As someone who has called Seattle home these last ten years, I really enjoyed the portrayal of the city in the book. I love hockey and the evocative imagery made it easy to imagine this happening in my hometown. This book definitely makes Seattle feel like a character of its own, and I loved all the quirky details that made the city so recognizable and full of personality.
I loved that the story follows both Lucy’s strenuous relationship with her father and Jaylen’s mental health journey dealing with the death of his childhood friend. I feel like both these topics were dealt with tactfully in the narrative, but the development of Lucy and Jaylen’s relationship lacked chemistry and tension.
Halfway through the book, I hit a major slump, it feels like the story almost plateaus after Jaylen and Lucy fall into their friendship and it was hard to pick it back up. I wanted to be invested in Lucy and Jaylen’s relationship, but it felt lackluster and repetitive.
In terms of Jaylen’s character, I definitely feel it was missing the nuances of race in sports and in society at large. Less than 3% of NHL players are Black, and according to recent census data, the population of Seattle is only 6% Black. As a person of colour who has lived in this area for ten years, I definitely think there was a lack of addressing this in the story that would have added depth and realistic nuance to the narrative.
Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Lexi LaFleur Brown for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Three out of five stars.
Paging Kait 