As a lover of hockey-romance, I anticipated reading this book for weeks and was so happy when my ebook from the library was finally available. Unfortunately, the book initially didn’t live up to my expectations and I was disappointed with the pacing and character building.
I really wanted to love black cat figure skater Sadie, and golden retriever hockey player Rhys, but the pacing and mood of the book made that so difficult. There were moments when the two characters were flirting that had me really excited, only for the mood to suddenly take a disappointing turn in ways that often read as unrealistic. Sometimes, Sadie and Rhys, as characters, did things I thought were immature for college-age students, which made it hard to get into the story.
While those aspects of the writing didn’t really improve over the course of the book, just when I was starting to think about DNF-ing, Rhys said literally the most unforgettably spine-tingling line in the whole book, and I was totally obsessed with him. Rhys falls first and so much harder; the dual POV allows the reader insight into his swoon-worthy thoughts making the book so adorably heart-warming to read.
Unsteady also masterfully tackles difficult topics like mental health and neglectful parents in a nuanced way that makes the story more vivid. I’m glad I stuck through to the end of this book and I would definitely recommend it.
Four out of five stars.
Paging Kait 