Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

78 reviews

iam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This series is absolutely unhinged, bordering on offensive, but something about it just works. The mix of intriguing characters, simple writing with lyrical parts, a plot with twists that are so over the top intense, and a constant feeling of mystery and suspense, just WORKS, even though it has no right to. The over-the-top-ness makes a bit more sense when remembering this was supposed to  be a manga in its origins, but I for one am glad it made it into book form.

Sports plots aren't usually something that draws me, but the team dynamics, and the sports obsession as a background and driving motivation for the characters worked out very well.

For anyone interested in this, please check out content warnings first. The first book is already intense but starts comparatively tame. Going to  include content warnings for all books in the series for this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Alcohol, Blood, Addiction, Confinement, Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Rape, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Car accident

riccii's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

It's been a while since I read these books. The writing is not amazing and it has a lot of faults. AND YET I devoured this within about 24 hours. I do appreciate the fact that this book mostly sets up the next two books. I like these early iterations of the characters less, but also that is the point, to see how they develop over the series. Especially

Andrew on his meds

is just much less appealing to me as a character, compared to later in the series. 

This does mean that I'm looking forward to the next book(s)! 

I do have to say, that the writing definitely already picks up towards the end of the book, from

the showdown at the tv show

on you already get a good idea of what the next two books are going to look like, as far as character dynamics go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this book was really interesting and not what i thought it was going to be. it was a lot better than i anticipated, since it is a self published book that is free with the 2 other books in this series being 99¢ each. 

i have seen this series a lot on social media as being crazy and good despite it being about sports. i usually read fantasy books so this was a change for me and i was pleasantly surprised. i did find myself getting a bit bored towards the end but i think the end of the book sets up the sequel pretty well. i am invested in Neil’s story and his interactions with other players on his team, plus his inevitable future storyline with || riko and his family who are intertwined with neil’s real past life. i also hope to find out more about who neil was before, and if his teammates will learn of his real identity||

it’s short, free, and enjoyable, so i’d say it’s pretty worth the read if you are looking for something. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

aenor's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

lets_cry_about_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Addiction, Death, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

happyberry27's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Drug use, Bullying, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

adrienanthony's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don’t think I have ever read a book with such an intense “it’s complicated” when asked if the characters are loveable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Rape, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Ableism, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture

My list applies for the entire series. Absolutely not for the faint of heart, take care of yourself. If literally any of this bothers you, do NOT read this or any other book in the series, I am so serious.

ephemeral_remi's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This is objectively a bad book. It’s chock full of misinformation about mental health, trauma p0rn and edgy shit BUT, you truly cannot help bonding with these characters. I hate how much I loved these people. I can’t in good conscience though give it a higher rating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Car accident, Cursing, Gore, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Ableism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

booksinacottage's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical trauma, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

lucy11110's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The plot is as absurd as it is entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, and Cursing