By Dustin Cabeal

Having read The Hockey Saint, I was curious about this sequel which picks up towards the end of Jeremiah Jacobson’s hockey career. It also seemed to be a sequel to Stereotypical Freaks, but unlike the two hockey books, I couldn’t get into that story having started and stopped it four separate times. If you’re curious about all three, I would advise you to read Hockey Karma last, as it takes place after aforementioned stories.

The thing about the story for Hockey Karma is that it’s all over the place, both emotionally and plot-wise. At times it’s confusing who the main character is. It mostly seems to be Tom’s story, but with Jake, there’s no driving force to the story. Jake is playing injured and doesn’t want to give up his starting spot or his team to the talented young guy that’s nipping at his heels. He's addicted to painkillers, depressed and pushing everyone away. It’s a realistic situation for sure, but what isn’t real is how he overcomes his addiction. That and everyone that talks to him constantly mentions he’s at the end of his career. It’s the classic, “what’s wrong?” when you’re having a perfectly fine day, but being asked that question makes your day turn shitty. If everyone you talked to constantly brought up that you’re close to retiring because of your age, wouldn’t you also do everything you could to fight back against that?

Tom’s side of the story is awkward at times. He’s trying to get a big community project off the ground, but we’re only given the vaguest of details about it. By the end when the plan is coming to fruition, I still had no clue what they were doing. That and he’s hellbent that Jake has to be a part of it, needs to do more with it. Whereas the story paints Jake as uncaring in the situation, it actually ended up making Tom look insensitive and clueless. Instead of helping Jake come to the point that he could emotionally and physically end his career, he was more focused on his project and his reliance on Jake. Tom’s relationship that trickles throughout the story feels completely out of place. It didn’t serve the overall story and really could have been dropped completely. In the end, it felt like something for Tom to do, rather than a story arc for Tom.

The artwork is very consistent. There’s a bit more hockey in this story than in The Hockey Saint, which was nice to see. Obviously, the story isn’t about the game of hockey itself, so it didn’t need a ton of scenes. The characters were recognizable, especially the older versions from Freaks. It did seem as if the art was being led by the dialogue rather than standing on its own to tell the story.

If you enjoyed The Hockey Saint, then you’ll likely enjoy Hockey Karma. It’s not a bad story by any means, but it does feel like it’s longer than it needs to be. While it was an interesting concept to have it jump to the future of two previous stories, it ended up having awkward chunks. It has a YA feel to it, but I think some older readers will end up finding the story unrelatable or too unrealistic.

Score: 3/5

Hockey Karma
Animal Media Group