Synopsis:
To the world they are rivals, but to each other they are everything.
Ten years.
That’s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they’ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family…from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything?
Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship…Ilya wants it all.
It’s time for them to decide what’s most important—hockey or love.
It’s time to make a call.
Review:
I went through all of the emotions while reading The Long Game. I can’t explain what it is exactly but I’m so invested in Shane and Ilya. It’s not very often a book will make me have a physical reaction but I was almost sobbing at points. I’m almost dreading Unrivaled as this had such a bittersweet ending. What else could possibly happen to them?
Just a warning: this review is going to be all over the place. I was so into The Long Game I didn’t stop to think about anything that was going on and I’m also writing the review three weeks after finishing the book.
I love that Shane’s parents treat Ilya like he’s their son. It’s the parental love he deserves and is honestly my favourite part of this book.
The parallel between Shane having a support system when their relationship was a secret and Ilya feeling like he has no one to Ilya having supportive people when they were outed and Shane having no one was really interesting to see. It’s horrible that Shane goes through that but it’s so important for him to understand how Ilya has been feeling for the past however long it’s been (I find the timelines of these books difficult to follow). This entire book had my heart breaking for Ilya. People seem to always talk about how difficult it is for Shane but because Ilya is loud and makes jokes he gets overlooked. I didn’t highlight much in this book, because I was too engrossed in the story, but this broke my heart “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.”
Ilya is such a genuinely funny character. He’s constantly making jokes but at no point did I feel like I’m being forced into thinking he’s funny. He just is. This moment Shane and Ilya talk about telling their agent about their relationship definitely proves it “She probably knows already.” The panic alarm that lived inside Shane started blaring. “Why would she?” “We are together at your cottage. You are gay. I am hot.”. Also this moment at the hockey camp “Just going over the medical forms for the kids. There are so many different things. A couple of the kids are allergic to eggs.” “Then we won’t throw eggs at them.”. This is my exact type of humour.
The Long Game was actually my first time meeting Fabien as I haven’t read Tough Guy yet but I loved him. He’s so unlike any other character in this series, which is great – I do need to read his book first before I make a true opinion on him. This exchange he has with Shane and Ilya, while earnest, really made me laugh: “Why is it a secret? You wouldn’t be the only gay hockey players. Or queer. Sorry, I shouldn’t assume.” “I am bisexual,” Ilya said, nodding. “Shane is super gay.” “I’m regular gay,” Shane argued.” Once again proving my ‘Ilya is genuinely funny’ point.
I didn’t know if I wanted to include this highlight in my review because it’s pretty long but the note I made while reading made me laugh “He found a small park with long wooden docks that stretched out into the harbor, complete with benches. He walked out to the end of one, then pulled the cigarettes and lighter from his pocket. Shane’s voice nagged him in his head as he took his first drag. He smiled as he exhaled, welcoming the company. Maybe he only ever smoked so he could hear that voice in his head.” My note: It’s giving Bella in New Moon. I think that’s all I need to say about that really isn’t it?
There are parts of this book that I’d love to gush about but I don’t want to give away major spoilers – especially as these scenes are likely to be in the next season of the show. Just know I adored The Long Game and I cannot wait for Unrivaled next year.
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