Book 711: Sticks & Scones (Check, Please! #2) – Ngozi Ukazu

I’m so sad this is over. I waited a full year for it, and it was wonderful, but I’m still sad. I re-read each of the two books twice this time to really soak them in and make sure I looked at the artwork and appreciated the dialogue.

I’ll be frank and say that I’m not sure I enjoyed this as much as the first one. I don’t think it was anyone thing and I don’t think that should detract anyone else from reading it, but for me it didn’t have the perfection or the je ne sais quoi (that’s a nod to Jack ;-D) the first book did. There are spoilers after the jump, so don’t read ahead unless you want to know where #Hockey ended.

We join Bitty over the summer between his second and third year of undergrad and things have definitely changed after Jack’s desperate run back to the Haus to kiss Bitty goodbye and leave us readers hanging for an entire year!

Bitty and Jack are now dating, and this book navigates Bitty’s final two years at Samwell and Jack’s first two years as a pro-hockey player the Providence (RI) Falconers. There are just as many sweet moments as in the first book, and one serious nod to Bitty and Jack’s having a sex life—if you don’t read as many trashy romance novels as I do you probably glanced over it, but trust me that’s what it’s acknowledging. I mean it’s so adorably perfect and pure and just yes:

The bulk of Sticks & Scones, or at least the part that took center ice (I’m so punny) was their coming out stories and the affect that had on their hockey, their friends, and their families. I think Ukazu did a wonderful job portraying their coming out stories really respectfully and Bitty’s conversation with his mother was heart breaking. (Oh, hey mirror, how you doing?) I felt they were accepted a hell of a lot easier than most people have and maybe that’s the grip that I have with the book. No drama, minimal pain that wasn’t mostly self-inflicted, it was just too perfect (on top of Jack’s Stanley Cup win and leading into Bitty’s successful captaincy and National Championship win).

I hate that I’m saying this because we do need these types of novels, and I love to think there are professional and collegiate teams that are out there right now, but are there really? And don’t get me wrong, I 100% know there are people like the OG teammates (Shitty, Lardo, Holtz and Ransom) who had Jack and Bitty’s back who are out there. And the scene where they finally tell them and you see how long they’ve known (not super long, but long enough) which the most adorable scene in the book. But it was just all too neat. It was like you want a perfect story with a perfect ending, here’s the bow on the top.

And then I’m going to turn around and say that the perfection of Bitty’s parents not knowing how to respond, or let alone get ahold of Bitty after he and Jack kiss at center ice after the Cup win, was heart-wrenchingly perfect and then when Bitty and Jack stayed in Georgia for Christmas, the dad talk, the mom not allowing them to stay together in the room, all of it, was just the exact balance needed for the story.

From a non-touchy-feely, actual reading the book perspective I had some issues with the continuity in this book more so than the first. There were a couple of occasions where I thought I’d missed a page and tried to go back to find it, only to find I didn’t. This is actually how I found out that you could read both full books (minus a couple of the extras) for free online at checkpleasecomic.com. There was one point where I was so convinced something didn’t make it to the book that I went and started reading through the online version to see, and nope it just didn’t exist. It was very frustrating and definitely had an influence on my second read through.

Recommendation: 100% worth the read. It was a perfect ending to Bitty’s time at Samwell University and beginning of Jack’s pro career. There were things that bothered me, but that I’m sure were perfect for others. I didn’t feel this had the perfection #Hockey did, but I felt that it tied everything up with so many misty-eye moments that I didn’t want it to end. I’m not sure this one was edited as closely as the first, there seemed to be a few more grammatical/missed word errors and continuity errors, but overall it was still worth reading and treasuring. I’m sure I’ll be back to visit Bitty and Jack in the near future.