The Understatement of the Year
Ratings15
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings15
Average rating3.9
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 sexual preference 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. 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. Sarina Bowen's Ivy Years is my favorite New Adult series of all-time! -- Elle Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author of The Deal "It's so well done that I just want to read it over and over again." - Mandi Schreiner of Smexy Books "Sarina Bowen serves up yet another gut-wrenching story that left me limp at the end with relief that these two found their happily ever after." - Amy Jo Cousins, author of Off Campus "A beautiful love story about self-acceptance. I laughed, I swooned, and I shed a view tears. This is a must read." - Megan Erickson, author of Strong Signal "I gasped, I cried, I stayed up all night to finish. This book broke my heart in the best possible way." - Diana Peterfreund, author of the Secret Society Girl series. "6+ Stars! I can honestly say that this is her best one yet." - Jenn Gaffney of Once Click Bliss "This story was beautiful from start to finish." - Angie of Badass Book Reviews Keywords: new adult, college romance, hockey, gay, MM romance, Ivy League, male/male romance, LGBTQ romance, gay romance, hockey team, coming out. For fans of: Santino Hassel, Kindle Alexander, Elle Kennedy, Amy Jo Cousins, Megan Erickson, Lucy Lennox, Amy Lane, Leta Blake, Roan Parrish, Annabeth Albert, Ella Frank, TJ Klune, Riley Hart, NR Walker, Devon Mccormick, Eden Finley, Sloane Kennedy, Felice Stevens, Avon Gale, Alexis Hall, Heidi Cullinan, KJ Charles, Josh Lanyon, Cat Sebastian.
Series
5 primary books7 released booksThe Ivy Years is a 7-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Sarina Bowen.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book is about two hockey players, who were best friends and lovers in high school but were separated due to a hate crime. That incident changed their lives forever and has so much impact on their thought process than they realize. When the openly gay Rikker transfers to Harkness, Graham gets the shock of his life. The story follows them on their journey to find themselves, their friendship and love again.
Rikker is such an amazing character. He is honest and caring and so full of love, it was a joy reading about him. He doesn't choose to be the only openly out player in Division One hockey but when circumstances force him to, he doesn't let it change his love or focus for the game. He is also totally comfortable in his sexuality, but can't escape the homophobic comments of his teammate or rival teams. But his biggest weakness is his first love, Graham.
Graham is a self loathing, paranoid guy who is dead set on trying to prove that he is not gay but he cannot keep away from Rik. But he is also such a douche. He treats Rik so badly for most of the book, first by being so uncomfortable even being in the same room as him and not even acknowledging their past and then being secretive about their relationship. It was good to see him finally accept the truth about himself but I wish he had treated Rik better.
I also loved the characters of Graham's mom and Rik's grandma. They are so sweet and supportive and love their children no matter what, and irrespective of their religious beliefs, it was just so endearing. Bella is also a great friend and I was so sad for her, but she is so understanding and caring, it made me tear up. Rik's ex Skippy is an absolute live wire and brings some amazing humor and laughs whenever he appears.
If I ignore the stupidity of Graham for a bit, I really loved his relationship with Rik. They share an old and beautiful friendship, understand each other deeply and it felt so good to see them get together. It broke my heart to see Rik love Graham so much but still have to hide it from the world. The ending definitely warmed my heart but it was also so abrupt and I was disappointed to not get to read more about them being together and happy.
This is an amazing book about friendship, first love, second chances and trying to find happiness by being and accepting yourself for who you are and not what the world wants you to be.
wanted to like this more than i did. it was definitely not BAD, but a little too angsty. i partially understand the fear the characters felt, but it was also a little too much to take on as the reader. but it was a sweet story. not as good as Him, which was partially why i felt a little let down. hard to not compare the two.
