not in the mood

I really enjoyed this book and the way the POVs were written! Absolutely loved Roach <3

 This was peak romantasy to me and even though it was well over 600 pages, I couldn't help but read chapter after chapter and finished it so quickly. The writing and pacing made this book a can't-put-it-down one, that's for sure.
I absolutely adored Sylvir and Brokil and how their personalities at first clashed together before they found their way towards romantic love. Sylvir's interest for medicine, desire to help people, and love for plats, Brokil's wonderful loyalty to his people and role as a leader - they were both intriguing characters and easy to love.
Loved the way the two POVs were connected gave the story so many great moments while also managing to connect the POVs together smootly. That's something I especially appreciated, because there was no repetitiveness and the way each chapter ended made me really eager to continue reading with the next one.
Something that I also loved was the romance. It was so interesting to see how their relationship progressed and how both Sylvir and Brokil came to love the other. Also I really liked that while there was a tense situation that pulled them aparts, it was caused by external forces and not some sort of disagreement. It gave the story enough stakes, but also gave me no reason to kicks my legs in frustration. The only reason for my kicking and giggling were all the super sweet moments between Sylvir and Brokil, and oh boy, they were such sweethearts together. 

Thanks so much to the author for the eARC. 

 I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Home Ice is a solid debut romance, but unfortunately, some things didn’t completely work for me. I mainly struggled with Lily and Brant's choices throughout the story, especially the third-act breakup didn’t work for me at all regarding the reasons for it. I liked their reconciliation, especially the team's collective acceptance and Brant’s being so nicely showcased. The way Lily’s trans identity was accepted was for me the highlight of that part and the whole story overall. It was so wonderful to see a trans woman being centred in a hockey romance, which is a genre that still lacking when it comes to trans representation.
I liked the two main characters for most of the story and enjoyed their romance. I don’t think it took that much from the overall story, but sometimes I couldn’t see the reason for their behaviour. I liked Lily as a main character a lot, but struggled a bit to enjoy Brant’s POV at the beginning of the book. Chloe was a sweetheart, that’s for sure, and I loved how her story had an important part in Lily and Brant's lives. Other characters like Em and Kayden were really nicely written, too. I definitely want to read about them in the future. 

 I really enjoyed this one! Hashimoto was such a sweetheart and his obliviousness was so funny to see. I liked how the romance between him and Shirose build up from coworkers to friends, and how each of them realized their feelings. The art was cute, especially the one of the game characters. The trio was so silly and the misunderstandings caused by their communications were so funny as well!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a free honest review. 

This book was wonderfully curated to show different types of art centering the queer community in the Western world. I really liked how it was thematically sorted into the chapters and the sheer amount of artwork that was inculed. The text was a welcome addition, although I sometimes wished the artwork was larger to see more details. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and this it's a nice introduction to queer art and history it presents.

 Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.