Hockey Karma

As a die-hard hockey fan I was excited to see this book. Graphic novels have become an important part of reading, especially for many who don't enjoy the every day novel. This story about a long time hockey player who is struggling on and off the ice will tug at the heart strings and leave you wanting more. It's nice to see a story about a hockey player who also want to give back to the community as most hockey players do.

This is the end of a trilogy, and while I don’t remember all the characters from the previous, I definitely recall the star hockey player who’s now feeling old both in body and spirit. He’s married with kids, but all he cares about is hockey and that everyone’s out to get him. Now instead of alcohol he’s taking pills, a jerk to everyone; he’s fooling himself and thinks everyone else is falling for it, which completely makes him unsympathetic, even though he’s still a good guy deep down.
The most fun part was watching the Stereotypical Freaks playing again, with Tom’s then crush/now girlfriend Jaelithe filling in for poor Jacoby on the drums. She’s also changed, from the gorgeous but rather airheaded teen to a single mom who’s got her life figured out as a reporter. The most interesting scene is the contentious interview between the female head coach and her as she and Tom try to make a long-distance relationship work.
If you’ve read the previous entry, you’ll know everything you need to know about the artwork, which was so different from the first.
For all of the time spent making Jeremiah such a jerk, his eventual redemption makes it all worth it, though barely.

A reasonable book, one that's quite layered and complex but at the same time perfectly readable for a teenaged audience. The artwork is not brilliant but does well at establishing and conveying character, as well as not being particularly bright or gaudy, adding a 'directed' feel to things. What lets the book down the most is the script, which is just chock-full of declamatory sentences that just read false – they're the author telling us what we need to know, not the characters talking to each other. It almost gets as bad as one half of a marital couple telling the other what they only said and did an hour ago. Plus there's the fact that the audience for books about ageing ice hockey players popping pills and being a bad husband while their best friend is beset on a ridiculously lefty, pie-in-the-sky political scheme, might not be that great. But despite all that, it's quite readable, the characters are on the whole full people and worth spending time with, and nothing smacks you as being an inescapable demerit. But it could have been a lot better.

This is the final book in the Forever Friends Trilogy and I give it 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed how the boys were all brought back together again in this book many years later, even Jacoby, their friend and drummer who died from cancer in the first book was mentioned and pictured when they opened the time capsule.

Most of the book centered around legendary Jeremiah “Jake” Jacobson, now thirty two, has been the world’s best hockey player over his fourteen year career. He’s married with kids, but all he cares about is hockey and is paranoid about the young new star who he believes is out to displace him. He suffers a back injury and gets addicted to pain pills. He is being a jerk to his family and to Tom. He is not very likeable in the story, but he eventually redeems himself. Tom's story brings him together with his highschool crush Jaelithe and he attends a highschool reunion and gets together with the guys from the band. He and Jaelithe try a long distance relationship, but with her being a single mom, it does not seem to be working. There is also a storyline about the female coach of an all male professional hockey team. Lots of various characters with several storylines, but they all seem to come together nicely.

The artwork shows a lot of emotion on the face of our craggy hero, but I was not happy with the female figures. I felt like I was in a video game with the women looking very shapely and rather similar to each other. I probably would have given this a 4 star rating, but as a graphic novel, the illustrations are a major part of the book.

I would definitely recommend this book as a YA offering, the first one may have been able to be read by younger readers, but the last two have a more mature story. Boys in particular would enjoy this book.

This is a third in the trilogy of music and hockey stories that comes together well. I liked how things from the first graphic novel were bright back years later. I enjoyed seeing the growth of the characters.

You don't have to know about hockey to enjoy this story filled with humans going though heartbreak, addiction, and search for a purpose in life.

Things are never easy, of course, and some things go differently the you would expect.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Hockey Karma is the third and final book in the Forever Friends Trilogy and I feel that it's come such a long way since the first book was set almost 20 years ago.

The amount of character development that took place in this graphic novel was extraordinary. I felt like I grew with the characters and the way it was written really makes you feel like you're a part of the story. I liked Jake in the second book but in this one there were times when he annoyed me. That was what I meant by the character development. He didn't flip a 180 in an instant, the artwork portrayed the changes he went through and how he worked to get better.

Seeing Tom grow up and become more successful in each book made me feel like a proud mom. He'd probably be the character I miss the most.

I loved the throwback! The fact that we were taken back to where it all started made for a bitter sweet memory. This was the best way to end the trilogy in my opinion. While it wasn't my favourite of all three, I did like the send off we were given.

This is the third book in the Forever Friends trilogy (The Stereotypical Freaks and The Hockey Saint are the other two books). The book is a progression from the previous stories and is set about 10 years after The Hockey Saint. It follows two friends, Tom Leonard and hockey player Jake Jacobson.

Jake is near the end of his career and battling with replacement and drug addiction. The creators did a great job of showing how these affected other aspects of his life. While Jake's life is deconstructing, Tom is working on building things up. He starts a relationship with his high school crush and develops plans to improve the community where the book is set. These events unfold over the course of the hockey season, which works nicely to pace the story.

The art is markedly different from the previous books. Mostly this is in the characters, which makes sense because they are a bit older now. I enjoyed it in general. There were a couple panels where the angle of the illustration combined with the character design made it look a little odd. The action shots on the ice are well done.

I think this is an excellent conclusion to the series. Although the characters are older now, it should appeal to teens that might have read the first two books or anyone that enjoys hockey stories.

The story is simple but interesting, sort of like the first book.

It mentions important topics as well: homelessness, feminism, death of loved ones, etc.

There are moments in which they talk about things that happened in the first novel of the trilogy, something that didn’t really happen in Hockey Saint. The fact that they mention Jacoby was, at the very least, nostalgia-inducing, it felt as if I had read Stereotypical Freaks years ago instead of a few hours prior.

The characters in this novel were the same as Hockey Saint’s, which means they weren’t that great.

The art seemed a little bit more detailed, which is a great thing.

This book featured, just like the others, ‘Recommended Listenings’, a detail that I have grown to love.

I still think the first book was the best of the trilogy, but that doesn’t mean that this one is bad.

Now we're talking. We got to see all of the old gang in this one...even Jacoby!

I enjoyed this third installment in the series, and like that the end was left open for more. I also like the way the characters have aged and where they've ended up. It was good seeing Tom finally step into his own...and Jeremiah figuring out he was more than hockey.

Jeremiah Jacobson is a 32 year-old hockey player. He has back problems and his game is suffering from it. Everyone can see that he is close to retirement. He starts taking a lot of pain medication, so much that he forgets to spend quality time with his wife and children. His friend Tom Leonard wants him to look over a plan he has to improve their neighbouring city, Bump City, but Jeremiah keeps forgetting. Meanwhile, Tom is having his own romantic issues. He is dating his high school crush, Jaelithe, but she lives across the country in Pittsburgh. Tom goes back to a high school reunion and is reunited with his old bandmates. Jeremiah has to deal with his new drug problem, while Tom has to decide what to do with his new relationship.

I loved this graphic novel! It's the third and final part in the Friends Forever series from Howard Shapiro. This one is definitely my favourite in the series. I love that it brings together the points from the first two books. I didn't see as much of a connection between the first and second books, but this one brings back all of the characters from the series in a reunion.

The only part that was a little confusing was determining which character was which while they played hockey. Since they were all wearing helmets, I couldn't tell which character was speaking at first glance.

I really enjoyed this series. This third book was a great conclusion to this heartfelt series.

This review will be posted on my blog on June 2, 2017.

Book – Hockey Karma (Forever Friends Trilogy #3)
Author – Howard Shapiro
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages – 160
Cover – Great!
Would I read it again – Maybe
Genre – Young Adult, Comic, Sport


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


Again, I find myself missing that real emotional connection of book 1. Maybe it's because there is so much of the story dedicated to Jeremiah that it didn't feel as great, but I definitely felt that there was something missing.

The story was a great continuance of the previous book, but after reading it, book 1 feels more like a prequel than a start; it didn't connect with the later two books as much as I'd hoped. I had thought maybe they would all be about this gang of rock loving friends, but Tom's friendship with Jeremiah was interesting enough to carry this story, especially with the added drama.

It was great to see some of the old characters back again, to have that realism of not staying in touch with high school friends and wishing you had. It was also nice that Tom was able to manage both while keeping his current friends, without anyone feeling alienated.

Again, the story managed to pack some pretty serious topics into a young adult story, without overdoing it or crossing the line into adult material – relationships, death, drug abuse etc. They were all handled sensitively and made a real impact. I also love that Tom really focused on his entrepreneurial work, which Jeremiah introduced him to.

For me, books 2 and 3 are the perfect fit together, with a great ending. But, book 1 will always be my favourite, despite how good the other two are in their own right. I do love a good Hockey story, so this one really played on that part of me that loves the sport, while maintaining the story and characters that had begin in the previous book.

4.5 stars

Introduction:

YAY! NetGalley has sent me the final volume to Howard Shapiro’s hit series “Forever Friends Trilogy” called “Hockey Karma” and I must admit that after I read this graphic novel, it was a worthy conclusion to this series!

What is this story about?

In this volume, Jeremiah “Jake” Jacobson is now thirty-two years old and is known as being the best hockey player in the world. Unfortunately, because Jake is getting older now and he is starting to lose his edge, especially to new and upcoming star teammate Barclay Pedersen, his family life and career is starting to rapidly come apart. Meanwhile, Tom Leonard has got his own issues to deal with as he is trying to get a project that would help improve their city off the ground. But Jake refuses to help out with the project due to dealing with his addiction to some medical pills to keep him in the game and Tom is wondering if he would ever get the project off the ground. Also, Tom’s old high school crush, Jaelithe returns to town and Tom rekindles his relationship with Jaelithe and the two are thinking about staying together. But unfortunately, Tom will soon discover that he may have to sacrifice his current lifestyle just to maintain a long-lasting relationship with Jaelithe.

Will Jake be able to get his life back together and will Tom soon discover what he really wants for his future?

Read this graphic novel to find out!


What I loved about this story:

Howard Shapiro’s writing: Howard Shapiro’s writing continues to amaze me in this volume as all the characters are written extremely well and I just enjoyed the character development that each character goes through in this story. I loved the way that Howard Shapiro portrayed Jake’s condition as he is still recovering from his alcoholism from the last volume, only this time, he is dependent on pain medication and it realistically shows that even though Jake is trying to get help for his dependence on drugs, he is still struggling with trying to overcome his drug addiction. I also enjoyed the relationship shared between Tom and Jake as Tom is still trying to help Jake become a better person by helping him deal with his drug abuse and trying to help him mend his relationship with his family. I liked the way that Howard Shapiro also gave some focus to Tom in this volume as we finally get to see Tom have some of his story arcs resolved in this volume (him reuniting with his high school band “The Stereotypical Freaks” and him trying to rekindle his relationship with his high school crush Jaelithe) and I enjoyed seeing how much growth Tom goes through when he reunites with his old high school friends.

Andres J. Mossa’s artwork: Andres J. Mossa’s artwork is extremely gorgeous in this volume as all the characters are drawn realistically and seem to glow off the pages. I also loved the fact that Andres J. Mossa’s artwork is much more detailed in this volume than in the previous volumes as it greatly reflects the growing maturity in the stories and as the stories become more mature, the artwork becomes more detailed and realistic in tone.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I gave this book a four-and-a-half-star rating was because I felt that pacing was a bit too slow in some places and there was a lot of dialogue going on in this book that sort of slowed down the story a bit. I often had to speed through the dialogue just to get to the meat of the story and I kind of wished that some of the heavy dialogue was trimmed a bit so I could get to the more essential parts of the story.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Hockey Karma” is a great conclusion to Howard Shapiro’s “Forever Friends Trilogy” that really cemented the importance of true friendship and I hope to see more works from Howard Shapiro soon!

As this trilogy of graphic novels comes to an end, I find myself longing for more from the author, but knowing the story is done. I think he did a great job wrapping it up and bringing a teen friendship story full-circle. Istarted reading because I love bands and the way the author wrote the soundtrack and kept reading a sports graphic novel for the same soundtrack and the friends.

While The Hockey Saint was good, Hockey Karma takes everything to another level. The art is absolutely stunning, the writing shows growth and maturity, and the characters and their actions also reflect a similar degree of growth. The ten year difference in the characters has really been embodied, and the challenges that Tom and Jake are facing are no longer the trials of adolescence.

As usual, the art was fantastic, particularly the hockey scenes. I loved the subtle differences between the first and second book, as well as how the characters were shown to have aged. The colours were vibrant and expressive, and I was never once left guessing what a gesture or moment meant. The transitions were seamless, and the pace was consistent throughout. I wish I hadn’t been so glowing in my review yesterday! Because, we’re basically talking about something good that was made even better.

Hockey Karma is the third and final book in the Forever Friends Trilogy. Hockey Karma continues the story of Jack and Tom but 10 years later. They've all grown and changed, but one thing remained: their passion for hockey and helping others.

Hockey Karma is such a beautiful end to the Forever Friends Trilogy. You get to know the characters a lot more and see how they've grown up. I also loved reading about the reunion and seeing some old faces again. I can happily say that the Forever Friends Trilogy is a good graphic novel trilogy!

I have enjoyed all three books in this series beginning with The Stereotypical Freaks, followed by Hockey Saint and now Hockey Karma. This third volume continues with the two principle characters in Hockey Saint, Tom and Jake only several years after the events of Hockey Saint. Each successive volume brings new issues to the forefront and in this episode, Jake, although still young, is aging for a Professional Hockey player and has to make decisions about his family and career.

'Hockey Karma' by Howard Shapiro with art by Andres J. Mossa is the third book in the Forever Friends Trilogy. A dramatic series featuring hockey is a bit different, but I've enjoyed all three of these graphic novels.

Ten years have passed. Jeremiah "Jake' Jacobson has had a great career in hockey, but he's getting to the end of that career. When a hot, young player joins the team, Jake is reluctant to mentor him, and he's also got a medical problem that he is hiding from his team and friends.

His friend Tom is trying to put together a plan to help people in Bay City, but he needs Jake's input. Jake is so absorbed with his career and the prospect of losing it that he leaves Tom hanging.

Tom also finds an old flame in his home city, and meets up with some of the guys from their old high school band.

You will need to at least have read 'Hockey Saint' before this one, but there are references to both prior books.

The art isn't bad, but the real star here is the writing. Time has passed and these characters act older. Also, events happen off page and these transitions are done really well. I've really enjoyed this series. There is a lot of heart and a few life lessons to be found in these pages.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Animal Media Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A great follow-up to The Hockey Saint. It continues the really cool chapter starts of listing songs to be listened to whilst reading that chapter. It tooks at what happens when karma finally catches up with you both on and off the ice. A must have for all fans of sport fiction.

[Note:  I received this book free of charge from Net Gallery/Animal Media Group.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

For those readers who come to this book from the author's previous work in the series, namely the graphic novel "The Hockey Saint," this book has a different feel altogether but there are definitely a lot of similarities.  Obviously, if you like hockey there is much to appreciate [1].  Whereas Saint had a young athlete whose moodiness and abrasiveness caused tension with his fellow athletes that was only partially overcome by his obvious athletic abilities, this graphic novel shows him feeling the effects of age and no longer quite the same world-conquering star that he used to be.  Instead of the idealistic rush of youth we get the troubles of trying to age gracefully in the merciless glare of the public eye while still struggling with personal demons and a tendency towards secrecy.  The characters here are still recognizably themselves, still struggling with the same large issues about trust and relationships and integrity and the desire to give back to the community but are older if not necessarily wiser people.

In terms of its plot, I will try not to give anything away, but there is the same emphasis on gorgeous graphics and thoughtful dialogue as well as the book being divided into chapters, each one including songs so one gets a sense of the soundtrack of the graphic novel if one imagines it to be a movie in one's head.  Despite the ten year time-gap, though, the book does pick up where it left off, with Jeremiah "Jake" Jacobson being an elite athlete with a mysterious personal life full of secrets, only from the beginning he makes some uncharacteristic lapses that show that his decade of being an elite athlete has taken its toll on him and he is faced with the rise of a young athlete ready to take his place.  Meanwhile, his agent and best friend Tom is faced with trying to keep together a community service project the two had planned while also facing the question of restarting a relationship from the past that he did not expect to return.  In both cases the question of confidence as well as dealing with the passage of time play heavily into the story and into the way we look at these characters and also, perhaps, ourselves as well.

Although this book is certainly an enjoyable read, especially for those who like graphic novels and sports fiction, I did not find it to be a perfect read.  On a technical level, the book had a hard time loading on my computer after I downloaded it, and this made it a difficult task for me to read the book even if I enjoyed it.  Also, I am not sure how fondly I think of the use of "karma" in the title.  On a strict religious level, I do not think that "Jake" Jacobson had incurred a karmic debt through being a talented young hockey player himself that had to be repaid through his suffering awkwardly and uncomfortably through aging as an elite athlete that has lost a step or two.  I understand that the author is probably using the term in the commonsense application of being a synonym for that overused word "ironic," and Hockey Karma sounds better than Hockey Irony, I suppose.  These are fairly minor quibbles, though, and in no way make this book a less enjoyable read, if somewhat melancholy given my own uncomfortable embrace of aging gracefully if not entirely happily.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/07/02/o-canada-or-finding-identity-in-negative-spaces/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/05/23/if-there-is-still-some-fight-in-you/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011/05/16/dont-let-it-go-to-your-head/

A great graphic novel with awesome accompanying sound track for each chapter that makes the story richer and adds a layer of understanding to what the story characters are thinking or doing. This book is about more than just a fading hockey legend. The story touches on family, competition, substance abuse, community, friendship, gender equity and love. The characters are diverse and I believe this book would be appealing to all readers, even those that don't play hockey. The content is school appropriate!

Thanks to Animal Media Group for letting me read this copy.

HOCKEY KARMA by Howard Shapiro is the third book in a trilogy of young adult graphic novels, and follow up to “THE HOCKEY SAINT continuing the story of a young former college hockey player named Tom Leonard, and Jeremiah Jacobson, a legendary pro hockey player who was a young star at 21 years old in the previous book, but is now a seasoned veteran at age 32 and is in denial as the end of his career is drawing near and younger players are taking his place in the limelight.

Tom is focused on the plans for the charity he and Jeremiah have been involved with, but as Jeremiah deals with pain and injuries along with fears of being washed up, he leaves Tom to handle things alone, and his family life suffers as well.

Jake hits bottom when he’s demoted to the third line from the first, and is forced to admit he’s become addicted to the pain killers he’s relied on to prolong his career.

Tom has a big decision to make; does he leave his new home in to be with his high school sweetheart back home, or stay to continue the charitable work he and Jeremiah have committed to?

Will Jeremiah successfully conquer his demons and be the man he needs to be at this stage of his life?

Interesting story that at times gets bogged down, but somewhat understandable given the author’s experience and focus on charitable organizations. Several timely subjects such as substance abuse, athletes as role models, and family priorities are well covered, but at times this makes it difficult to gauge who the target audience is for a graphic novel involving the sport of ice hockey.

Worth reading, and enjoyable much in the way a family TV movie would be.

3 stars.

I think it is a lovely ending to a lovely graphic novel series. I really enjoyed reading it. I love every character and their developments. Friendship in this graphic novel is amazing. I love the song recommendations parts too.

If you’re a hockey fan, you’ll enjoy this story about playing the game and dealing with fame and success.

I enjoyed this a lot and the art was amazing. I’ll definitely be following this series in the future

LOL! I just realize that I hadn't review this book and...that's bad... i read it a lot time ago and I just remember that I enjoyed...which doesn't say much abou the book. Doesn't matter, the other ones were great and this one too so go and read it, especially if you enjoy the first two.