Thursday, January 31, 2019

The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen [Review]

The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen
The Understatement of the Year (Ivy Years #3) by Sarina Bowen
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: April 13, 2018

Ivy Years
1. The Year We Fell Down
2. The Year We Hid Away
2.5. Blonde Date
3. The Understatement of the YearPaperback | Kindle
4. The Shameless Hour
5. The Fifteenth Minute
6. Extra Credit

Sarina Bowen
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):
What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.

So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.

Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.

Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.

THIS BOOK IS A STANDALONE. NO CLIFFHANGERS. NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.

Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.
Thoughts on The Understatement of the Year: I put off reading this book because I had a very strong feeling it would rip my still-beating heart from my chest and show it to me in a grisly display of blood and other visceral things. I wasn't wrong. Graham's messed up feelings about himself gutted me. The poor guy. The position Rikker was put in by his former team--being outed against his will--hurrrrrt.

Man, it hurt. I felt for both of them and alternately wanted their happily ever after to come as quickly as possible to put them out of their misery and wanted to draw it out because their romance isn't pretty and neat. It's messy and visceral. Just like my ripped out heart.

The long and short of it is that Graham is so deeply in the closet he can't find the door. After what happened to Rikker back in high school and all his pent up guilt over the things he DIDN'T do when it happened, he's a mess. A big mess. Rikker showing up out of the blue as a transfer to the Harkness team throws him deeper into himself. The fact that Rikker is out and everybody knows it makes things even harder for him.

Because he loves Rikker. He has since high school and he's had to repress that side of himself for years. Rikker's patience with him is astounding. And probably the sweetest thing I've read today. I just adored that these two found their happy place and figured things out. ADORED IT.

I'm going to go shove my heart back into my chest and get ready for Bella's book. Because she kinda killed me a little too and I'm ready to see another HEA blossom before my eyes.

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