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Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Everything I ever heard about this before picking up the books for myself was how much people love Neil and Andrew together. Well, I can tell you: I don't see it. You could say it's my aroace-ness that makes me blind to those things, but I have plenty of ships I love to prove you wrong. I just find that Neil and Andrew have absolutely no chemistry, and I think part of the reason is that we never get any real insight into Andrew's thoughts because the books are written from Neil's perspective.
Now, I'm not sure I should wish we'd gotten Andrew's perspective because I think the author made it pretty clear she's not exactly an expert on mental illness. It's never named what Andrew has (as far as I'm aware), but the whole medication thing was a huge red flag on the amount of research she probably put into that storyline.
But enough about that supposed OTP. You know who had real chemistry with Neil? Kevin. I kid you not, for the whole first book I tried to make sense of why everyone shipped Neil with Andrew while Kevin was right there. And I forgot he had a girlfriend until the 2.5 seconds she appeared around the 75% mark. I swear, the author made her up just to prove Andrew was the only choice.
I would have LOVED to see Kevin and Neil as a couple. Of course, it would have made everything around them go down in flames, but at least it would have been entertaining and I would've enjoyed it. As it stands, I was more interested in seeing what would happen with the mafia storyline (fiddled out too easily) and the championship (suspension of disbelief required, big time!) than any interaction between Neil and Andrew.
And while I'm ranting, let's talk about the whole school and Exy thing.
1) no way would Neil had been allowed to continue playing with the way he disregarded his studies. That might work in a school where the athletes are champions and revered by all, but it's made clear from the get-go that the Foxes aren't that respected. I wouldn't have minded as much if we hadn't seen classes at all or if Neil had actually studied, but the author makes it seem like he NEVER works at all for class, barely even listens when he attends. Making that little effort in college will get you failing grades for sure.
2) the championship rules (like the whole sport, to be fair) made absolutely no sense. To have a round of 2-out-of-3, then most points, then a death match in a tournament is too many rules. Can you imagine that in real life? Only people into fantasy sports and analysts would understand it. It would never work!
3) the way the Ravens can basically do anything they want. If they're the best team in the nation and their stadium is home to the national team, they'd be under constant scrutiny. Yet, they get away with pretty much everything until Neil and Kevin (and eventually Jean) make their big reveals. Seriously, you're telling me absolutely no one would have ever suspected the cult-like team to use psychological torture on their players? Come on.
I almost forgot an important point: consent. It's supposed to be super important to Andrew once his relationship with Neil develops. Which is hilarious because he completely disregarded Neil's consent when they drugged him in the first book. And even in this book, when Andrew basically forces Neil to drink after he said multiple times that he doesn't. So what if he's not on the run anymore? He said no, you respect it. The whole idea of consent seems to be important to the author only when it comes to sex, and it's a big problem.
So yeah, I don't get the hype. A compelling read, but nothing as amazing as the superfans would make you believe.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Abandonment
hinted spoilers below. read carefully.
i was completely hooked from start to end and the only thing i’ve been able to think about is neil josten and andrew minyard. their relationship is so painstakingly slow burn and is so reflective of the trauma both of them has faced. their characters are not written to be good people, but ones that have dealt with so much, and find comfort and home with one another. (plus enemies to lovers/still enemies? lol) the found family made my heart ache and i wish happiness for every single member of the foxes. so many points had me freaking out, or having to take a breath away from the book before i could continue. the story is well crafted and the relationship between the characters will have you so invested. i cant. i wish there was twenty more books in the series.
i will admit, amongst my praise, that there are some flaws. the plot is sometimes a bit wonky and confusing, and the writing gets a bit clunky and repetitive at parts. i appreciate that this is self published work though!
please i urge you to read the all for the game series. there are definitely some hard triggers (there are so many cw but coming from someone who is extremely sensitive all sections are easily skippable and it wouldn’t hinder ur understanding of the plot not reading them) but nothing that isn’t dealt with respect and proper explanation afterwards (i wld expect neil to have a bit more trauma/ptsd than he does, but this is a short series i get it) but overall i’m completely and utterly in love with the books. pls read! fall in love with andrew and neil, they need some love fr 😵💫
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia
Neil had been doing one stupid thing after another all year long and this has turned into one of the best years of his life.
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Grief, Murder