This was less a sequel and more a part two of the same story, picking up immediately where Like Real People Do left off. They’re still in bed and it’s Christmas morning. Alex has decided it’s time to reach out to his ex to give him the heads up that he plans to come out in the relatively near future and it just goes from there.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the way the blurb was written it’s not what I got. Don’t get me wrong it was still a good story and continuation of the first half, but I read the blurb and expected it to unfold completely differently. The key action of the story happens when Alex and some teammates stick around to see Eli perform at a skating event. Eli has a seizure which ultimately requires hospitalization and through a series of events Alex gets outed because he’s desperate to see that Eli is okay.
The rest of the book is about the fall out/reward of that moment. There are some really endearing moments like the viral social media that happens with hockey players who come out in support of Alex and Eli. Like I was legit tearing up about it because it was so wholesome and Massey did a good job of describing pro players at all points of their careers from amateur to retired and eventually other active pro hockey players both male and female. Adding to this the way the team goes to support Alex and the reveal toward the end when Alex finally loses his cool on the ice and gets in a fight after being called a slur and the fall out was heartbreaking to live through but then so rewarding to see the outcome.
I still think Eli and Alex are WAY too young to be moving in together and what not, but what do I know in my old age 😀 There were other things that kept the story moving after Eli’s accident like his getting to take on the figure skating teaching that Alex’s teammate who wasn’t exactly supportive of Eli or even Alex at first, but saw something in Eli and the kids at the team skate in the first book. It was just so heart warming.
The biggest thing for me that was missing was Cody and James’ story, at least tied to this one, like what happened to them when Eli and Alex were outed? I mean if you’ve read the Ngozi Ukazu Hockey novels I guess we know? But it just felt like a loose end for me with how close Eli and Cody were.
Recommendation: I enjoyed this one, not quite as much as the first book, but enough that I still read it pretty quickly and if you read the first one, you kind of have to read the second one. There were some big wins in this one, but you had to slog through quite a lot of darkness to get there. I’m not sure I’ll pursue the next two three(?) novels (All Hail the Underdogs, Free from Falling & Contend with Me) in the series even though I did enjoy reading the preview chapter. Who am I kidding, I’m sure I’ll end up reading them.
Opening Line: “The problem with dating a celebrity is that sometimes they have to do ridiculous things like take a call from their agent on Christmas Eve when they should be cuddling with their boyfriend.”
Closing Line: “He doesn’t have words for this kind of thing. But ‘love’ seems really fucking trite for all the whatever that he feels. Or maybe other people shouldn’t be allowed to use the word ‘love’ because they can’t possibly mean it the way he does.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
