The Ultimate Icebreaker Quiz: How Well Do You Know Anastasia and Nathan?

Before You Start

This 20-question quiz covers the entire novel Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. Questions are a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer formats, spanning plot, character motivation, theme, and synthesis. When you are ready, scroll to the end for the complete answer key with brief explanations for every answer.

Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)

Question 1 (Multiple Choice)
Why are the figure skating and hockey teams forced to share a rink?

A) The school budget cut funding for one rink.
B) The hockey team’s arena was vandalized, destroying the generator and cooling system.
C) A burst pipe flooded the figure skating rink.
D) Director Skinner wanted to foster team bonding.

Question 2 (Multiple Choice)
At the party in Chapter Five, Anastasia learns the hockey team may have been involved in the rink damage. What lie does Nathan tell her, and why?

A) He says he knows nothing about the vandalism, because he wants to protect his own reputation.
B) He denies any knowledge, having just promised Russ he would keep the real story secret.
C) He blames Aaron for spreading the rumor, hoping to turn Anastasia against her partner.
D) He admits the truth about the UCLA players but blames Russ anyway.

Question 3 (Short Answer)
Describe how Nathan ends up suspended from the hockey team and explain whose injury is blamed on him.

Question 4 (Multiple Choice)
What happens when Anastasia skates toward the woods on the frozen lake in Colorado?

A) She successfully befriends a deer and returns safely.
B) Nathan proposes to her on the ice.
C) The ice cracks and she falls into the freezing water.
D) Aaron surprises her and they practice their routine.

Question 5 (Short Answer)
What does Aaron do during the pairs short program at Nationals that ends their skating partnership, and how does Anastasia immediately respond?

Question 6 (Multiple Choice)
After the lake accident, Nathan gives Anastasia a Christmas gift that supports her emotional well-being. What is it?

A) A locket with a photo of them together
B) A new pair of custom skates
C) An iPad so she can always access her therapist
D) A journal with daily affirmations

Question 7 (Short Answer)
Three months after the Aaron incident, how does Anastasia exonerate Nathan in front of Director Skinner?

Question 8 (Multiple Choice)
In the Epilogue, what major life event is Anastasia experiencing when Nathan proposes?

A) She just won her second Olympic gold medal.
B) She is pregnant with their daughter Mila.
C) She has retired from skating and started coaching.
D) She is opening her own skating academy.

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

Question 9 (Multiple Choice)
What childhood experience led Anastasia to develop her rigid planner system?

A) Her coach Brady demanded a strict schedule when she was ten.
B) She developed severe anxiety about her adoption, fearing her parents would reject her if she failed at skating.
C) Her birth parents left her a planner before they disappeared.
D) She lost a major competition due to poor time management.

Question 10 (Short Answer)
Why does Nathan falsely confess to causing Aaron’s injury, accepting suspension?

Question 11 (Multiple Choice)
What motivates Aaron to run a months-long smear campaign against Anastasia, telling teammates no one could love her since her birth parents didn’t?

A) He is jealous of her relationship with Nathan and wants to break their trust.
B) He believes she abandoned him during a personal crisis involving his father’s affair.
C) He wants to replace her with a different pairs partner.
D) He is acting on behalf of the UCLA hockey team.

Question 12 (Short Answer)
Why does Anastasia initially refuse to forgive Nathan at the party in Chapter Five, even after he apologizes?

Question 13 (Multiple Choice)
Nathan volunteers to be Anastasia’s pairs skating partner for eight weeks. What is his primary motivation?

A) He wants to prove he is a better skater than Aaron.
B) He needs extra ice time to improve his hockey footwork.
C) He wants to ensure her safety, help rebuild her confidence after the fall, and maintain their bond.
D) Coach Brady requires a hockey player for an experimental training program.

Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)

Question 14 (Short Answer)
What does the frozen lake in Colorado symbolize in the novel?

Question 15 (Multiple Choice)
Nathan and Anastasia repeatedly use the phrase “play house” when they want to shut out the outside world and just be together. What does this metaphor represent?

A) Their immature refusal to face real problems
B) A deliberate safe space where external pressures and conflicts are temporarily suspended
C) Their secret plan to move in together without telling anyone
D) A code word for their physical intimacy

Question 16 (Short Answer)
How does Anastasia’s planner function as a motif—what does it represent at the beginning of the novel, and how does its meaning evolve?

Question 17 (Multiple Choice)
The forced sharing of the rink between the hockey and figure skating teams primarily symbolizes:

A) The superiority of hockey culture over individual sports
B) The collision of two worlds that must learn to coexist, mirroring Nathan and Anastasia’s relationship
C) The incompetence of the university administration
D) The financial struggles of college athletics

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

Question 18 (Short Answer)
Compare how Anastasia’s relationship with Aaron contrasts with her relationship with Nathan, focusing on the themes of trust and control.

Question 19 (Short Answer)
How does the theme of “found family” develop differently for Anastasia and Nathan, and where do their paths converge in this regard?

Question 20 (Multiple Choice)
The epigraph quotes Olympic skater Peggy Fleming: “Skating was the vessel into which I could pour my heart and soul.” How does this idea connect to the central conflicts of the novel?

A) It highlights the physical demands of both hockey and figure skating.
B) It emphasizes that the ice becomes an emotional landscape where characters process love, ambition, and personal turmoil.
C) It refers only to Anastasia’s figure skating career ambitions.
D) It is a warning about the dangers of investing too much emotion in a sport.

Answer Key

Plot and Sequence

Answer 1: B — The hockey arena was trashed, with the generator and cooling system smashed, ruining the ice. The figure skating team is forced to share their rink with the hockey players.

Answer 2: B — Nathan denies any knowledge of the vandalism. He has just privately interrogated Russ, learned about the UCLA boyfriend’s revenge, and promised to protect Russ. Anastasia feels betrayed when Aaron reveals the hockey team’s likely involvement.

Answer 3 — After Aaron’s mother involves the dean and Coach Faulkner suspends the entire hockey team until someone confesses, Nathan falsely admits guilt to protect his teammates. He is banned from practicing and playing. Aaron’s wrist injury, actually sustained off campus at a beach bonfire, is blamed on Nathan.

Answer 4: C — Anastasia skates near the woods to approach a deer. Nathan calls to warn her, but the ice cracks and she plunges into freezing water. Nathan performs CPR, saving her life.

Answer 5 — Immediately after a flawless pairs program, Aaron grabs Anastasia’s face and kisses her without consent on live camera. She flees the ice, tells him they are done, and declares she will never skate with him again.

Answer 6: C — Nathan buys Anastasia an iPad specifically so she can always access her therapist, Dr. Andrews. This gift demonstrates his understanding of her mental health needs and supports continuity of care.

Answer 7 — Anastasia comes forward anonymously as a female student providing evidence to Director Skinner. An independent investigation confirms Aaron was injured off campus while intoxicated and that he exploited the accident to damage Nathan’s reputation.

Answer 8: B — In the Epilogue, set two and a half years later, Anastasia is pregnant with their daughter Mila. During their babymoon in Cabo, Nathan proposes, and she accepts.

Character Motivation

Answer 9: B — At age nine, Anastasia developed severe anxiety about her adoption, terrified her parents would reject her if she failed at skating. A therapist introduced a three-category sticker chart that evolved into her adult planning system.

Answer 10 — Nathan takes the fall to protect his entire team from suspension. Faulkner announces that unless someone confesses, the whole team will be punished. As captain, Nathan prioritizes his teammates’ careers and makes a sacrificial false confession, accepting the ban.

Answer 11: B — Aaron launches the smear campaign out of a sense of abandonment. His father had an affair with a young woman who became pregnant, and Aaron felt Anastasia was not there for him during that crisis. His cruelty reflects his own emotional immaturity and inability to process hurt without lashing out.

Answer 12 — Anastasia is already stressed, hungry, and worried about her competition preparation when she learns Nathan lied. She feels he dismissed her feelings as an overreaction rather than understanding the immense pressure she faces. His lie—and his initial failure to see how deeply the rink sharing affects her—triggers her to shut him out.

Answer 13: C — Nathan volunteers after Anastasia confesses her terror of lifts following Aaron dropping her at a competition. He wants to provide safety, rebuild trust in her own body, and be the partner who supports her—both on and off the ice. His love and concern for her well-being drive the decision.

Theme and Symbol

Answer 14 — The frozen lake represents both beauty and hidden danger, mirroring Anastasia and Nathan’s relationship. It is a private, magical space where they skate freely, share vulnerabilities, and grow closer, but it is also the site of her near-death experience—a symbol of how emotional risk and trust can be both sustaining and perilous. The cracking ice reflects the fragility of the safe spaces they create.

Answer 15: B — “Play house” is a deliberate psychological refuge. When the outside world—Aaron’s manipulation, skating pressure, family conflict—becomes overwhelming, they agree to suspend reality and create a temporary bubble of domestic safety and emotional intimacy. It highlights their mutual need for protection and comfort amid chaos.

Answer 16 — At the start, the planner represents Anastasia’s deep-seated anxiety and need for control, a coping mechanism rooted in her childhood fear of rejection. As the novel progresses and she learns to trust Nathan, navigate therapy, and confront Aaron’s manipulation, her relationship with the planner evolves. She no longer relies on it as rigidly, and her willingness to deviate—like spontaneously skipping tasks or accepting last-minute plans—signals emotional healing and greater flexibility.

Answer 17: B — The shared rink is an external manifestation of the tensions between two different cultures—figure skating’s discipline and individualized pressure versus hockey’s team-based, boisterous world. These two groups learning to coexist in one space mirrors Anastasia and Nathan’s journey from rivalry and distrust to partnership and love.

Synthesis

Answer 18 — Aaron’s relationship with Anastasia is built on control, manipulation, and scarcity. He polices her eating, undermines her confidence, and uses emotional cruelty when she sets boundaries. Trust is absent; she feels managed rather than supported. In contrast, Nathan’s relationship with Anastasia is built on mutual care, consent, and honest communication—even when that communication is difficult. He challenges her disordered eating out of genuine concern for her health, listens when she explains her feelings, and voluntarily sacrifices his own standing to support her career. Where Aaron tightens his grip, Nathan creates space for her autonomy.

Answer 19 — Anastasia begins with a limited found family: Lola and Aaron are her primary anchors, but Aaron’s toxicity unravels that support. Through Nathan, she is absorbed into the hockey house, where Henry, JJ, Robbie, and the others become protective brothers. Nathan’s found family is already established with his teammates, but it is incomplete without genuine romantic partnership. When Anastasia integrates fully—cooking meals, living in the house, wearing a Titans jersey with his name—their found families converge. By the Epilogue, this circle includes her parents, their child, and their shared community, cementing a unified, chosen family.

Answer 20: B — The epigraph elevates skating beyond athleticism. For Anastasia, the ice is where she processes her adoption anxiety, her drive for perfection, and eventually her capacity to trust and love. For Nathan, hockey is tied to his rebellion against his father’s control and his leadership identity. Their relationship grows in and around the rink, making the ice a vessel for their emotional journeys—not just their sports careers.

Finished?

Now that you have completed the quiz, revisit pivotal moments in our Icebreaker plot summary and analysis or explore our detailed chapter-by-chapter questions and answers. If the ending left you with lingering thoughts, check out our full ending explained page.