The Long Game Now Streaming on Crave and HBO Max

After we got a happy end that wasn't really an end for Shane and Ilya in "Heated Rivalry" we finally got their happy end here. "The Long Game" is no easy read with many things that are real but hurtful, it left me speechless at times. We onlyy know Ilya as the sunshine or the asshole but here we get to know his feelings and his doubts. We see that not every relationship is easy and even if it's the right person you're with, it can hurt sometimes. I cried several times while reading the book but I would do it again a thousand times!

• book 6 of the Game Changers series & book 2 for Shane & Ilya || now that Shane & Ilya are a couple, they have more and more problems to solve - and their relationship is still a secret (more or less). We get a lot of cutie patootie scenes, but we also get a loooot of Ilyas problem with his depression and mental health - I cried and sobbed SO MUCH. This one hurts and hurts and hurts, but it's so worth it.

This book broke my heart and then mended it again. Even though I didn't really like Ilya in ‘Heated Rivalry,’ he grew on me as a side character in the other books. In this volume, we gain deep insight into his psyche and his struggles. I could empathise deeply with him and understand why he acts the way he does. It warmed my heart to see how close he is to Shane's family and that they have found a home in each other. Reading this book really took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I cried, laughed and screamed. The best book I've read in the series! I can't wait to see how the story continues in the seventh book.

“Kiss me, Ilya wanted to say. Kiss me and hold me in front of all these people. Pull me onstage and do it. I don’t care anymore. Please. I’m dying. " Sometimes you read a book series that you enjoy. Then you put it down and forget about it a week later. Other days you finish a book series that changes your entire life. The Game Changer books are the latter. I absolutely adored every second of The Long Game. It's phenomenal. Emotional and angsty, yet happy and hopeful at the same time. It’s full of love. For the characters and their relationships, for hockey, but especially for the world Rachel Reid has created. It's the culmination of every single book and every single couple in the series that came before. A problem that many hockey romances (or romances in general) seem to face is that the side characters are never properly fleshed out. Rachel Reid isn't an exception here. But in a series where we get to know so many different characters over the course of six books, that problem solves itself at some point. And you are left with a group of characters that you absolutely adore, giggling and kicking your feet every time they are on the page. Rachel Reid has improved immensely since her debut. Sometimes I can’t believe that this is the same author who wrote Game Changer. While Heated Rivalry dealt a lot with Ilyas and Shane's feelings for each other, and their refusal to understand that they have been in love with each other since the first day they met, The Long Game is more about the struggle of not being able to show that love. They are aware of their feelings for each other, but the world can’t know because that information could ruin their entire career, their entire life. The hockey world has changed since Heated Rivalry and has become more open towards queer players, but Ilya and Shane are different. And the book deals with that, with the topic of coming out, of hiding, of the hurt and confusion and struggle that come with it. I also really appreciated the depiction of Ilyas's depression. I cannot recommend the entire series highly enough. But The Long Game is by far my favorite. Let’s see if Unrivaled will be even better.

Ich hab diesen Teil genauso geliebt, wie den ersten. Der Teil fügt sich nahtlos an Teil 1 an und es ist so schön mitzuerleben, wie die beiden noch echter und enger miteinander werden. Natürlich nicht ohne die nötigen Stolpersteine und den richtigen Tiefgang. Wir haben wieder sehr viele wichtige Themen drinne, die sehr einfühlsamen behandelt werden. Dieses Buch hat so viele Emotionen in mir geweckt, dass ich mir wirklich dachte mein Herz bricht odee quillt über. Jetzt warte ich einfach nur auf die Serie und natürlich auf den nächsten Teil.