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A review by nitzanschwarz
Game Changer by Rachel Reid
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
C+ 77% | More than Satisfactory*
Ah, I’m quite conflicted here. This definitely wasn’t what I hoped it would be, but maybe it’s on me for being so excited for an adult gay sports romance. It may also be on me because my favorite novels are The Foxhole Court and I have yet to find a gay sports romance that lives up to it.
Anyway, it started well. I think I read the first 50% of the book in a day in a half. The other half… not as much. To be honest, I got a bit… bored. And at this point, I was skimming all the sex scenes because there were just too many of them in my opinion. There was a stretch of “plot”, which was about 30% long, where every other scene (or even consecutive scenes) were just sex scenes. That’s not my cup of tea. I think this book could’ve easily been 100 pages shorter in sex scenes and be much better for it.
The characters were also just… kind of bland, to be honest. And so was their relationship. There just didn’t seem to be much substance to it. They’re both very sexually attracted to each other, and that seems to be the basis of their love. I would’ve really liked to see more of them just chatting and falling in love. Finding the little things about each other that make the other so adorable or perfect. Finding each other’s likes and dislikes… things like that. It was all kind of insta-love based on mutual attraction.
And I think a lot of the more interesting parts about this couple weren’t explored or touched upon, like Kip’s insecurities and low self-esteem. InsteadKip gets accepted into his master’s program, changes jobs, and suddenly he no longer feels unworthy of Scott. It would’ve also been nice to see a bit of the aftermath of Scott’s coming out , in terms of the league and team, but that may happen with the next books in the series since they all seem to be focused on the NHL.
Story and Setting –15/20
Characters –16/20
Relationships –16/20
Translation – 15/20
Reading Experience –15/20
Final Score: 77
Ah, I’m quite conflicted here. This definitely wasn’t what I hoped it would be, but maybe it’s on me for being so excited for an adult gay sports romance. It may also be on me because my favorite novels are The Foxhole Court and I have yet to find a gay sports romance that lives up to it.
Anyway, it started well. I think I read the first 50% of the book in a day in a half. The other half… not as much. To be honest, I got a bit… bored. And at this point, I was skimming all the sex scenes because there were just too many of them in my opinion. There was a stretch of “plot”, which was about 30% long, where every other scene (or even consecutive scenes) were just sex scenes. That’s not my cup of tea. I think this book could’ve easily been 100 pages shorter in sex scenes and be much better for it.
The characters were also just… kind of bland, to be honest. And so was their relationship. There just didn’t seem to be much substance to it. They’re both very sexually attracted to each other, and that seems to be the basis of their love. I would’ve really liked to see more of them just chatting and falling in love. Finding the little things about each other that make the other so adorable or perfect. Finding each other’s likes and dislikes… things like that. It was all kind of insta-love based on mutual attraction.
And I think a lot of the more interesting parts about this couple weren’t explored or touched upon, like Kip’s insecurities and low self-esteem. Instead
Story and Setting –15/20
Characters –16/20
Relationships –16/20
Translation – 15/20
Reading Experience –15/20
Final Score: 77
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content