Back of Book: 

The hilarious and heartbreaking confessions of a figure skater turned collegiate hockey player who's terrified of checking...  and is desperately in love with the captain of his hockey team.

Eric Bittle is a former Georgia junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and amateur pâtissier. But as accomplished as he is, nothing could prepare him for his freshman year of playing hockey at the prestigious Samwell University in Samwell, Massachusetts. It's nothing like co-ed club hockey back in the South! For one? There’s checking. Second, there is Jack—his very attractive but moody captain.

A collection of the first half of the mega-popular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: # Hockey is the first in 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.

Book Number: One

Genre: Young Adult | Graphic Novel | Webcomic | Romance | LGBTQIA+ 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I'm really enjoying "Check, Please!" thus far! It is a fun webcomic turned graphic novel about a college team of hockey players and the shenanigans they tend to get themselves into.

The highlight of this series for my is by far Bitty himself. He's a Georgian figure skater turned hockey player who loves to bake (especially pies!), Tweet, and vlog about his life experiences. I find Eric Bittle to be such a wholesome character that I just couldn't resist loving. He's sweet, funny, and man, you cannot keep this dude away from ovens. He enters kitchens and BAM pies just seem to appear. Also, the fact that he's a gay boy who's just trying to help out his internet fam is just so sweet!

I love the community that Samwell's Men Hockey team has created with each other. Their frat house is literal chaos, but it is super endearing to see their positive relationships with one another (even if they do make some really dumb decisions. College boys, am I right?). If the bond between the teammates wasn't as strong as it is in this series, I don't think I would like it nearly as much, but I'm here for the team and interested to see how it continues to evolve as it loses and gains players.

My biggest problem with this one is it can seem a bit disjointed at times. There are some panels that I had to reread several times to understand the meaning, the order of people talking, or the context of the moment. It wasn't too difficult to decipher, but it did occasionally take me out of the narrative.

Overall, "Check, Please!" is a cute story about a college hockey team which presumably is going to become more of a romance in year three (book two). I'm excited to see what the last two years of Bitty's career entail and what things the team will get into in the years to come.

Back of Book: 

I'm a junior on the Samwell men's hockey team now, and not only do I have new teammates and new responsibilities and new pies to bake... I've got a new beau. (Remember Jack? ) Believe me: Dating a professional hockey player wasn't anything I expected to do in college. My parents don't know; my teammates have no clue...

And Jack and I aren't sure that we want to keep it a secret.

Book Number: Two (Last Book) 

Genre: Young Adult | Graphic Novel | Webcomic | Romance | LGBTQIA+ 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This one really hit me in the feels. This series is so much more than just a gay hockey romance. Shame on those who try to undersell it.

In the first installment of "Sticks & Scones," Bitty is a junior in college who is trying to figure out how to be honest to himself and his teammates while also hiding a huge secret: he's dating Jack, who also happens to be a member of a NHL team. This book really focuses on how hard it is to be in a relationship with someone who is targeted by the press and finding the right time to come out to specific people in your life. Watching Bitty struggle with trying to tell his parents that he is gay was so. . . real. He has already came out to his entire team, his boyfriend's teammates, Jack's parents, and most everyone at Samwell at this point, yet telling his parents is just something that he couldn't accomplish. My heart went out to the sweet boy, and watching him struggle with the secrecy and the lies in this book just broke my heart.

The camaraderie of both Bitty and Jack's teams is astonishing; they both really feel like families away from home. Both groups helped the boys through their relationship every step of the way. I wish that everyone had bonds as strong and supportive as Bitty and Jack do. It was fun to see the returning characters Lardo, Shitty, and the rest of the gang; it really felt like coming back to a familiar place that you can't help but love.

The last thing I want to cover before moving onto senior year is the ending. Oh. My. Goodness. 1.) What a romantic moment for Bitty and Jack. 2.) What a way to come out to your parents. (I can't imagine how shocking that must've been for them.) 3.) I seriously don't know how one could not root for these two. They are so adorable together and are just so supportive of one another!

Anyways, onto senior year. Bitty is finally the captain of the team (which is something I knew would happen from book one) and his relationship with Jack is thriving. Yes, he still has to get over the hiccup of his parents and the fact that it is his final year at Samwell, but beyond that? He's living his best life.

I loved getting the chance to see Bitty in charge of the house and the team. The way in which he uses his authority is so Bitty and I couldn't help chuckling. I mean, we saw this kid as a young frog who could barely get on the ice without shaking in his skates and who kept his true identity a secret. This dude has really come a long way in four years. This series does a great job at showing how college can change a person for the better and influence them for the rest of their lives.

Something that really got to me in this one is just how cruel the world can be. After the big reveal at the end of book three, Bitty and Jack's relationship is now public and it kills me to see the way that some people treat Bitty because of this. I know that this happens to many people in real life, which is why I am so glad that Ukazu decided to include the negative reactions from the public in this book. Also, the moments that Bitty has with his parents in this book both shattered my heart and put it back together within minutes. I'm grateful that Bitty's parents had an overall positive reaction to him coming out as gay, but also relieved that Ukazu didn't sugarcoat the moment and took the opportunity to discuss real issues.

Finally, I want to touch on the ending. I was actually completely shocked by the events here, though I suppose I should have seen it coming. . . I love how Bitty being a figure skater was brought into play again and that once again, magic happened in the middle of the hockey rink. What can I say, these boys are really at home in their skates! I couldn't have asked for a more wholesome ending to this webcomic that gave tribute to both Bitty and Jack's relationship as well as their bonds with the entire team.

Overall, these books blew my expectations out of the water. Going into them, I thought that they were just a sweet hockey romance. I'm not saying that it isn't, but "Check, Please!" is so much more than that. It's a story of finding one's true self, opening up to others, and one of the best coming of age stories I have ever read. I really didn't expect these books to hit on so many important topics. I feel that so many can relate to the experiences in this book whether it's the camaraderie of being on a team, the ups and down of college, or the tough times surrounding their own self-identity. I had so much fun reading about the Samwell's men hockey team and I can't wait to spread the word about these wonderful graphic novels!