Thanks to Netgalley and Recorded Books for the audio ARC of this!

This was such an interesting read, that kept my attention and had me wanting to pick it immediately back up every time I had to pause! I love queer sports romance, enemies/rivals to lovers, and anything with mental health rep, so I was super excited for this one. The ending was a little bit abrupt, but I really enjoyed the journey there, with supportive friends, teammates, and family.

Come for the enemies to lovers, stay for the spot on mental health rep and character development.


I know nothing about hockey, not. One. Single. Thing. And while this book was all about the draft and certain plays and lines this book had nothing to.do with hockey.

We follow Mickey, the projected first draft pick and son of a hockey dynasty as he struggles under the wait of expectations that come with his name and who his father is.

This books portrayal of Mickey's struggles with depression were so accurate and made me feel so seen. The way he wants to care and wants to be passionate about something, anything but physically can't was so realistic and beautifully written. The way mental health was shown us something we live with, that doesn't magically disappeared is so important and something I want to see more in YA/NA.

This book is packed full of self acceptance and discovery of reconnection and even about realising your privilege.

But one of the true areas this book shines is creating an enemies to lovers relationship that's based in rivalry. Although they both start out as mean (but never bully yay) to each other the underlying attraction made this a hard book to put down. The fact that this relationship turned into something so caring and supportive was so satisfying and turned a trope I don't usually enjoy into something I loved.

The narrator was fantastic at bringing the story to life and giving it the perfect amount of emotion but not going overboard.

I would've loved to see Mickey's relationship with his father be more fleshed out, but besides that I loved this book!

4.75 highly recommend!

Thanks NetGalley and RB Media for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This audiobook had me grinning like a fool for most of its runtime, I was just having a great time.

The synopsis mainly focuses on the "rivalry" between our protagonist Mickey and his teammate Jaysen who are both in the top 3 draft picks and are now in the same college, on the same team. This is not an enemies-to-lovers (I would also not call it hate-to-love but there is some animosity at the start that quickly resolves), just two young men who are obsessed with a sport and under pressure to perform well and kind of pitted against each other while they are also both making some wrong assumptions upon first impressions. It's a slow change from becoming casual teammates to more and I loved that the rest of the team was involved in getting them to take the first steps. It's well done, I loved and I was very invested.

But I want to focus on all the other things I enjoyed just as much.
Mickey's family. Mickey is the youngest of six children and he loves his sisters to bits. If you have siblings, you know how your relationship dramatically shifts once you don't all live under the same roof anymore? Icebreaker focuses on exactly that. We get group chats and informal calls, heart-to-hearts and gentle teasing. I loved how unapologetically supportive Mickey was for his sisters and unafraid to highlight his shortcomings when it comes to his plays to show how different the media treats his sisters despite their equal or higher skills. Similarly, his relationship to his father does not fall into the usual trope of "retired dad forces his son to step into the same shoes". I won't spoil the book but I loved it.
The teammates. Aside from Jaysen, we also get to know the other players like Dorian, Barbie and Zero. They are not pushed aside or forgotten to push the romance but maintain a presence throughout the entire novel. I actually would have loved even more moments with them; Dorian and Mickey bonding and becoming roommates were some of my favourite moments.
Depression in college. As someone who has tried it, this was painfully relatable. Mickey's struggles with school work, how his fatigue makes it impossible to show interest in the things he genuinely enjoys, the way he always comes to the worst conclusions first, and how self-absorbed depression can make you when your mind is stuck on every little you are doing that you are unable to notice anyone around you.
All of these things were well balanced and fitted well around the romance. The audio narrator also just worked for me. His voice was not boring without overacting and there was a nice flow and rhythm that helped me keep my focus.

I do like the actual ending but the story would not have been worse for getting an extra fifty pages before it to smooth out the edges. Some plotlines are fast-tracked or end abruptly and I would hav e loved to see more of Mickey and Jaysen's new relationship.


(I would comfortably put this book in the New Adult/Adult category. Not because I think the content is not suitable for teens (I think plenty could enjoy it) but because the themes it explores (realizing there is more to people than what you see at first, taking a proactive approach to your mental health, general college life, sibling relationship when you don't share a house anymore) don't really fit into what we generally expect of YA protagonists.)


I received an advanced reading copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the characters and the relationship. And I appreciate the discussions of mental health.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, RB Media, and Recorded Books in exchange for an honest review.

ICEBREAKER has so many good things going for it. Graziadei addresses the often toxic pressure parents can put on their children to succeed along with how heavy the "family legacy" can weigh on a teen's shoulders. On top of expecting an 18 year old to know what they want to do with the rest of their life. Graziadei addresses the inherent racism in the NHL (there is a serious lack of BIPOC athletes for many reasons in the sport) without it becoming a lecture within the novel. There is also the imbalance of how little women's sports are the focus of sports media compared to men's sports along with the pressure for athletes to hide their sexuality in fear that it could hurt their career (there are bi, pan, and lesbian characters represented within the main and side characters) . And the protagonist is figuring out how to manage their depression - this is a plot point that I think was handled very well and is important representation to have, especially in YA literature.

Mickey James III is starting college - which is really just somewhere to kill time until the NHL draft where Mickey is expected to get picked first. That is unless his rival, Jaysen Caulfield - who also now happens to be his teammate, doesn't steal the first draft pick spot from him. There's a slow burn rivals-to-lovers mixed in with Mickey's struggle to find joy in something he used to love doing but now is too full of the fear of not living up to his father's expectations.

As a hockey fan (go Sabres!) I enjoyed the ice time and the team dynamic. Graziadei also does a great job capturing the overall freshman college experience of teens having to declare a major and career path before they even know who they are. The will-they-or-won't-they between Mickey and Jaysen was good and while it may not be realistic, I loved how supportive their teammates were about their romance.

Honestly, the ending bugs me though. I understand why ICEBREAKER ends the way it does, but the open-endedness of a certain plot point annoyed me.

Tom Picasso does a good job with the audiobook performance.

Oh what my goodness this was so much better than anticipated. I pretty much hate sports and I know nothing about them yet for whatever reason, throw it in a queer book and I am there. Sign me up. This book is kind of a crossover between NA and YA.

There is a queer MC who identifies as both bi and pan and he has pretty severe depression. Mickey is a hockey prodigy and he is trying to do whatever it takes to fulfill the role that has been given to him from the legacy of his dad and grandfather within hockey. Mickey is up for a NHL draft pick and during his first year of college he ends up on a college team with his biggest competition, Jaysen.

I was unprepared for how much I was going to like this enemies to lovers set in sports world book. I really loved both Mickey and Jaysen and would have loved to get a little bit more of their relationship dynamics towards the beginning. The ending also cut off a little bit abruptly but I understand why they did it that way. I could 100% see this being set up as a duology with a second book picking up right at that ending and going in more of a NA romance route. I don't think that's actually happening but it would be cool.

There are a lot of family dynamics discussed and the mental health representation is stellar. Honestly it's one of the best books with depression rep I've read and highly recommend it. I loved the queer rep and all of the casual discussions of toxic masculinity within sports and how women are treated within their perspective sports. This book has a lot of great things going on and I think you should give it a shot.

The audio narrator is really really good and I definitely cried. This book gets pretty emotional with our MC just wanting to find something to love and exist and be enough. I received an audio advanced copy of this through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This is also the rainbow crate January book and I can't wait to get a physical copy.

Rep: white bi/pan MC with clinical depression, use of medication to treat said depression, Black gay LI, lesbian SC, poly SC, bisexual SC, queer SC

CW: depression, excessive alcohol use, underage drinking, discussion of casual homophobia within sports, discussion of misogyny within sports

4.5 stars

thanks to netgalley & the publishers for an audiobook arc for a honest review!

hockey sports romance is my favourite sub-genre in romance so no one is surprised when i end up absolutely loving Icebreaker. Icebreaker follows Mickey James III who grows up being told he is going to follow the family legacy and be the top draft pick of NHL. everything is going according to plan except for the fact that he's on the same team as his biggest rival for the top spot, Jaysen Caulfield. Mickey and Jaysen do not see eye to eye from the get-go, bringing tension to the team. as the team is determined to have them hash things out before the competitive season begins, the two of them learns to cooperate and love happens on the way.

Icebreaker reads like a warm embrace at the end of the day, it covers difficult topics such as mental health, coming out as an athlete, tough relationship with your parental figures etc but it's also so full of wholesomeness and playfulness you would have expected from a college romance. Mickey did not expect to go along with his teammates off the ice, he wasn't used to having a genuine bond with his teammates. but on the way, he finds a bunch of friends that care for him (and friends he cares for too!) and it's just wonderful.

i love the novel for the honest and raw look into mental health and seeking help. and i love how it really highlights how recovery is not a linear progress, it's so heartfelt and it's really well done.

and of course, the romance!! it's a slow burn rivals-to-lovers romance and it's full of bickering, awkwardness and sweetness. the two books are nothing alike but the feelings i got from reading this book reminds me of reading Carry On, it's just so lovely.

i think what makes me love this book so so much is how all of these things blend into the book. the friendships, familial relationships and personal growth are just as important as the romance and Mickey does not magically find a solution he's in love. the growth and decisions he managed to make are the accumulation of all the things he's learnt in his time with the Royals (his team). the cast of side characters are all distinct from one another and each contributes something different to the story. Mickey and his story just feel so real to me. and i love it so so much.

the only thing i didn't love about this book is how sudden the ending is. it's not super underdeveloped, but it could have really used like an additional fifty pages to really build things up. not sure i love where the book ends but that doesn't overshadow the overwhelming love i have for the book on the whole.

side note the pop culture references in this book? love them.

I absolutely loved this audiobook! Fantastic YA contemporary romance. I found the characters believable and many teen readers will be able to relate to their story. A must purchase title for all YA collections!

Icebreaker is about a college ice hockey player, Mickey James, whose goal in life is to be draft pick number one for the NHL. However, he’s not the only person looking at making that coveted top spot. His teammate and rival, Jaysen ‘Cauler’ Caulfield, works just as hard and is just as good (maybe even better?). Things start to get complicated, however, when Mickey realises that between heated words and competitive head-butting he may have developed some slightly deeper feelings for Jaysen. Oops.

This one was a bit of a treat. I love myself a good helping of rivals-to-maybe-something-else in my books and Icebreaker was very generous in heaping a large portion onto my plate. The friction between Mickey and Jaysen at the beginning was palpable as was their relationship later on when things became heated in a different kind of way. In fact the dynamics between the entire cast was fantastic. I especially loved Mickey’s positive relationship with his many sisters and his adorable burgeoning friendship with his new teammates.

One of my favourite parts of Icebreaker was the portrayal of Mickey’ s struggle with his mental health. I was quite surprised to read other reviewers mentioning that they felt he was the weakest character of the ensemble as I wholeheartedly disagree. I found him to be an extremely accurate representation of what it’s like to struggle daily with your own mind. The book really subverted my expectations as usually in books where the MC suffers depression and/or anxiety it all builds to a devastating breakdown of sorts when the character hits the lowest low. This never happened in Icebreaker. Instead we witness Mickey experiencing everyday highs and lows that come with these illnesses. He feels so much pressure to do well that he no longer knows what he needs for himself to even see the possibility of some kind of contentment or happiness in his future. When Mickey feels he has to ask one of him teammates if they are friends because he can’t tell if people genuinely like him and enjoy his company? I felt that. Graziadei did such a wonderful job showing us the nuances of Mickey’s illness.

I also really appreciated the way the book deals with the misogynistic way girl’s sports are completely undervalued on a professional level. One of Mickey’s sisters is also a college ice hockey player. She’s extremely talented and successful but it is made clear that the family’s continued generational success rides squarely on Mickey’s shoulders. This unfortunately speaks very true of most sports in real life.

Overall I really enjoyed reading Icebreaker. I might have added a chapter or two from Jaysen’s perspective as it really could have rounded out his character just a little more. I also would have really liked it to be 50 pages longer as it was quite a quick read and sometimes I felt a little short changed on character development. Mickey and co. would have benefitted with a bit more space to breathe. The ending happened very suddenly and seemed a little rushed. These are minor quibbles, though, and don’t hamper the experience of the book at all.

I recommend this to people who loved the rivals-to-lovers dynamic of ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ and the found family (and Andriel relationship dynamic) of the ‘All For the Game’ series. Fans of ‘Check, Please!’ will adore this.

I can’t finish without mentioning audiobook narrator Tom Picasso. I’d listened to ‘History Is All You Left Me’ in audiobook format so I was already familiar with his smooth, calming voice but I found myself more aware of his tone and characterisation here. I was a little afraid to begin with as there were quite a few characters and I was getting a little confused as to who was speaking. However, once I started getting a good grasp on the nuances of each character I really started appreciating and enjoying Picasso’s subtlety. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of Jaysen.

Thanks so much to RB Media and Netgalley for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Icebreaker is a YA contemporary romance following Mickey and Jaysen, who join the same hockey team, while competing for the NHL’s top draft spot. I don’t know if this review can properly express my obsession with this book, which I stayed up past 2 am to finish, but I need to try. In this story we get an great rivals-to-lovers romance, which has amazing build-up and pay-off, a love interest who listens to metal, a realistic narrative about recognizing and treating depression, a vivid cast of side characters, and a healthy portrayal of close relationships between men.

The novel never babies the reader through the hockey slang but manages to make it comprehensive even for me – a person who knows very little about the sport. It is paced quite well and the character writing is supreme. Mickey’s character in particular really spoke to me when it came to his struggles with depression. It felt a bit shocking and validating to see the parallels between his situation and mine. I also liked how Mickey and Jaysen acted around each-other at the beginning. Yes, they got in a couple of brawls with each other, but it never felt like one of them was more proactive in their mutual hatred, so even with some outbursts of violence their relationship seemed pretty balanced.

Omg, I love this book! It's a new favorite and I need everyone to read it when it comes out. The characters are so lovable and also relatable. As a person with anxiety and depression, it was really nice to see that represented in a way that is very similar to my personal experience. The characters had great chemistry and don't even get me started on the ending. Amazing! Absolutely brilliant! I would love to see a novella in the future, but I am also totally content with the ending and it made me really happy.

Icebreaker! I loved this book more than I can describe in words. I devoured this book in just one day. I was hesitant at first since I know absolutely nothing about hockey but it was still very easy to understand.

This novel is so sweet and cute while still dealing with many heavy topics. One of those being mental health. The mental health representation is well done and it feels very real. The author didn't just make James' depression something that disappears due to his romance which happens a lot more often in other books than it should.

There was a very fun and diverse cast of characters which I enjoyed reading about. The friendships and relationships in this book are also very well done and interesting to see develop.

The only problem I found while reading this novel was the rushed ending. It could've been even better if it had been longer with a more developed ending. Despite this I definitely recommend if you want a mlm rivals to lovers hockey book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book has *so* much to love. I read this all in one sitting, and literally could not go to sleep until I finished it (at 3am.)

Icebreaker follows Mickey James III, a hockey legacy groomed to be the NHL's top draft pick and his teammate Jaysen Caulfield, a fierce competitor who pushes farther and farther. When the two join the same college hockey team sparks fly... in more ways than one.

The primary conflict (besides the obvious vying for NHL's top draft pick) between Jaysen and Mickey lays in the conversation of privilege. Mickey attends their college on a full ride, with the intention to only attend for one year before going pro. Being a legacy and an NHL sweetheart, Jaysen believes Mickey is being selfish to take that full ride scholarship and place on the college team when somebody less fortunate could really use that scholarship and exposure. Jaysen is a Black hockey player who doesn't come from a family of riches and athletic success, and the book shows throughout how he has to consistently work harder than Mickey to receive any kind of recognition from sports media.

My favorite part of this book was Mickey's struggle with depression. Despite being a very privileged person, Mickey struggles just to feel... any emotion at all. The pressure from his family combined with his genetic predisposition to clinical depression makes for a lethal combination, and through the book we see Mickey's struggles to build relationships with his teammates and his father, as well as his dependency towards alcohol to make himself feel something. Depression and alcoholism are both huge problems amongst the male population in real life as they are under-diagnosed, under-treated, and stigmatized for having depression, which leads to very real high rates of alcoholism and suicide, and I loved how this book really drove that point home through the character of Mickey.

This book was so fiery, yet so tender. Mickey and Jaysen have a complicated, hair point trigger relationship due to their circumstances and Mickey's mental health, but they're so tender towards each other and towards their friendships. Mickey has five older sisters who he loves to the death, and reading their bond was uber heartwarming. The relationships the hockey team members had with each other were also so heartwarming, tender, and fantastic examples of how ale friendships should be without the toxicity of masculine culture.

Huge props to this book for handling the discriminatory ways of the NHL and male athletics at large in a considerate, yet non-preachy way. We hear Jaysen lament the ways that being Black in the NHL would be difficult, given there are VERY few Black hockey players, as well as Mickey agonizing over how coming out as bisexual would affect his image to the sports media and hockey fans.

The only thing I didn't love about this book was the ending. I won't get into it here, OBVIOUSLY, but after writing such a glowing review I knew people might wonder why the rating is 4.5 instead of 5. I just thought it was ~underdeveloped.~

As for the audiobook, I really enjoyed the narrator though the quality was a bit tinny. The narrator did a great job voice acting and pulling me into the story, and I enjoyed my reading experience more through listening to it.

Overall, I loved this book so, so much. I think fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston would enjoy this book, and I don't say that half-heartedly as I know how frustrating it is for All Queer Books Ever to be related to that book just for marketing points. The dynamic between the characters reminds of of Henry and Alex, as do the friendships between the team and families. While this book does not carry the same comedic edge that McQuiston has mastered, the heart of the book is very reminiscent of those character dynamics to me.