HEATED RIVALRY: A DISSAPOINTING MASTERPIECE
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid is an LGBTQ+ hockey romance book, which has been getting a lot of attention recently due to the immensely popular TV series adaptation. The story is about two hockey players, Canada’s Shane Hollander and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov and the development of their complicated relationship throughout the course of their career. The story is filled with humorous moments and fun banter between the main characters as they navigate their eight-year secret love-hate relationship. It also touches upon the struggles of coming to terms with one’s sexuality, especially in a space filled with constant casual homophobia.
What is great about Heated Rivalry is the relationship between Shane and Ilya, which is in the forefront with barely any side plots. Their interactions and the aspect of having to keep their situationship a secret makes the story engaging, because the reader is rooting for them. It is them against the world and they deserve happiness without the judgement of their sexualities. Shane’s internal monologues often include him overthinking his feelings for Ilya, not just because of his slight internalised homophobia, but also because the person he is supposed to hate is the one he also likes. “He wanted to kiss Rozanov and maybe also punch him for being such an arrogant fucking prick. And he hated himself for wanting any of this. But not enough to stop.” He is torn between love and hatred, and he does not know how to deal with it.
Shane is often the one to panic when it comes to his sexuality, his affection for Ilya, and the pressure of keeping their relationship a secret, while Ilya tends to be a bit more reckless and also grounds Shane, making them work well together despite their differences. When coming out as gay to Ilya, Shane talks about his worries and says that the biggest issue is not the fact that he is gay, but that it is the two of them together. He tells him that “being gay is one thing [and] hooking up with your arch fucking rival is another.”
The most positive aspect of the book is the humour. That is mostly expressed through Ilya’s character, who is a very sarcastic and blunt Russian, not afraid to speak his mind. Some moments that showcase this is when Shane comes out to him, saying that he thinks he might be gay, to which Ilya responds with “oh yeah? What gives you that idea?” His response makes sense since they have been hooking up for years and although it might come across as a little bit insensitive given the situation, it is funny at the same time. What brings out the humour is not only Ilya, but the constant light-hearted jokes between the two of them. They love to playfully fight and go back and forth, pretending to not like each other, while also knowing that they enjoy the other’s company. The highlight of the comedy is Ilya describing a loon as a “stupid Canadian wolf bird”. Ilya not knowing what a loon is and him being scared of it is hilarious because it is a breakaway from the scary Russian image.
The story is incredibly fast pacing, with a six-month time skip one chapter, and another two-
month time skip the next one. That unfortunately gives the reader too little time to connect
with the characters at that certain point in their life. Since the story contains a lot of dialogue,
the descriptions of settings, appearances, and the characters’ emotions are very simple. The
internal monologues are brief, so the reader cannot completely grasp the depth of a character’s
emotions. The focus is more on the dynamic between Shane and Ilya and not so much on who
they are as separate characters. That is why the book often feels like reading a movie script,
where one character says something and the other one responds.
The novel tackles the issue of homophobia in the field of hockey and how the characters struggle with their sexuality because of this. Shane describes the relationship between the NHL and sexuality as them liking “to pretend they were inclusive now”, but “there had never been an openly queer NHL player, and homophobic slurs were thrown around enough that Shane couldn’t imagine that happening.” This leads to Shane’s internal struggles with his sexuality, and him trying to convince himself that despite his relationship with Ilya, he “probably would meet a nice girl someday and settle down and then his occasional attraction to men would be moot.” Throughout the story, Shane realises that he is gay and tries to come to terms with that. At the same time, Ilya has his own struggles with his sexuality because of the homophobia of his home country that he would never be able to return to if he came out.
Looking at it from the perspective of queer media, Heated Rivalry does an amazing job at normalising sexuality and showing that it okay to be gay. That is why it is unfortunate that Rachel Reid’s execution lacks depth. The idea had the potential to be amazing, but the actual final product shows a lack of writing skills and can hardly be called a masterpiece. If you are looking for a story with detailed characters, beautiful descriptions, and a well-structured plot, this book is not the best choice, but it is great if you want a romantic and at times angsty quick read
Written by Lina Miholič
