Book Review: Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
Sometimes, I'll read a book and think, there is a simple, yet solid story here. Unfortunately, it's buried beneath bad writing and boring tropes, that have me rolling my eyes and sighing loudly, instead of getting invested, on the edge of my seat. That's Icebreaker. Let's talk about it.
Minor Spoilers Ahead
The premise is a short one. Nate, our male lead and Anastasia, our female lead, both attend a prestigious University training to be professional athletes, in Ice Hockey and Figure Skating respectively. After one of the campuses ice rinks is rendered out of commission, the two are forced to share the remaining one for practice, going from hostile strangers, friends and eventually, lovers.
“Anything you read, I’ll do to you when we get home.”
Nate Hawkins is Captain of the Ice Hockey team and, one of the only characters in this book that didn't give me a headache. He's a sweetheart, a playboy who drops that facade almost immediately when Anastasia enters his life. Yes, the instant love trope is strong and festering here. He's described as the quintessential man of most women's dreams: Handsome, muscular, caring, loyal and exceeding good beneath the sheets. Nate, is a very safe character. A likeable all around good guy with no real bad side. So, if you were hoping for some excessive possessiveness or morally grey actions that give you goosebumps, you won't find that here. However, Nate is easily digestible and just a good, honest guy. So if that's your flavour, then Nate will hit the mark.
“Falling in love with Nathan Hawkins was not something I could have planned. No planner, iPad, or freaking sticker chart could have prepared me for my future. My imagination isn’t capable of dreaming up this level of happiness.”
Anastasia Allen, on the other hand is on the Figure Ice Skating team, with her abusive skating partner Aaron. She has some good traits, such an confidence, willpower and communication, though the latter seems entirely conditional. Whilst Nate errs on the side of almost being too much of a people pleaser, Anastasia often comes across as shallow and self absorbed. Hey 'Stassie,' everyone here has goals, not just you, would you like to calm down? There were times when I wanted to reach through the pages and incite violence, whilst there were occasions when I thought: Wow Anastasia, good for you. Unlike Nate, she's definitely a mixed bag. You'll either find her highly irritating and unlikeable, as I did, or consider her sassy and bold.
“We’re still individuals, but we’re individuals together, and I never knew relationships could be like this.”
Despite their stark differences, as the story progresses Nate and Anastasia do make a believable couple, especially after alcohol and raging hormones are thrown around - university life in a nutshell, apparently. Is their relationship a good one? It's certainly not toxic, and they handle the ups and downs like most new couples. Nate comes across as good anchor for Anastasia, one that she desperately needs. Whilst Anastasia, once she tackles her personal hurdles, is a supportive, positive influence in his life. However, their romance is lacklustre, almost verging on boring as it takes a back seat to everything around it. Which is odd, considering the story is supposed to be focused on their romance. Let me dive into why.
The entire story takes place predominantly at Maple Hills University, and as with any university setting, you get a good plethora of partying, drinking, bad decisions and of course, other students. Which is where my first major problem with this book lays: There are far too many characters to keep track off. There are at least nine, important to semi-important characters that flit in and out of the story at any given moment and, almost all information about them comes in the form of disjointed, often out of place exposition. Not only is this hard to follow, it's delivery makes it virtually impossible to remember. After a while, I gave up on trying to recall anyone who had been previously introduced but, had left so little an impression I'd completely forgotten about them. I know there is an entire series in the works that will feature many of these characters and, so introducing them now will create a desire to see them in future books. However, the story gives you so almost no time to care about these characters before it's hurtling towards the next event and they are forgotten about, which made me wonder why they were even there half the time. Despite this being quite jarring, there is a small saving grace, and his name is Henry. He's the lead in the third book, you can thank me later.
“A hand settles on either side of my head and he leans down to my eye level. “Take off Jaiden’s jersey, or I will rip it from your body.”
My second pet peeve? The ludicrous amount of drama. How much drama is in Icebreaker, you ask? Yes.
I don't believe I went ten pages without some new magical problem rearing its tedious head and derailing the plot. In fact, I'd say the drama really is the plot. The romance fades into the background as the story jumps from abusive friends, eating disorders, house parties gone wrong, Nate constantly getting the short stick, fuck buddies, parental issues, emotional outbursts, and the laundry list continues. It's all gas and no breaks, with almost every conceivable issue that could occur, shoehorned in one after another, often before the previous issue is even resolved, stacking problem on top of problem till they start to feel meaningless.
Now, I didn't expect a romance with this setting to have no drama, but I will say at some point, I started counting down to the next illogical and silly thing that would happen. It takes away from the story, it absolutely shreds a lot of character depth and it becomes tiring to read. Personally, I believe this issue spawns from bad writing and terrible pacing. As though Icebreaker came out rushed, and unedited. If a few of these nonsensical events had been removed and, that time had been spent focused on any of the myriad of characters, I believe it'd be a much smoother, enjoyable read.
“Don’t give me that shit. I’ve seen what you have on your smutty bookshelf.”
With all that being said, I know a lot of you are here to find out if it's worth reading for the spice. After all, a lot can be forgiven if a book still makes your toes curl. So, are you going to be treated to absolutely brilliant, engaging sex scenes that have your legs twitching? No. Are they enjoyable enough to activate that little part of your brain that has you checking no one is reading over your shoulder? I'd say so. Our main couple have sex, a lot, and as it so happens, Hannah Grace doesn't skimp on the details or rush through these scenes – ironic, I know. I would consider the smuttier scenes in this book 'hot' rather then 'sexy.' You might blush a little, might smile, but you won't be crossing your legs, or disappearing into another room to let out a girly scream into your pillow. I'd say Icebreaker is three chillies out of five, for it's raunchy content.
“You don’t hate me like you pretend you do, do you? If you want me on my knees, Anastasia, we can make that happen.”
So, do I recommend Icebreaker? If you are looking for an overly dramatic romance and are immune to rushed writing and bad pacing, then yes. The romance is fine, the sex is good and most of the characters are palatable. If your looking for a well written story, a focused plot and in-depth characters, I'd give this one a skip.
My overall rating: 2/5
Thank you for reading!
