Hank G (BookWyrm) reviewed Game Changer by Rachel Reid
Reid really nails the closeted life and the process of coming through it
5 stars
There is a saying that an author should/can only write about what they know. Obviously with fantasy/sci-fi etc that is thrown out the window to a large degree but when it comes to everyday type stuff could that be true? I wasn’t sure until reading Game Changers. This is a book about a closeted hockey player, Scott Hunter, falling in love with an everyday guy, Kip, and what it is like dealing with navigating a closeted relationship. I don’t know anything about being rich, famous, or about hockey, so I can’t comment on how realistically she captures any of that. I do have tons of experience with being a gay guy, dealing with being in closet way too long, the process of dating in that environment, the coming out process feelings (good and bad), and of course gay sex (too much of it for my tastes but probably on par …
There is a saying that an author should/can only write about what they know. Obviously with fantasy/sci-fi etc that is thrown out the window to a large degree but when it comes to everyday type stuff could that be true? I wasn’t sure until reading Game Changers. This is a book about a closeted hockey player, Scott Hunter, falling in love with an everyday guy, Kip, and what it is like dealing with navigating a closeted relationship. I don’t know anything about being rich, famous, or about hockey, so I can’t comment on how realistically she captures any of that. I do have tons of experience with being a gay guy, dealing with being in closet way too long, the process of dating in that environment, the coming out process feelings (good and bad), and of course gay sex (too much of it for my tastes but probably on par with a romance novel not soft core porn lit). I have to say Reid really captured the essence of it all more than I could have guessed anyone besides a gay man would. I’d say she did as good as any gay guy would with writing that up. I don’t know if she had an intuition of it, had a lot of experience with gay friends she built on, or heavily researched it. Either way she really nailed it with this book.
I had heard that this book was kind of weak compared to its sequel, Heated Rivalry. It was that tv series that got me wanting to read the books. I decided to not follow the advice of reading this book second because Episode 3, the one about the Scott and Kip relationship, was the one that really sucked me into the show. The book did so again and perhaps even more so. It’s been over 30 years since I came out to my first person ever. It’s been over 25 years since I was out more generally, and sadly only 15 years since I was totally out to literally everyone. The way she wrote the story instantly brought me back emotionally to those formative years decades ago. The whole tv series did too so maybe I am having some residual effect from that being projected into my impression of the book. For me, though, this really resonated and I think it more than stands up on its own to read. I can only imagine how good the second book is if I enjoyed this one so much already.