Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

184 reviews

infinite_helix's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I literally cannot rate this. It’s amazing. It’s awful. I want to hide the characters away and also smack half of them upside the head for being assholes. So much problematic.  But omg did I devour this. Like in two days. As in: up till the wee hours squinting at my phone screen. As in: immediately had the urge to make myself a jersey for this fake college sports team. I love vicious, damaged people being unabashedly different, not doing anything by “normal” rules because they aren’t “normal” and shouldn’t have to pretend to be, and still there’s love and loyalty and it’s twisted and warped from trauma and pain but is it not still love? 

There’s something about seeing your ugly parts you’ve hidden being reflected so honestly in a book and being told you can still win and be a team and be a champion and leave the things you don’t want and move on and you don’t have to be soft, you can be ugly and callused and you’ll find your people who understand and know and are doing the same and they will love you and you will love them and that’s what it’s about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Self harm, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Outing, Mental illness, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Murder

Literally so many horrible things propelling all of the characters and their relationships but the overarching plot is that they are all (except for Andrew) desperate to play this sport that consumes their lives and gives them purpose. To the point they’re willing to face off against gangs and their horrible pasts barreling towards them for the chance to make this team legendary. They are all deeply traumatized and have terrible coping mechanisms and take it out on each other frequently. But they are also a team, and they will not let one of their number be taken away.

cyancookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Child abuse

lunar_lapis's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!


A friend recommended this book series as it's her favourite. I listened on Audible while also reading the physical book. Unrelated to the story, but my copy of the book is missing a few pages at the start of the book which was annoying. I'm also not a fan of the narrator on Audible. 

Onto the actual review. I was intregued by Neil's backstory or lack thereof. Neil keeps his past secret and is always running away from it, until he meets the Palmetto State Foxes, an Exy team made up of misfits, druggies and second chance stories.

It took me a while to understand the many different characters intentions and how they interact with the world. This story is more "adult" than I was expecting and quite depressing from the main characters perspective, as Neil doesn't feel safe or interested in becoming close to his teammates.

I enjoyed the middle of the book as we saw Kevin's walls coming down while training Neil, and Andrew settled down a bit too. I loved the chapter with the first Exy game, Foxes v Jackels. 
Then towards the end of the book it sets up the next book, introducing Riko, a person from Neil and Kevin's past. The book ends on the death of a Foxes member and sets up the idea that Riko had something to do with it.

When I was midway through the book I considered leaving it unfinished, because I was quite numbed from all the hostility and fighting within the group (TW)

and I wasn't a fan of the homophobic slurs or jokes about R-wording the main character.

but now that I've finished this book, I can't help but feel curious about the rest of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Cursing

Minor: Rape and Vomit

jeanvaljeune's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault

tayjah22's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

Sexual assault was kiss without consent along with the character drugged

pitsikakku's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Ableism, Homophobia, Drug use, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

chibiii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, and Mental illness

emilymarbeck's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Hate crime, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Toxic relationship

slightlylostwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

On both subjective and objective levels, this book had many problems, some of which bothered me greatly, others which didn't, except on a few occasions. It had many flaws, but I had fun with it. It's bizarre. It's all over the place. It's short but could've been shorter. The characters are very over the top. Some concerning things are glossed over that should not be so (ableist and homophobic language, a SA scene, nonconsensual drugging to name a few), and you should be aware of this going into the book.

If I was Neil, and thankfully I'm not, I would've left the foxes at the very least after Eden. Most of them are not good people, which can be attributed to their trauma in most cases but does not make everything they say or do okay in any way. I care for them as fictional people but would not want to be associated with them in real life.

This book is not for everyone, and it is a MUST to read the trigger warnings cause there are MANY.

I will read the rest of the series because I care about the characters, and it was a fun read because of how ridiculous it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Emotional abuse

michmoo's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Okay listen, if you have heard of this book series before, then you know it's reputation. It's a mess - a good old fashioned mess made up a weirdly cobbled together triggering plot points and tropes... and yet, I love these books with my whole heart. I love my damaged sports children in all of their beautiful glory. What can I say, I love a found family. Can I in good conscience, recommend these books? Absolutely not. That being said 10/10, would re-read a billion times probably.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness and Self harm

Minor: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders