Book Review: Game Changer
It’s no secret I’m a big fan of sports stories, and I’ve often seen the name Rachel Reid recommended on reader curated lists. I decided to pick up Game Changer to see if the story could live up to its hype.
Official Summary
New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. When a particular smoothie precedes Scott's breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic…and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.
Kip Grady knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon—and more. What goes on between them is hot, incredible and frequent…but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.
Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career or the public’s image of what a hockey captain should be. Kip is ready to go all in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?
Quick Information
Author: Rachel Reid
Published: October 22, 2018
Genre: Romance, M/M Romance, Sports Romance, Contemporary Romance
Review
Struggling hockey star Scott Hunter is in a slump and decides to stop by a smoothie bar one day after his workout. He meets a cute barista that makes him his drink, and the next thing he knows, he's actually playing well. What’s a superstitious athlete to do other than go back and keep the same routine?
The premise of a not-quite coffee shop meet cute drew me in at the start. We have the famous hockey player meeting the average every day worker. There’s a decent amount of awkward flirting at the start which I was interested in seeing develop over the course of the book, despite the fact the prose and dialogue often felt very juvenile and simplistic.
Clunky dialogue and significant repetition made it seem as though the author was padding for words rather than adding anything significant to the story. The characters lack depth, and to me, they felt bland and interchangeable if not for their distinction as “hockey player” and “average person”.
Nothing really moves the plot along naturally. To me, the author forces their characters to be together rather than creating natural chemistry. The love confession came without much emotional buildup. This relationship starts as a fling, and that’s fine, but there should be some sort of development over time which not only builds up the characters but also the plot… but there’s not really a plot until the cliche third act breakup, and even then, it’s flimsy and forgettable. Until then, there are so many unnecessary scenes and wasted dialogue moments.
The cliche third act breakup inevitably happens and then there is a scene of Kip kissing another man which is never brought up again. For readers who aren’t a fan of cheating, I’d argue this counts as cheating even if it’s just a kiss. There’s no emotional impact from this moment because both the author and the characters forget this scene altogether. This part of the book was especially painful to try to read through.
On the romance level, the relationship feels very shallow. Sure there are explicit scenes but there is zero chemistry between these two characters, thus making these moments fizzle out before they even get started. There were far too many sex scenes which didn’t add anything to the story or character development. If you’re not a fan of switching, that's another addition to the long list of negatives for this book.
For sports fans, the author forgot all about the hockey side of the story and just uses it as a duvet cover for one character’s flimsy identity. If you’ve ever played an EA sports game and run a game simulation, the hockey could be distilled to “X player scored a goal during this game.” The inclusion of hockey didn’t feel natural; instead it felt as if the author was hitting key hockey terms just to check a genre box.
One of the most frustrating things about this book is the author goes to great lengths to make Kip seem innocent, the guy we want to root for. We’re pushed by the author to believe he’s “giving up” the most in their relationship. Instead, he turns into a sniveling brat, demanding Scott come out of the closet and make a big declaration of love for him in the middle of the most important and physically and emotionally demanding time of his career. Coming out scenes are supposed to be impactful and important to a character, but instead the way this moment was structured made me uncomfortable. Coming out should be on an individual person’s terms, and this wasn’t the case for Scott. Kip forces his own pace and preferences on Scott, despite the fact, again, these two have only known one another for a very short amount of time. Scott promises to work on becoming comfortable with coming out, but this isn’t fast enough for Kip. Overall, this plot point makes Kip look like a walking red flag, not someone we as readers should sympathize with.
In the end, what started off as a sweet meet cute concept quickly soured into disaster. Flat, inconsistent characters and immature writing ultimately makes for a clunky story.