Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Long Game

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

28 reviews

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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binevolentbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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felishacb's review against another edition

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I loved revisiting Shane and Ilya. You get to see a lot about their life and love in this follow-up.

There was a lot of tension around when to come out in this one, and I empathized with how Ilya felt about the life they've built and choices he's made to build it. I wish the world, including historically masculine spaces, could just accept people as they are already.

There is A LOT of food talk in this one. I've read multiple professional athlete romances, and I've seen nutrition covered a few ways. But it was a constant topic in this book and started to honestly feel disordered. I thought they were going to bring up how Shane was using his extreme diet (or disordered eating) as a way to gain control when he felt he had so little control of his life. The author did not explore this, and he just gives it up at some point late in the book.

CN: food/diet, death by suicide, parental death, Alzheimers, outing, homophobia including at work, sex on page

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eclecticallyreading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

5.0

This was a re-read, and this book is just as stunningly heartbreaking as it was the first time I read it. I absolutely love getting to spend more time with a couple after their "get together" book, and this one is a DOOZY. Reid handles Ilya's mental health struggles so well, and I think the normalization of therapy and medication (and how a partner cannot fix you if your brain chemistry is fighting you) is so so important. Truly following Shane and Ilya from Heated Rivalry into this book is truly watching them grow up and into amazing men and I absolutely adore their dynamic.

I laughed, I cried, I got turned on (I mean the trophy room scene?? please???), I cried again. Truly a book I will always recommend

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levilore_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was such a great ending to the series. I was hoping we got some more resolution on Ilya and Shane and I was not disappointed.

As usual, the serious topics were dealt with so well and I really appreciated how

Ilya wasn't magically fixed once he started going to therapy. The author really took care to explore what therapy is actually like and not make it a magical fix for everyone's issues.

I loved that we actually saw so much of the love between Ilya and Shane which was not something we had seen a lot of before this book. The domestic scenes were so cute and seeing how mushy Ilya is was just amazing. I already believed that they were in love but this book gave actual evidence that they are perfect for each other.

Once again, the book ended on a really inspiring and hopeful note for how hockey could change for the better. I really appreciated that throughout the series. It made me really happy that in this fictional world, people were standing together against the toxic culture of sports.

This book just tied up the series perfectly and filled in all the questions I had about Shane and Ilya. A great ending to a great series.

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crystalmackey's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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haileeraye's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leakoop's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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apolen's review against another edition

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5.0

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jennp28's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Ahhhhh I love Shane & Ilya so much. I’m glad they got the sequel they deserved. I appreciate that Ilya tackles his mental health issues head on - it’s important to see that on the pages of a romance I think, when it’s about loving the whole person and wanting them to be as whole and happy as possible.

I read my first book Rachel Reid early on in my MM sports romance obsession and I’ve been trying to find books as good as hers ever since. Definitely my favourite series of the genre.

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