I think the author did a poor job with Shane’s character overall. Like she didn’t even know she wrote an autistic character until other people pointed it out. I think she could’ve made more dept to Shane’s character cause there is a lot to unfold about him and I’m disappointed she never mentioned about his Asian heritage at all and how that effects him as he is the only Asian hockey player in the book that I know of. She really went all out on Ilyas character as he has more depth than Shane does, what she really does well is express Ilyas depression and what he goes through. People saying Shane is toxic read the book with their eyes closed, book 1 we get Shane’s perspective and read what he goes through while book 2 is mostly through Ilya and read how he experiences things. In that point I can see why some things that Shane did could rub people in the wrong way but he was going through a lot too such as he was having a ED what yet again the author barely touched, it really is a repeating cycle of Shane character becoming more deep and her forgetting it or ignoring to go through with it. Yes I agree with u that Ilya godly, he has a personality that is easy to like and overall is a pretty easygoing person as such Shane quite the opposite.
Definitely felt like Shane's character was snubbed a bit in the sequel. There was real potential to flesh him out more relating to his own anxieties about coming out to his team and their reactions. The story felt very one sided in favor of Ilya and unintentionally portrays Shane in a negative light. Im hoping that the second season of the show will address this by giving some more depth to Shane in this time period. Maybe some scenes of him dealing with the aftermath of him coming out to his teammates, the general homophobia in the league being a more prominent issue for him. More scenes that really push how scared he is of the reveal of their relationship due to how he is getting treated after coming out to his team. Like the scene with JJ after they plane incident and he almost tells him about Ilya out before JJ opens his big mouth and tells him what a disaster it would be. And all of this is not even factoring in the eating disorder he develops. Ultimately I really enjoyed the Long Game and I feel like a lot of Shane's struggles were left to be read between the lines, hopefully the second season of the show creates a better balance portraying Ilya and Shane's struggles.
has anyone read the book of heated rivalry season1 and the long game which is the season 2 here? im curious of y'alls opinion. because ive read both and the book 2, i can maybe say that it indeed leans towards ilya more than shane. what's your thoughts about book 2? i totally enjoyed book 1 of ilya and shane! but im having divided thoughts on book 2 because i don't want people saying shane was toxic in book 2, i think he wasn't... he could use some character development because he tends to say insensitive things but i think he worked this out by the end of the book2. i also think we all do that when we're angry, maybe worse than what shane has said even. (for me atleast) i just thought he was human. but ilya rozenov is godly! he's unreal, he has traits that maybe you can see in a person once in your entire life, that's how unreal he is but like it's also not entirely impossible. on the other side, i like shane's personality too! he's has that reactions and traits that is totally human and normal to see in a situation such as theirs. i wish he was given more in season 2 than what was showed.