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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s been more than ten years since The Foxhole Court was first published, and we all know how late additions to previously completed series tend to go. That is to say I’m amazed at how perfect and true to the originals The Sunshine Court was, even with the complete shift from Neil’s narration to a new dual POV between Jeremy & Jean. Dare I even say this was the best AFTG book yet? I don’t think it’s much of a stretch with how heart-wrenchingly jean’s trauma has been laid out, and how carefully his slow journey to healing is being articulated, with no sparing of ups or downs and an incredible support system surrounding him.
To me, Jean’s story is somehow even more sorrowful than Andrew’s, Neil’s or Kevin’s. That’s something I never thought I’d say, but the juxtaposition of Neil having excessive boundaries surrounding his trauma, while Jean has nearly none because it’s the only way he can bear the pain? Oh I’m a mess. And Jeremy…. the ‘sunshine’ court being his team’s nickname can surely be attributed to him, Laila and Cat, because the careful kindness they showed Jean as he struggled to, but finally (with their help) accepted that he didn’t deserve the Ravens’ abuse broke my heart in a good way. Jean experiencing true friendships paired with kind words and affection for the first time really meant the world to me. I felt like I was on the verge of tears for Jean for almost this entire book (cried in a few places too), but the emotional whiplash all felt worth it as he began opening up little by little to not only those around him, but to himself. The self-deprecating lies he’d forced himself to believe in order to make sense of the abuse he’d endured were finally crumbling, and I was beyond overjoyed seeing Jeremy and the others work him through parts of it. I’m rambling so much but god, Jean has my heart and I loved this book so very much.
Then there’s Jean and Jeremy and their very unsubtle (and sickeningly sweet) pining for one another. I know these two both have their reasons not to make a move, but the trajectory of their relationship is abundantly more clear than it was for Neil and Andrew in TFC. Jeremy’s care for Jean’s well-being is unabashed and at times, painful. He wants more than anything to see Jean heal from his unspeakable trauma, and he refuses to give up the fight even when things seem impossible. On the other hand, Jean’s care for Jeremy is the unspoken kind; Jeremy is one of the only people who’s shown Jean an ounce of kindness, and the unfamiliarity of it all means he can’t help the urge to fight against Jeremy’s tender heart. Their attraction to each other is undeniable despite all of the pain lingering between them, and I’m so excited to see how they’ll come together in the next book (I can’t believe we’re getting another)!
This is one of the most rambly reviews I’ve written in a long time, but forgive me, I just finished TSC a couple minutes ago and the emotions are still fresh. I’ll probably fix this review up tomorrow and add a bit more when my thoughts are more settled. Either way, what a fantastic book, and a more-than-worthy addition to the beloved AFTG series.
Before reading
I feel like this was announced yesterday, what do you mean it’s already out?? Thankfully my last exam is tomorrow; its time for a summer AFTG reread so i can get into this asap!! so excited :P
Just when I thought my years-long Foxhole Court phase was over, I find out about this.
-and it's Jean's story. With dual POVs. Meaning Jeremy???
Lord help this fandom, it's over for us. (I'm insanely excited)
To me, Jean’s story is somehow even more sorrowful than Andrew’s, Neil’s or Kevin’s. That’s something I never thought I’d say, but the juxtaposition of Neil having excessive boundaries surrounding his trauma, while Jean has nearly none because it’s the only way he can bear the pain? Oh I’m a mess. And Jeremy…. the ‘sunshine’ court being his team’s nickname can surely be attributed to him, Laila and Cat, because the careful kindness they showed Jean as he struggled to, but finally (with their help) accepted that he didn’t deserve the Ravens’ abuse broke my heart in a good way. Jean experiencing true friendships paired with kind words and affection for the first time really meant the world to me. I felt like I was on the verge of tears for Jean for almost this entire book (cried in a few places too), but the emotional whiplash all felt worth it as he began opening up little by little to not only those around him, but to himself. The self-deprecating lies he’d forced himself to believe in order to make sense of the abuse he’d endured were finally crumbling, and I was beyond overjoyed seeing Jeremy and the others work him through parts of it. I’m rambling so much but god, Jean has my heart and I loved this book so very much.
Then there’s Jean and Jeremy and their very unsubtle (and sickeningly sweet) pining for one another. I know these two both have their reasons not to make a move, but the trajectory of their relationship is abundantly more clear than it was for Neil and Andrew in TFC. Jeremy’s care for Jean’s well-being is unabashed and at times, painful. He wants more than anything to see Jean heal from his unspeakable trauma, and he refuses to give up the fight even when things seem impossible. On the other hand, Jean’s care for Jeremy is the unspoken kind; Jeremy is one of the only people who’s shown Jean an ounce of kindness, and the unfamiliarity of it all means he can’t help the urge to fight against Jeremy’s tender heart. Their attraction to each other is undeniable despite all of the pain lingering between them, and I’m so excited to see how they’ll come together in the next book (I can’t believe we’re getting another)!
This is one of the most rambly reviews I’ve written in a long time, but forgive me, I just finished TSC a couple minutes ago and the emotions are still fresh. I’ll probably fix this review up tomorrow and add a bit more when my thoughts are more settled. Either way, what a fantastic book, and a more-than-worthy addition to the beloved AFTG series.
Before reading
I feel like this was announced yesterday, what do you mean it’s already out?? Thankfully my last exam is tomorrow; its time for a summer AFTG reread so i can get into this asap!! so excited :P
Just when I thought my years-long Foxhole Court phase was over, I find out about this.
-and it's Jean's story. With dual POVs. Meaning Jeremy???
Lord help this fandom, it's over for us. (I'm insanely excited)
100/5
Dude, i love them so much.
I love that Jean gets to have friends and heal. We love a happy ending in this house! (I swear to god Nora, if you don't let him have his well deserved happy ending)
Dude, i love them so much.
I love that Jean gets to have friends and heal. We love a happy ending in this house! (I swear to god Nora, if you don't let him have his well deserved happy ending)
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It wasn't actually good but that doesn't mean I didn't like it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
potentially less triggering than the earlier books in the series
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
If I were to compare this new story of the series with the previous series, considering that this is just the first book and, unlike the previous story, it is still incomplete, the first thing that comes to my mind is that it feels more hopeful to me. I really liked the standards that Wymack had for finding players of his team, and I truly enjoy the Palmetto foxes and their dynamics. However, I feel that the Trojans had many more differences within themselves that they dealt with as a team, which, of course, makes a lot of sense when you compare the number of members in each team. And it's not to say this book is light at all; to some extent, it delves deeper into the trauma of its main character, Jean Mareou. But this difference between the two teams that the story mainly revolves around has made this book happier for me, and I think that’s why the Trojans are better teammates for Jean compared to Foxes. It seems that the foxes accept you no matter how broken you are, and the team feels like a strange piece of art made from these broken pieces that don’t fit together, while the Trojans seem to go a step further and try to piece your broken parts together with silly band-aids. Not that they don’t accept you as you are, broken and all, but they challenge themselves to help you heal. The interesting part is that one of the things I really like about this book is that their efforts don’t guarantee success or even appreciation, but they keep going nonetheless.
I think another hopeful aspect of the new team relates to the presentations they gave. One of the things that occupies a writer's mind when they want to tell a story is indeed the issue of representation. I guess it’s because you think about who you want to tell the story to and who your target audience is. One of the first things that catches your attention in this book is how diverse its characters are—in terms of viewpoints, gender, sexuality, nationality, and even religion. The fact that there’s a transgender character in a sports team who has recently gone through recovery from top surgery and is also the vice-captain makes me happy and I think because of the high diversity of these characters, for many people who may not normally find many similar individuals in media—especially in things that are so simple —there will definitely be another character who they can resonate with and who brings them joy. This is what makes representation important and enhances its impact on the book.
And you know, USC's main policy in its games, preventing violence when game rules overlook a lot of it, is really interesting to me. The whole concept of chosen calm or kindness in response to violence or as an alternative to it fascinates me. And to be honest, since the last book, where this team, in respect to the Foxes, changed their line-up and challenged themselves to see if they could win in a fairer situation, I have been drawn to them. Especially since when they lost, they all still acted like their decision was the right one and were happy about it. They didn't regret it. It'slike this team is the literal Sunshine Court, and truly the impact this team had on me and my interest in them was much greater than what I felt for the Foxes.
And here... I want to talk about a topic related to Jean himself and his situation. Regarding him, I think Jean's broken innocence is one of the best writing features of this book. Since Jean is only nineteen years old and entered the Nest at only sixteen, and due to the fact that he had held the last position in the power hierarchy due to his small body and young age, it's inevitable that some parts of the innocencethat didn't die in him comes back to the surface. Before that, he had only two years to learn a language and had previously been a boy from a mafia family with little connection to the outside world. This means Jean was just a child who found himself in a situation where he had to fight tooth and nail for survival. Now that he has entered a safe space, that child is pulling himself out from between the fractures, and those honest perspectives and loyalty that Jean offers—accepting his teammates—are all things that made me love Jean deeply and empathize with every misfortune that befalls him.
And you know, the bad part about loving characters like this becomes clear when something happens, like Jean's confrontation with Grayson, and the reader sitting behind the book desperately wants someone to come and take care of the character, save him, but there's nothing to do but turn the page, read each wound, and wait.
And then there’s the issue of Jean's conditioning in the Nest. I was thinking about which is worse: reading about the trauma itself or reading about the healing process of that trauma. Because it should be very clear, right? That now Jean is in a position where he can get used to healthy things, not always wait for the blow to land, and finally experience peace and happiness should be much better than anything he endured in the Nest. But when you're always hurt and new wounds keep adding up, when you're still in a place that's hurting you and inflicting trauma on you, and at this intensity and frequency, at some point the pains blend together and you don't understand where one starts and where it ends, and it seems... you get used to it. This is definitely not a good thing, but it seems you don't notice the pain. But healing hurts. Healing is about stepping back and finding the opportunity to feel that pain. Your numbness fades away, the pains show themselves one by one, and the sad part is that there are people who don’t know the pain you’ve endured but want to help you, and sometimes they can’t. The harsh reality is that sometimes they don’t have the power to save you. And worse than all of this is when you become accustomed to the pain itself. Jean being placed in a team like the Trojans really highlighted the difference between him and ordinary people much more than he would've done, for example, with the Foxes. Every time Jean showed behavior based on what he had endured in the Nest, which was heavy and strange for the team, my heart broke for him again, and I wanted to bring Riko back to set them all on fire with the rest of the team, Coach Tetsuji, and any other Moriyama. Jean really didn’t deserve any of this. Not at all.
But guys, was Neil this funny in the previous books? I mean, he was funny, but this much? With every scene we had of him, I either laughed or got goosebumps. Damn it, was his interaction with the FBI in the previous book this hilarious? And there I saw him in front of Ichireu and this aspect was a bit less prominent for me then, but he's so good at that mafia thing. This breaks my heart considering it's something his father was involved in and Neil hates being like him so much, but at the same time, he's really cool. Truly amazing.
I want to say I'm going to throw myself into the next book to see what's what, but the reality is that there’s only a short part left for me to read through and finish. Anyway, I’ll wrap up this review of this book here, and I’ll see you in the next one.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How do i even begin writing a review for this book? Annotating it is just me writing "crying" and "oh babe" over and over again.
There is a lot to unpack, Jean broke my heart into a million pieces over the course of this.
The most unhinged part is probably me relating to him so much as I too am french, bi and traumatised.
But more seriously, I think what actually broke me the most was Jean and Kevin's relationship, my tragic boys. Jean's love for Kevin, the way he feels betrayed by him but still loves him with all his heart, the promise he made to him, the yearning and the grief and the love, oh the love.
“Kevin saw nothing but the court, but Jean had stopped hoping for more than that years ago.”
The way he doesn't believe he has a right to his sexuality, the way he doesn't believe he has a right to love. The trojans showing him tenderness. THEIR KINDNESS MATTERS. How in the end he found a queer family that accepts and loves him despite it all, teaching him that he's worthy of love.
One of the things TSC made me realise is how much I missed Neil, and missed Jean and Neil's banter, and Neil's wild damn it all attitude, maybe he's rabid and savage and has no self preservation but he's here to show Jean and Kevin that freedom, that having a voice, that fighting back is so important and how could I not love him for that?
“He strung the noose himself when when he came all the way here to put his hands on you, and I am not afraid to kick the stool out from under him. [...] remember that the next time you think you aren't worth saving.”
I just need Jean to heal and learn that he is indeed worth saving.
There is a lot to unpack, Jean broke my heart into a million pieces over the course of this.
The most unhinged part is probably me relating to him so much as I too am french, bi and traumatised.
But more seriously, I think what actually broke me the most was Jean and Kevin's relationship, my tragic boys. Jean's love for Kevin, the way he feels betrayed by him but still loves him with all his heart, the promise he made to him, the yearning and the grief and the love, oh the love.
“Kevin saw nothing but the court, but Jean had stopped hoping for more than that years ago.”
The way he doesn't believe he has a right to his sexuality, the way he doesn't believe he has a right to love. The trojans showing him tenderness. THEIR KINDNESS MATTERS. How in the end he found a queer family that accepts and loves him despite it all, teaching him that he's worthy of love.
One of the things TSC made me realise is how much I missed Neil, and missed Jean and Neil's banter, and Neil's wild damn it all attitude, maybe he's rabid and savage and has no self preservation but he's here to show Jean and Kevin that freedom, that having a voice, that fighting back is so important and how could I not love him for that?
“He strung the noose himself when when he came all the way here to put his hands on you, and I am not afraid to kick the stool out from under him. [...] remember that the next time you think you aren't worth saving.”
I just need Jean to heal and learn that he is indeed worth saving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder