Cristina's Reviews > You Could Make a Life

Back in the summer, I've read Taylor Fitzpatrick's Thrown Off the Ice and I was left completely speechless. TOTI is simply one of the best novels I've ever read - sad, funny, romantic and so very real.

Given this precedent, I approached You Could make a Life with some trepidation. Will it be equally good? Will I fall in love with the characters and the writing style? The answer is, yes. I did love YCMAL and it did bring me heartwarming feelings and joy in an otherwise frightening period. Perhaps I wasn't as blown away as with TOTI, but this was a very rewarding read nonetheless.

Dan and Marc are two lovely and well-rounded MCs. Dan was in my mind a sort of prototype for Mike Brouwer. His incessant internal monologue, the sarcasm through which he looks at the world around him, really made me think of my beloved Mike. Marc also presents some traits that were further developed in the character of Liam in TOTI. He's cocky, pretty much incapable of keeping his mouth shut but honest and steadfast.

Together, Dan and Marc form a lovely match and the nicest aspect in the book for me was to see them work hard to protect their relationship from all the blows and shakes coming from the outside world.

YCMAL is also infused with a lovely sense of humour - Dan's remarks and the secondary characters (from families to teammates) provide levity and a sense of delightful awkwardness to the plot.

Discovering Taylor Fitzpatrick has been one of the highlights of the past reading year for me - she has constructed an AU of characters and stories that move in and out of books, meet each other and expand in different directions. Ah, and she helped me become an ice hockey fan (and, being a lover and practitioner of figure skating, I don't say this lightly!)

Really recommended and if you still can, read You Could Make a Life before Thrown Off the Ice.