The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else. What now?
She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.
Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.
Also, he’s taken.
Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.
They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.
But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.
Hey, as you might be expecting by now, I read The Year We Fell Down as a buddy read with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much. This was a weird one, and it was my fault… see, we decided to start the book one night, but she couldn’t and would only start it the next day. Well… I did start it, and I read 85% of the book that night, and then the rest in the morning. When she started her own book, I had already finished :D. No problems though 😉 .
I’ve been meaning to start The Ivy Years Series for a long time now, because I love NA, I love Hockey, I love Sarina Bowen’s writing, and it came highly recommended to me. So yeah, I was excited for this one. And I have to say that I was not disappointed. Not at all. 🙂
I really liked the writing, Sarina Bowen drew me in again with this one. She made it light and fun and deep, all at the same time. I’m a fan. Corey and Hartley’s voices were also very distinct and different, and I love that. Again, this is a dual POV romance, which are my favorite kind, but I somehow wish that Hartley had had a little more POV time, because Corey does have more “screen time”.
I really liked both characters. I loved Corey and how strong she was, and also, so much kudos for the representation and diversity. I love when NA romances include somewhat unconventional heroes. So, Corey was amazing, she was strong and determined, and when she came face to face with a situation that was bad for her, she stopped it and tried to move on. I also really liked Hartley, he was not an conventional NA hero either. While I wish he had woken up a little sooner, I understood his issues and I couldn’t really fault him for his decisions.
The romance was really really good. It develops slowly and they become great friends and allies before they get involved and fall in love. It was amazing to see the physical and psychological issues dealt with, in both their way of living, as well as the complications and limitations in their personal and intimate lives. I loved how invested Hartley was in making everything right and good for Corey.
I liked the plot a lot and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of drama. Though I have to admit that after finishing the book, I felt like I needed more, that maybe somehow the story wasn’t quite finished yet. One thing is for sure, I would love to read more about Corey and Hartley, and I hope they make appearances in the rest of The Ivy Years Series.
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