Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid

43 reviews

crex's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book so much and I’m glad I gave this a chance.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

herelieshenry's review

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is fine. It scratches a certain itch, kind of feels like reading a decent fanfiction late into the night, that kind of vibe. That said, it’s definitely made me realize I need my romcoms to lean way more into the romance side of things than the comedy. This one is very comedy-forward.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wardenred's review

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The problem was, Landon always developed crushes on unattainable people because it was safe. That way he never had to deal with the complications of that person liking him back.

This book is billed as “a merry and bright hockey romance,“ but honestly, I feel like at its core it’s a story about loneliness. There are definitely lots of bright and sweet moments here, and the story gets progressively happier as it moves along and the two leads gravitate closer and closer together! The happy ending came as expected and put a huge smile on my face, and there’s definitely an overall positive vibe here. All that loneliness certainly gets successfully overcome, but my, there’s a lot of it.

It’s a really good story about loneliness, though, and the different ways it can manifest. Landon and Casey, the leads, start off as basically polar opposites: Landon has long embraced his loneliness to the point he hardly notices it, just focused on the day-to-day business with a subtle undercurrent of self-loathing and not bothering to make himself easy to talk to. Casey, meanwhile, is constantly aware of his loneliness even as he tries to run from it, and he keeps doing all that bright, cheery stuff to avoid it, whether it’s pestering all his teammates at once to join him for drinks or forcibly inviting the new quiet, standoffish player to share his needlessly huge house for a month. As their different lives and personalities collides, they end up confronting all sorts of truths about themselves, each other, and their pasts, as one does, and eventually building something new and beautiful together.

There were some sections of the story that kind of dragged; the hockey parts probably could have been more exciting, and the side characters probably could stand having 1-2 more personality traits each. But overall, I really, really liked the main pairing and found this to be an interesting story. The snowy, icy, wintry vibes were very welcome in the current heat, too!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

levilore_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Once again, Rachel Reid writes an amazing gay hockey book that makes me cry. I really loved this book, especially the MCs. Landon and Casey were both complex characters who had their own unique flaws that I fell in love with. 

I thought the ending was a bit rushed, but it did make sense for the story. Also! A unique MLM romance because there were great discussions of physical boundaries and sexual desire!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elizakay's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-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

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mabellene's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny medium-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

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ellaviolet's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wanderingtales's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sundayseesstars's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I really loved the aspec rep in this one!! I related to Landon so much in his attitude towards sex (except I'm ace and he's probably demi), and I could see my friend clearly in his attitude towards touching (I'd rec her the book if I didn't know she does not appreciate the genre :p). Overall incredibly sweet and well worth the read, as I've come to expect from Rachel Reid! I'd only discovered her earlier this year but I couldn't be more happy about it!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mlglenn's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings