personaje realista, la forma en la que su romance con Jaycen avanza, es real, no es como si después de su primer beso los problemas desaparecieran y ahora lo único que importara fuera su relación. James no ve a Jaycen como un centro de rehabilitación, aunque reconoce que estar enamorado de él lo impulsa a mejorar. Por eso lo vuelvo a decir: ele autore lo ha hecho genial en casi todos los aspectos (el "casi" va más por mí que por nada), sobre todo porque sabe que la depresión es más parecida a no sentir nada que a estar triste todo el tiempo. Así que, ¿quién dijo que no se podía hacer un romance tocando temas así y hacerlo bien?
Con todo, el libro está catalogado como romance (al menos donde yo lo conseguí), así que las escenas de James y Jaycen son muy buenas, eso sí, al ser rivales, su relación no va más allá de provocaciones hasta la segunda mitad del libro, pero antes de eso podemos ver ese «odio sexual» que se tienen. Supongo que a quienes les guste el romance intenso, este libro no les va a encantar, aquí los protagonistas nunca llegan a ser codependientes, este es un libro más del tipo amor libre que amor asfixiante y por eso a mí me gustó tanto. Ya he leído demasiado sobre parejas que se mueren sin el otro y ya me fastidiaron, básicamente sabes que o acaban juntos o acaban muertos (? aquí no puedes anticiparte a nada, que los protagonistas sean tan independientes hace que sea difícil adivinar cómo va acabar su historia de amor o qué decisiones van a tomar.
No le doy cinco estrellas porque tiene un final abierto y no me gustó que se dejara en el aire algo que básicamente se venía mencionando desde la página uno, como que entiendo porqué se dejó en el aire pero igual no me gusta 🤷🏻♀️
El libro solo está disponible en inglés, pero es un inglés fácil, yo diría que B1.
January 18, 2026
I’m on BookTube now! =)
"Your tattoo's kinda cool."
Jaysen lifts his eyes a little. I swear they latch on to where my sleeve is pushed up just below my elbow, then slowly follow my forearm down to my wrist and back up again, to my bicep. "You're pretty fit for being so short."
I think I might pass out. Was he just checking me out?
Trigger warnings:
I figured now that the whole world is going crazy about “Heated Rivalry” I probably should finally talk about “Icebreaker”! Yeah, I know, my brain works in mysterious ways. Don’t hold it against me! *lol* Anyway! What both books have in common, is that they’re about queer hockey players and since hockey still seems to be one of those sports that’s rather conservative, to write about two male players that fall in love seems to be a rare occurrence. (Or not so rare anymore, judging by all the queer hockey romances I found recently.) I think what’s still rare, is that those romances are actually getting a platform these days. So I’ll try my best to write a solid and comprehensible review for “Icebreaker” because A.L. Graziadei isn’t all that well known yet, but they definitely should be!!!
”Hockey’s not the most welcoming environment for people who aren’t straight white guys. I at least have one of those things protecting me. Cauler’s got neither.
It would be a bad idea for both of us.”
As you can tell from the blurb, we got two boys that are vying for the same spot in their team. Mickey James III and Jaysen Caulfield have been rivals for quite some time now and they both want the number one spot for very different reasons. While Mickey feels the need to earn his place as a professional player and is considered hockey royalty due to his father’s achievements, Jaysen is some sort of a wildcard that came out of nowhere and hit the ice full force!
”He wasn’t bread to play hockey. He chose it. Absorbed it into his skin, his blood, his bones by his own volition. There’s plenty of others out there just like him who could easily be here on this ice if it weren’t for me.”
Both contenders know about their strengths and weaknesses and they can’t stand each other because neither of them gets tired of pointing them out. Which leads to a couple of interesting scenes. I swear, the chemistry between those two is sizzling and I just couldn’t get enough of Mickey and Jaysen. Whenever they were together the room temperature rose by a few degrees and it was just too good to see them fight and tease each other. Something even their teammates and close friends weren’t able to ignore. They lived and breathed to rile each other up and it kinda forced their captain to figure out a way to make them talk, because for at least one year they needed to play nice and be teammates on the ice.
"Mickey: Have you ever hated someone so much you wanna suffocate them with your own tongue
Nova: Do you not remember eighth grade?
Mickey: Fair point
Nova: Who's earned your hate lust this time
Mickey: You act like it's a common thing
Thankfully, both our players had close friends that knew exactly how they ticked and I couldn’t help but fall in love with the diverse cast of side characters. For instance, Mickey’s best friend is Nova Vinter, a famous actress that’s very interested in his love life! *lol* Moreover, he has many sisters (some of them very queer!) that all grew on me because they were such a fun bunch and always watched out for their little brother! For instance, I totally loved the representation of a polyamorous relationship between Bailey (one of Mickey’s sisters) and her two boyfriends Sid and Karim! The way it was written was just so wholesome and lovely and I think we definitely need more representation like that!
”They’ve been together since their freshman year, and they’re still going strong. Not Bailey and Sidney and Bailey and Karim. Bailey, Sidney, Karim. Sid and Karim show each other just as much affection as they do with Bailey.”
What we also need more of are male MCs like Mickey that respect and appreciate the achievements of women in sports! Mickey loved his sisters dearly and he knew exactly what they were up against and how hard they had to work to get some recognition in sports. I loved Mickey so much for this because it’s a fact that women in sports have to work at least twice as hard as men in order to be accepted and to make it in their branch.
”I am constantly overwhelmed and astounded by how incredible all my sisters are in all the things they do. The list of their successes is never ending. But nobody seems to care about them. Because they’re women. Because women kicking ass in their sport means less to them than an unproven seventeen-year-old boy with nothing to show for himself but a name.”
I think one of the best examples for this was the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 Soccer Championship. Are you European and if yes, did you even know it took place last year? There weren’t many advertisements that even indicated it was happening, there were less sponsors that spread the word and even though these women gave it their all (they continued to play with injuries that would have sent male players off the lawn), interviews and media coverage was so sparse not many people even realized there was a soccer championship. But I digress, let’s get back to talking about the book, shall we? XD
I’ve been in a group chat with my sisters long enough to know that’s not something to scoff at. Especially not with Delilah. She’s got something called endometriosis and apparently it’s worse than a heart attack.
“But you just played a game!” I say. And she straight-up dominated the ice.
“Such is life with a uterus,” Delilah grumbles.
I really enjoyed this story because the author didn’t just give us great representations but also tackled some important topics and managed to make them tangible for the readers of their book. Mickey is suffering from depression and at times, it gets so overwhelming that he’s so crippled by it, it’s almost impossible for him to go out and do what he needs to do. The problem is, Mickey is aware that he might have depression but he has a hard time acknowledging it and actively searching for help. He mostly copes by disassociating, but of course, that doesn’t solve the problem and makes it really hard to keep his head in the game.
"For the rest of the week if I'm not in class or on the ice, I'm on my phone reading about depression and anxiety and trying to convince myself that I'm allowed to feel this way even with all the privileges I have, even though nothing really bad has ever happened to me."
Legit one of the best scenes in this book (at least for me), was the moment Mickey and his roomie spoke about depression and how it feels for them. Both suffer from it, yet the way it manifests is different. Also, this is probably the perfect moment to mention that Dorian is such a precious soul and that I loved how he reacted to everything Mickey told him. Dorian was perfect and I was so glad that he had Barbie as his best friend who was always there for him. They were basically joined at the hips and did everything together which is an amazing friendship rep right there!
“That’s great, Terzo.” He twists his hand to grab my forearm and haul me to my feet. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
"Every time you get a message from your dad, you look like you wanna smash your phone. And now he's here, so I figure you'd wanna smash his face instead."
I shake my head and sigh. "It's not that bad."
"You sure? 'Cause if that's what you want, I'll help you, dude. Don't care that I used to have a poster of him on my wall, I will end him."
The friendships and relationships in general were done so well and I could relate to those characters more than I care to admit. Moreover, they all grew on me and I was pretty sad when the book ended. I could have spent even more time with all of them and the camaraderie between the teammates was so much fun. I had to laugh a couple of times because Zero and the other players were such a hilarious bunch and delivered comedic relief whenever it was needed. I think without them this book would have been a lot more serious, so I’m very grateful the author gave us those light moments of easy banter and friendship as well.
"I laugh. Loud and uncharacteristically, enough to get a bunch of the boys to whip around and look at me.
"What are you doing to him, Caulfield?" Zero skates over with mock concern in his voice and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Is this boy hurting you, my poor grumpy child?"
They were so full of sh*t! I loved them. *lol* And speaking of relationships: Aside of the depression rep that ran like a golden thread through the entire book one of the other main topics was Mickey’s relationship with his father. There was a lot of resentment on Mickey’s side and I could understand where he was coming from. He was so very young when he started to play professionally and all that mounting pressure without his parents next to him, caused him to withdraw from everyone. It took an open-minded and supportive team like the Royals to bring him out of his shell and it was so nice to see how Mickey finally opened up. He might have cursed them for it, but they were good for him and eventually helped him to find his own path. Due to that he was able to confront his complicated feelings for his father and I thought the direction things took in the end was realistic and comprehensible.
”I spent two full seasons with the NTDP and never grew attached to any of my teammates. A few months with the Royals and I’m already dreading the day our season ends and I lose them. I don’t even know how it happened or when, but I care about them.”
And last but not least, I’ve to talk a little bit more about Mickey and Jaysen’s relationship! I absolutely adored them and the way Mickey reacted to Jaysen’s presence was so visceral and real. Whenever he was around him, he could barely think straight (pun totally intended) and that made for such a great chemistry between them. Jaysen always seemed to catch him off guard and for a long time Mickey had absolutely no idea if his annoying feelings for Jaysen were even reciprocated.
"Am I what, Mickey?"
The sound of my name in his voice is almost enough to make me jump him right here. It's the first time I've ever heard him say my first name, and he makes it sound rough, seductive, infuriating.
Once Mickey finally figured it out their interactions made me melt, though! No, seriously, those two were a heady mixture! All those little gestures, the gazes and Mickey kinda hating himself for falling so hard for Cauler made for one hell of a ride. XD I’m in love with how careful and gentle Jaysen was with Micky. He always made sure they were on the same page and none of his actions were rushed. He always took his sweet time to appreciate the boy in front of him and I might repeat myself here but: Consent is sexy!! Jaysen never assumed and always asked before he did anything and that made him perfect boyfriend material! <3 (I don’t think Mickey has any idea how much he needed a guy like him. XD)
”Hey.” Cauler raises a hand to my face, letting it hover near my jaw, not quite touching. He waits for me to look him in the eye. “Can I?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah.”
He traces his cold fingers along my jawline, pushes them into the hair at the nape of my neck, and pulls me against his chest. I melt into him, wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him tight.
Conclusion:
For me “Icebreaker” was perfection and I ended up loving this book and all its characters so much. No matter if it were the two MCs, Mickey’s sisters or the Royals team, all those characters were awesome and had their own voices. Moreover, the author managed to address important topics like depression and anxiety and wrote about them with the necessary sensitivity and finesse. The fact so many of those characters were queer was just the cherry on top and I can’t wait to read the authors other books! 5 stars!
He pushes a hand into my hair and pulls me back with a fistful of it, just enough that he can say, "I hate you."
"Prove it." I make this startled, totally not sexy sound when he hooks his elbows under my knees and lifts me right off my feet, and god, for once in my life I am thankful for my height.
__________________________
For me this book was perfection!
I just loved the chemistry between Jaysen and Mickey! Their enemies-to-lovers arc was so good.
Moreover, I adored all the queer reps and the fact that we got an amazingly done depression rep as well. <3
Full RTC soon! I’ll need to write a proper one!
__________________________
I wanted to read “Icebreaker” at the beginning of the month, but life had other plans and here we are! Anyway! I’m very curious about this book because it’s been recommended to me on Instagram quite often.
Rivals-to-lovers in a hockey setting? Sing me up because I love a good sports romance!
Maybe I’ll develop a taste for m/m hockey romances now. ;-P
Find me on:
My Blog
Instagram
"Your tattoo's kinda cool."
Jaysen lifts his eyes a little. I swear they latch on to where my sleeve is pushed up just below my elbow, then slowly follow my forearm down to my wrist and back up again, to my bicep. "You're pretty fit for being so short."
I think I might pass out. Was he just checking me out?
Trigger warnings:
I figured now that the whole world is going crazy about “Heated Rivalry” I probably should finally talk about “Icebreaker”! Yeah, I know, my brain works in mysterious ways. Don’t hold it against me! *lol* Anyway! What both books have in common, is that they’re about queer hockey players and since hockey still seems to be one of those sports that’s rather conservative, to write about two male players that fall in love seems to be a rare occurrence. (Or not so rare anymore, judging by all the queer hockey romances I found recently.) I think what’s still rare, is that those romances are actually getting a platform these days. So I’ll try my best to write a solid and comprehensible review for “Icebreaker” because A.L. Graziadei isn’t all that well known yet, but they definitely should be!!!
”Hockey’s not the most welcoming environment for people who aren’t straight white guys. I at least have one of those things protecting me. Cauler’s got neither.
It would be a bad idea for both of us.”
As you can tell from the blurb, we got two boys that are vying for the same spot in their team. Mickey James III and Jaysen Caulfield have been rivals for quite some time now and they both want the number one spot for very different reasons. While Mickey feels the need to earn his place as a professional player and is considered hockey royalty due to his father’s achievements, Jaysen is some sort of a wildcard that came out of nowhere and hit the ice full force!
”He wasn’t bread to play hockey. He chose it. Absorbed it into his skin, his blood, his bones by his own volition. There’s plenty of others out there just like him who could easily be here on this ice if it weren’t for me.”
Both contenders know about their strengths and weaknesses and they can’t stand each other because neither of them gets tired of pointing them out. Which leads to a couple of interesting scenes. I swear, the chemistry between those two is sizzling and I just couldn’t get enough of Mickey and Jaysen. Whenever they were together the room temperature rose by a few degrees and it was just too good to see them fight and tease each other. Something even their teammates and close friends weren’t able to ignore. They lived and breathed to rile each other up and it kinda forced their captain to figure out a way to make them talk, because for at least one year they needed to play nice and be teammates on the ice.
"Mickey: Have you ever hated someone so much you wanna suffocate them with your own tongue
Nova: Do you not remember eighth grade?
Mickey: Fair point
Nova: Who's earned your hate lust this time
Mickey: You act like it's a common thing
Thankfully, both our players had close friends that knew exactly how they ticked and I couldn’t help but fall in love with the diverse cast of side characters. For instance, Mickey’s best friend is Nova Vinter, a famous actress that’s very interested in his love life! *lol* Moreover, he has many sisters (some of them very queer!) that all grew on me because they were such a fun bunch and always watched out for their little brother! For instance, I totally loved the representation of a polyamorous relationship between Bailey (one of Mickey’s sisters) and her two boyfriends Sid and Karim! The way it was written was just so wholesome and lovely and I think we definitely need more representation like that!
”They’ve been together since their freshman year, and they’re still going strong. Not Bailey and Sidney and Bailey and Karim. Bailey, Sidney, Karim. Sid and Karim show each other just as much affection as they do with Bailey.”
What we also need more of are male MCs like Mickey that respect and appreciate the achievements of women in sports! Mickey loved his sisters dearly and he knew exactly what they were up against and how hard they had to work to get some recognition in sports. I loved Mickey so much for this because it’s a fact that women in sports have to work at least twice as hard as men in order to be accepted and to make it in their branch.
”I am constantly overwhelmed and astounded by how incredible all my sisters are in all the things they do. The list of their successes is never ending. But nobody seems to care about them. Because they’re women. Because women kicking ass in their sport means less to them than an unproven seventeen-year-old boy with nothing to show for himself but a name.”
I think one of the best examples for this was the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 Soccer Championship. Are you European and if yes, did you even know it took place last year? There weren’t many advertisements that even indicated it was happening, there were less sponsors that spread the word and even though these women gave it their all (they continued to play with injuries that would have sent male players off the lawn), interviews and media coverage was so sparse not many people even realized there was a soccer championship. But I digress, let’s get back to talking about the book, shall we? XD
I’ve been in a group chat with my sisters long enough to know that’s not something to scoff at. Especially not with Delilah. She’s got something called endometriosis and apparently it’s worse than a heart attack.
“But you just played a game!” I say. And she straight-up dominated the ice.
“Such is life with a uterus,” Delilah grumbles.
I really enjoyed this story because the author didn’t just give us great representations but also tackled some important topics and managed to make them tangible for the readers of their book. Mickey is suffering from depression and at times, it gets so overwhelming that he’s so crippled by it, it’s almost impossible for him to go out and do what he needs to do. The problem is, Mickey is aware that he might have depression but he has a hard time acknowledging it and actively searching for help. He mostly copes by disassociating, but of course, that doesn’t solve the problem and makes it really hard to keep his head in the game.
"For the rest of the week if I'm not in class or on the ice, I'm on my phone reading about depression and anxiety and trying to convince myself that I'm allowed to feel this way even with all the privileges I have, even though nothing really bad has ever happened to me."
Legit one of the best scenes in this book (at least for me), was the moment Mickey and his roomie spoke about depression and how it feels for them. Both suffer from it, yet the way it manifests is different. Also, this is probably the perfect moment to mention that Dorian is such a precious soul and that I loved how he reacted to everything Mickey told him. Dorian was perfect and I was so glad that he had Barbie as his best friend who was always there for him. They were basically joined at the hips and did everything together which is an amazing friendship rep right there!
“That’s great, Terzo.” He twists his hand to grab my forearm and haul me to my feet. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
"Every time you get a message from your dad, you look like you wanna smash your phone. And now he's here, so I figure you'd wanna smash his face instead."
I shake my head and sigh. "It's not that bad."
"You sure? 'Cause if that's what you want, I'll help you, dude. Don't care that I used to have a poster of him on my wall, I will end him."
The friendships and relationships in general were done so well and I could relate to those characters more than I care to admit. Moreover, they all grew on me and I was pretty sad when the book ended. I could have spent even more time with all of them and the camaraderie between the teammates was so much fun. I had to laugh a couple of times because Zero and the other players were such a hilarious bunch and delivered comedic relief whenever it was needed. I think without them this book would have been a lot more serious, so I’m very grateful the author gave us those light moments of easy banter and friendship as well.
"I laugh. Loud and uncharacteristically, enough to get a bunch of the boys to whip around and look at me.
"What are you doing to him, Caulfield?" Zero skates over with mock concern in his voice and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Is this boy hurting you, my poor grumpy child?"
They were so full of sh*t! I loved them. *lol* And speaking of relationships: Aside of the depression rep that ran like a golden thread through the entire book one of the other main topics was Mickey’s relationship with his father. There was a lot of resentment on Mickey’s side and I could understand where he was coming from. He was so very young when he started to play professionally and all that mounting pressure without his parents next to him, caused him to withdraw from everyone. It took an open-minded and supportive team like the Royals to bring him out of his shell and it was so nice to see how Mickey finally opened up. He might have cursed them for it, but they were good for him and eventually helped him to find his own path. Due to that he was able to confront his complicated feelings for his father and I thought the direction things took in the end was realistic and comprehensible.
”I spent two full seasons with the NTDP and never grew attached to any of my teammates. A few months with the Royals and I’m already dreading the day our season ends and I lose them. I don’t even know how it happened or when, but I care about them.”
And last but not least, I’ve to talk a little bit more about Mickey and Jaysen’s relationship! I absolutely adored them and the way Mickey reacted to Jaysen’s presence was so visceral and real. Whenever he was around him, he could barely think straight (pun totally intended) and that made for such a great chemistry between them. Jaysen always seemed to catch him off guard and for a long time Mickey had absolutely no idea if his annoying feelings for Jaysen were even reciprocated.
"Am I what, Mickey?"
The sound of my name in his voice is almost enough to make me jump him right here. It's the first time I've ever heard him say my first name, and he makes it sound rough, seductive, infuriating.
Once Mickey finally figured it out their interactions made me melt, though! No, seriously, those two were a heady mixture! All those little gestures, the gazes and Mickey kinda hating himself for falling so hard for Cauler made for one hell of a ride. XD I’m in love with how careful and gentle Jaysen was with Micky. He always made sure they were on the same page and none of his actions were rushed. He always took his sweet time to appreciate the boy in front of him and I might repeat myself here but: Consent is sexy!! Jaysen never assumed and always asked before he did anything and that made him perfect boyfriend material! <3 (I don’t think Mickey has any idea how much he needed a guy like him. XD)
”Hey.” Cauler raises a hand to my face, letting it hover near my jaw, not quite touching. He waits for me to look him in the eye. “Can I?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah.”
He traces his cold fingers along my jawline, pushes them into the hair at the nape of my neck, and pulls me against his chest. I melt into him, wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him tight.
Conclusion:
For me “Icebreaker” was perfection and I ended up loving this book and all its characters so much. No matter if it were the two MCs, Mickey’s sisters or the Royals team, all those characters were awesome and had their own voices. Moreover, the author managed to address important topics like depression and anxiety and wrote about them with the necessary sensitivity and finesse. The fact so many of those characters were queer was just the cherry on top and I can’t wait to read the authors other books! 5 stars!
He pushes a hand into my hair and pulls me back with a fistful of it, just enough that he can say, "I hate you."
"Prove it." I make this startled, totally not sexy sound when he hooks his elbows under my knees and lifts me right off my feet, and god, for once in my life I am thankful for my height.
__________________________
For me this book was perfection!
I just loved the chemistry between Jaysen and Mickey! Their enemies-to-lovers arc was so good.
Moreover, I adored all the queer reps and the fact that we got an amazingly done depression rep as well. <3
Full RTC soon! I’ll need to write a proper one!
__________________________
I wanted to read “Icebreaker” at the beginning of the month, but life had other plans and here we are! Anyway! I’m very curious about this book because it’s been recommended to me on Instagram quite often.
Rivals-to-lovers in a hockey setting? Sing me up because I love a good sports romance!
Maybe I’ll develop a taste for m/m hockey romances now. ;-P
Find me on:
My Blog
November 17, 2022
4.5 cudowny debiut, naprawdę jestem pod wrażeniem! ❤️
![Profile Image for Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1746468325i%2F66224803._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
January 28, 2023
Depression doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve been through, she said.
It’s an illness that can happen to anyone.
Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is the book I chose when I fell ill and got headaches doing literally anything.
So I needed to read this very slowly.
And what can I say? It was a perfect choice.
It has not only rivals to lovers, it was also a great representation of many things, like:
- lesbian rep
- bi rep
- poly rep
- mental health matters like depression rep
Etc etc etc.
All in all a great diverse book (in my opinion) 👌🏻
Characters 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mickey had a great character development.
The way he fell not only in love with his rival, he also realized how amazing and important friends can be, even if you have a great family.
He also had an important development in his mental health matters, by realizing what he had and finding what could help him.
Jayson wasn’t my favorite in the beginning but then he showed his true colors and BAM - loved him.
But I was the biggest fan of Dorian and Barbie.
Their friendship was so cute and amazing and healthy. 💛
And Zero. Best captain ever.
Relationships 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mickey had a great way of representing this independent character that thought he didn’t need any friends or a real team until he got both and loved it so much.
Next to finding friends and love there was also a bit of working out strong expectations parents can have on you and your future.
Writing 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
It was so good, I read a bit only to have a headache and read again when my head was slightly better.
So, that’s how good and entertaining it was.
It made me smile, it made me sad and I loved every bit of it.
I recommend this to any MLM fan who loves hockey 👌🏻💛
It’s an illness that can happen to anyone.
Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is the book I chose when I fell ill and got headaches doing literally anything.
So I needed to read this very slowly.
And what can I say? It was a perfect choice.
It has not only rivals to lovers, it was also a great representation of many things, like:
- lesbian rep
- bi rep
- poly rep
- mental health matters like depression rep
Etc etc etc.
All in all a great diverse book (in my opinion) 👌🏻
Characters 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mickey had a great character development.
The way he fell not only in love with his rival, he also realized how amazing and important friends can be, even if you have a great family.
He also had an important development in his mental health matters, by realizing what he had and finding what could help him.
Jayson wasn’t my favorite in the beginning but then he showed his true colors and BAM - loved him.
But I was the biggest fan of Dorian and Barbie.
Their friendship was so cute and amazing and healthy. 💛
And Zero. Best captain ever.
Relationships 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mickey had a great way of representing this independent character that thought he didn’t need any friends or a real team until he got both and loved it so much.
Next to finding friends and love there was also a bit of working out strong expectations parents can have on you and your future.
Writing 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
It was so good, I read a bit only to have a headache and read again when my head was slightly better.
So, that’s how good and entertaining it was.
It made me smile, it made me sad and I loved every bit of it.
I recommend this to any MLM fan who loves hockey 👌🏻💛
March 16, 2025
literally what compelled me to read this. who am I? what was I going through?
January 18, 2022
I picked this up because I love m/m hockey romances, but I would describe it first and foremost as an intimate look inside the mindset of a 17-/18-year-old college freshman with untreated clinical depression.
That freshman does happen to play hockey at a high level, so it is what his day-to-day revolves around, but the throughline here is mental health.
There is also a prominent budding romance with a teammate/rival ("Have you ever hated someone so much you want to suffocate them with your own tongue" 🤣), and it's a YA-friendly one of the fade-to-black variety, although I wouldn't necessarily call the overall tone of the book YA. It neatly straddles the YA/NA line in a way I have always found very fitting for stories about college freshmen, and it was done very well here.
The rivalry was more of a sub-plot, but I LOL'd many times at their banter.
But there is so much more depth to this than the average college romance. This book will make you think, which I love, and it does it without telling you what it wants you to think, which I really love, but in the end I think it missed a few connections that were needed to tie the whole thing together and elevate this from good to excellent.
The MC's childhood/previous hockey life are missing enough details to make it confusing to anyone who doesn't already have a good grasp on the traditional hockey development route someone like this would have taken. And even knowing the basics of that hockey world, the details of how that played out in his family specifically are missing a few crucial pieces that I think were needed to fill in some pretty important gaps with his mental health journey.
There's a lot of really good stuff going on here:
>The mental health discussion and how that's twisted and magnified by this high-profile, high-pressure sports life
>The discussion of the imbalance of privilege between the MC and his love interest/biggest rival in the NHL Draft
>The excellent variety of queer representation and the perception and/or reality of how equally (or not) they are accepted/tolerated by their family/peers
>The baffling undervaluement of women in sports. (Shout out to the amazing sibling relationships. I loved them so much.)
It's all fantastic, and I certainly don't expect this author to be the person who has all the answers, but there were just a few places where I wanted to grab that dangling plot thread, pin it down and interrogate it for all the details of this one character's life.
Despite the lingering questions -- not to mention the fact that I spent half the book all tensed up with worry over the MC's state of mind due to the extremely effective depiction of clinical depression and anxiety -- I would still give it all four stars up to this point.
But, grrr, that ending. I'm actually ok that we didn't get an answer to...that one thing :) But the final beat of the story treats this like it was just about the romance all along, and...it wasn't. And frankly, if it was, I probably would have found the ending even more frustrating.
I mean, if it's a Romance™️, then we have to discuss pacing issues and the fact that the fade-to-black choices with their sexual encounters caused us to miss out on the (I assume) developing intimacy between the two, since that's one of my favorite parts of a romance novel.
But to me, it's not a romance novel, so that stuff can take a backseat to the character's overall journey -- like it has for the whole book so far. Somehow it feels like the book waited until the very end to forget that.
Thankfully, I did end the book confident that the MC is going to be ok, which was a real concern for a while, but the book didn't quite pull off the finale with the character's individual growth arc. Or it intentionally chose not to make any grand pronouncements, which would be a totally valid choice if the romance had gotten a little more development/heft to allow it to pull the emotional load of the finale OR if we got answers to...that one thing...and preferably a little of its aftermath :)
But considering I went into this specifically for the romance and the hockey, the fact that I would have been thrilled with it anyway if they'd just landed that ending a little better says a lot. Would still recommend, especially for the YA/NA audience.
**This book was provided for free by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley**
That freshman does happen to play hockey at a high level, so it is what his day-to-day revolves around, but the throughline here is mental health.
There is also a prominent budding romance with a teammate/rival ("Have you ever hated someone so much you want to suffocate them with your own tongue" 🤣), and it's a YA-friendly one of the fade-to-black variety, although I wouldn't necessarily call the overall tone of the book YA. It neatly straddles the YA/NA line in a way I have always found very fitting for stories about college freshmen, and it was done very well here.
The rivalry was more of a sub-plot, but I LOL'd many times at their banter.
But there is so much more depth to this than the average college romance. This book will make you think, which I love, and it does it without telling you what it wants you to think, which I really love, but in the end I think it missed a few connections that were needed to tie the whole thing together and elevate this from good to excellent.
The MC's childhood/previous hockey life are missing enough details to make it confusing to anyone who doesn't already have a good grasp on the traditional hockey development route someone like this would have taken. And even knowing the basics of that hockey world, the details of how that played out in his family specifically are missing a few crucial pieces that I think were needed to fill in some pretty important gaps with his mental health journey.
There's a lot of really good stuff going on here:
>The mental health discussion and how that's twisted and magnified by this high-profile, high-pressure sports life
>The discussion of the imbalance of privilege between the MC and his love interest/biggest rival in the NHL Draft
>The excellent variety of queer representation and the perception and/or reality of how equally (or not) they are accepted/tolerated by their family/peers
>The baffling undervaluement of women in sports. (Shout out to the amazing sibling relationships. I loved them so much.)
It's all fantastic, and I certainly don't expect this author to be the person who has all the answers, but there were just a few places where I wanted to grab that dangling plot thread, pin it down and interrogate it for all the details of this one character's life.
Despite the lingering questions -- not to mention the fact that I spent half the book all tensed up with worry over the MC's state of mind due to the extremely effective depiction of clinical depression and anxiety -- I would still give it all four stars up to this point.
But, grrr, that ending. I'm actually ok that we didn't get an answer to...that one thing :) But the final beat of the story treats this like it was just about the romance all along, and...it wasn't. And frankly, if it was, I probably would have found the ending even more frustrating.
I mean, if it's a Romance™️, then we have to discuss pacing issues and the fact that the fade-to-black choices with their sexual encounters caused us to miss out on the (I assume) developing intimacy between the two, since that's one of my favorite parts of a romance novel.
But to me, it's not a romance novel, so that stuff can take a backseat to the character's overall journey -- like it has for the whole book so far. Somehow it feels like the book waited until the very end to forget that.
Thankfully, I did end the book confident that the MC is going to be ok, which was a real concern for a while, but the book didn't quite pull off the finale with the character's individual growth arc. Or it intentionally chose not to make any grand pronouncements, which would be a totally valid choice if the romance had gotten a little more development/heft to allow it to pull the emotional load of the finale OR if we got answers to...that one thing...and preferably a little of its aftermath :)
But considering I went into this specifically for the romance and the hockey, the fact that I would have been thrilled with it anyway if they'd just landed that ending a little better says a lot. Would still recommend, especially for the YA/NA audience.
**This book was provided for free by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley**
October 4, 2024
10/4/24 - second reread 🫶🏼 you will always be famous icebreaker
1/5/22 - Icebreaker! I loved this book more than I can describe in words. I devoured this book in just one day. I was hesitant at first since I know absolutely nothing about hockey but it was still very easy to understand.
This novel is so sweet and cute while still dealing with many heavy topics. One of those being mental health. The mental health representation is well done and it feels very real. The author didn't just make James' depression something that disappears due to his romance which happens a lot more often in other books than it should.
There was a very fun and diverse cast of characters which I enjoyed reading about. The friendships and relationships in this book are also very well done and interesting to see develop.
The only problem I found while reading this novel was the rushed ending. It could've been even better if it had been longer with a more developed ending. Despite this I definitely recommend if you want a mlm rivals to lovers hockey book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
1/5/22 - Icebreaker! I loved this book more than I can describe in words. I devoured this book in just one day. I was hesitant at first since I know absolutely nothing about hockey but it was still very easy to understand.
This novel is so sweet and cute while still dealing with many heavy topics. One of those being mental health. The mental health representation is well done and it feels very real. The author didn't just make James' depression something that disappears due to his romance which happens a lot more often in other books than it should.
There was a very fun and diverse cast of characters which I enjoyed reading about. The friendships and relationships in this book are also very well done and interesting to see develop.
The only problem I found while reading this novel was the rushed ending. It could've been even better if it had been longer with a more developed ending. Despite this I definitely recommend if you want a mlm rivals to lovers hockey book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
July 12, 2022
ALC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I had been forewarned that this book packed a heavy emotional punch, but boy did it still hit me HARD.
Rivals to lovers seems to be the most popular trope of the decade, and I'm always equal parts excited and hesitant to read a book that boasts it. Excited because it can be so fun and thrilling when done right, and hesitant because it sometimes seems to be done just to attract buzz.
Fortunately Icebreaker was a book I was right to be excited about, and turned out to be a story that moved me with more than just the romance part of it.
Mickey is the kind of character I see so much of myself in it's honestly a bit painful. It leaves me feeling exposed, but that also means it makes me feel seen. His struggle with his mental health, his sexuality, his relationship with his family, his reluctance to let himself be known are all echoes of my own path, at times perfect mirrors of each other and often times poetically similar in their diametric opposition.
Oh. This also ended with me smacking my hand on a table and shouting WHAT. so yeah. and also. i cried. and lowkey read it in one sitting?
I had been forewarned that this book packed a heavy emotional punch, but boy did it still hit me HARD.
Rivals to lovers seems to be the most popular trope of the decade, and I'm always equal parts excited and hesitant to read a book that boasts it. Excited because it can be so fun and thrilling when done right, and hesitant because it sometimes seems to be done just to attract buzz.
Fortunately Icebreaker was a book I was right to be excited about, and turned out to be a story that moved me with more than just the romance part of it.
Mickey is the kind of character I see so much of myself in it's honestly a bit painful. It leaves me feeling exposed, but that also means it makes me feel seen. His struggle with his mental health, his sexuality, his relationship with his family, his reluctance to let himself be known are all echoes of my own path, at times perfect mirrors of each other and often times poetically similar in their diametric opposition.
Oh. This also ended with me smacking my hand on a table and shouting WHAT. so yeah. and also. i cried. and lowkey read it in one sitting?
June 7, 2022
FUCKKK UWIELBIAM TĘ KSIĄŻKĘ 😩♥️🖐🏼
Enemies to lovers wątek był przeprowadzony TAK DOBRZE AAA🔥🥵🔥😏😩♥️
Ta nienawiść, złość i napięcie pomiędzy bohaterami, które powoli zamieniało się w tolerowanie siebie nawzajem, potem lubienie i AHH🖐🏼♥️
Nie jestem osobą która interesuje się sportami, a ta książka dosłownie jest o hokeju, to przyznam szczerze że byłem totalnie zainteresowany czytając to wszystko.
Również nasz główny bohater Mickey zmaga się z depresją i lękami, autorka pokazała jak bohater się z tym zmaga i jak go to dotyka w życiu codziennym, nie sprawiając że to jest jedyna cecha jego charakteru.
OGÓLNIE KOLEJNA ŚWIETNA QUEER KSIĄŻKA DO POLECENIA😩♥️
Enemies to lovers wątek był przeprowadzony TAK DOBRZE AAA🔥🥵🔥😏😩♥️
Ta nienawiść, złość i napięcie pomiędzy bohaterami, które powoli zamieniało się w tolerowanie siebie nawzajem, potem lubienie i AHH🖐🏼♥️
Nie jestem osobą która interesuje się sportami, a ta książka dosłownie jest o hokeju, to przyznam szczerze że byłem totalnie zainteresowany czytając to wszystko.
Również nasz główny bohater Mickey zmaga się z depresją i lękami, autorka pokazała jak bohater się z tym zmaga i jak go to dotyka w życiu codziennym, nie sprawiając że to jest jedyna cecha jego charakteru.
OGÓLNIE KOLEJNA ŚWIETNA QUEER KSIĄŻKA DO POLECENIA😩♥️
March 15, 2022
NUEVO COMFORT READ EL LIBRO QUE ME SACO DE UN BLOQUEO ENORME TE AMO ICEBREAKER AMO TODO DE VOS menos el final TE ALO AMOAMLMAOA
October 9, 2022
Não entendo nada de hóquei 🏒 mesmo assim peguei esse livro para ler e gostei!
Aprendi mais sobre o esporte, tem personagens bem diversificados.
Achei alguns personagens exagerados ( irmãs de Mickey) mas nada que atrapalhasse a história. Não curto trisal, um relacionamento com 2 já dá um trabalho, imagina com 3 ( é um tipo de gosto que não nunca vou entender).
Cauler e Mickey tinham uma boa química, o livro acabou e fiquei desejando mais momentos com eles. Espero que tenha um segundo livro, fiquei curiosa com esse final.
Aprendi mais sobre o esporte, tem personagens bem diversificados.
Achei alguns personagens exagerados ( irmãs de Mickey) mas nada que atrapalhasse a história. Não curto trisal, um relacionamento com 2 já dá um trabalho, imagina com 3 ( é um tipo de gosto que não nunca vou entender).
Cauler e Mickey tinham uma boa química, o livro acabou e fiquei desejando mais momentos com eles. Espero que tenha um segundo livro, fiquei curiosa com esse final.
January 25, 2022
3.5 🌟 For how the author handled important topics like depression, parental expectations, and the pressure of social media.
I started this book a while back, reading the first 1-2 chapters which go on and on about MCs puffing their chest, snarling at each other, and calling each other names. I know many of my fellow MM readers will disagree with me, BUT I AM SO DONE WITH THIS KIND OF FORCED HATE TO LOVE hockey romances.
I imagined it was going to be another book where one MC dislikes another because of his privileged background and royal treatment. So, I stopped reading it. However, thankfully after a few days, I restarted it.
The story is about Micky James-the 3rd. He is the 3rd generation hockey star from his family and is burdened with a legacy. The romance holds to the rivalry thing. The relationship development was slow and just like most of the YA, the MCs go back and forth between their emotions.
Although the romance is okayish, this book is more like YA fiction(🤔🤔) than romance. It has been a perfect 4 star only if the author has put more effort into making us believe in romance. It felt superfluous and forced. However, the author has done a perfect job in depicting Micky's struggle with depression.
"I can’t sit here and tell him I’m deeply depressed when I have so much more than him. I’m white. Hetero-passing. From a rich family."
"I don’t have a right to be depressed, I’d said to Mom. My life isn’t horrible. Nothing really bad ever happened to me."
The sports element, the bond between siblings and friends were top-notch but the love interest, Jaysen Cauler, and romance between Mickey and Jaysen looked half-baked. And, that's a shame because this one is marketed as romance.
"To be fair
I do find you pretty okay to look at
That whole dead inside thing you got going on?
Right up my alley."
The HFN/ending too looked forced from Mickey's side. But, I think the author intends to continue the story in the next book of the series.
P.S-5star to audiobook narration by Tom Picasso.
I started this book a while back, reading the first 1-2 chapters which go on and on about MCs puffing their chest, snarling at each other, and calling each other names. I know many of my fellow MM readers will disagree with me, BUT I AM SO DONE WITH THIS KIND OF FORCED HATE TO LOVE hockey romances.
I imagined it was going to be another book where one MC dislikes another because of his privileged background and royal treatment. So, I stopped reading it. However, thankfully after a few days, I restarted it.
The story is about Micky James-the 3rd. He is the 3rd generation hockey star from his family and is burdened with a legacy. The romance holds to the rivalry thing. The relationship development was slow and just like most of the YA, the MCs go back and forth between their emotions.
Although the romance is okayish, this book is more like YA fiction(🤔🤔) than romance. It has been a perfect 4 star only if the author has put more effort into making us believe in romance. It felt superfluous and forced. However, the author has done a perfect job in depicting Micky's struggle with depression.
"I can’t sit here and tell him I’m deeply depressed when I have so much more than him. I’m white. Hetero-passing. From a rich family."
"I don’t have a right to be depressed, I’d said to Mom. My life isn’t horrible. Nothing really bad ever happened to me."
The sports element, the bond between siblings and friends were top-notch but the love interest, Jaysen Cauler, and romance between Mickey and Jaysen looked half-baked. And, that's a shame because this one is marketed as romance.
"To be fair
I do find you pretty okay to look at
That whole dead inside thing you got going on?
Right up my alley."
The HFN/ending too looked forced from Mickey's side. But, I think the author intends to continue the story in the next book of the series.
P.S-5star to audiobook narration by Tom Picasso.
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