Hardcover, 288 pages
English language
Published Sept. 17, 2018 by First Second.
Helloooo, Internet Land. Bitty here!
Y’all... I might not be ready for this. I may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It’s nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking. And then, there is Jack—our very attractive but moody captain.
A collection of the first half of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.
What happens when a pie-baking, house-tidying, Southern vlogger goes and plays hockey in a college far away from home? You get a heartwarming tale of acceptance and confronting expectations and overcoming fear and... romance? Told through panels resembling 16:9 "video" stills this is a cute and unique story about a boy who's far from home and got a lot to learn.
Gay hockey players, with pie! What’s not to like?
TBH, I had a lot of problems with the subplot where the lightweight figure skater kept blacking out ON THE ICE when getting checked. This felt like a legitimate safety/health concern, and if it’d been anything but an obviously fictional story, I would have maybe have developed some anxiety around it.
As it was, I had more anxiety around expecting the plot to get around to the homophobia and bigotry that a character in this position would undoubtedly experience. I’m kind of torn about it, because a) yes, it’s nice to pretend that doesn’t exist, and I do love stories that portray the world as we want it to be rather than how it actually is, but b) I used to hang around some hockey players and... I remember it being a real problem and I wasn’t even out to them. …
Gay hockey players, with pie! What’s not to like?
TBH, I had a lot of problems with the subplot where the lightweight figure skater kept blacking out ON THE ICE when getting checked. This felt like a legitimate safety/health concern, and if it’d been anything but an obviously fictional story, I would have maybe have developed some anxiety around it.
As it was, I had more anxiety around expecting the plot to get around to the homophobia and bigotry that a character in this position would undoubtedly experience. I’m kind of torn about it, because a) yes, it’s nice to pretend that doesn’t exist, and I do love stories that portray the world as we want it to be rather than how it actually is, but b) I used to hang around some hockey players and... I remember it being a real problem and I wasn’t even out to them.
This is sweet, and I’ll definitely read the second (3rd and 4th) parts when they’re in my vicinity.
SO sugar sweet and charming, such a breath of fresh air compared to what I've been reading lately. I can't wait for book 2!
