Monday, August 11, 2014

Crossing the Ice Review

* I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. *

Let me preface this review by saying that I'm not a huge fan of sports novels. I've never been the athletic type so it's hard for me to relate to the characters, which makes it hard for me to enjoy reading that genre of books. On the other side of the coin, I am a *huge* fan of figure skating. When I was younger, my mom and I watched figure skating specials on TV every year and enjoyed rooting for our favorite skaters. As I went into this book, I wasn't sure what to expect and whether or not I would like it.

I loved it. For a New Adult book, Crossing the Ice was very classy. Unlike quite a few books in the genre, it brought the heat between the two characters without crossing into a sauna-like atmosphere. Although I do enjoy books with that sort of atmosphere, it's nice to have a break from it every once in a while. Since the romance remains relatively PG-13 throughout, this book would be a strong recommendation for teens looking to branch out into New Adult literature who may not be ready for strong sexual content. With that being said, the romance remains mature enough to retain the interest of older readers as well.

Another aspect that I deeply enjoyed about Crossing the Ice was that this book wasn't just meant for sports fans. Although figure skating remains a pre-dominant force within this novel, it isn't the "be-all, end-all" theme. It covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from personal identity to sacrifice to the definition of a family. Additionally, Ms. Cormeaux takes the time to explain what popular figure skating terms mean and how they apply to both informal situations and formal ones. This step is crucial to readers who do not necessarily have a background knowledge of the sport.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel and will definitely be re-reading it in the future!

5/5 Stars

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