Reviews

There are a lot of unrealistic things like the yakuza, the government/judiciary system/or the lack of it?, Andrew's drugs and how they work, drugs in general tbh, the dialogue at times, that one live TV scene, all the violence, so many things about this made up sport, I could go on.
Being info dump-y while somehow not dumping any info at all? Focussing on explaining the not-so-important parts (which I actually quite liked), but not properly explaining the things that really matter (which was annoying). I felt like a lot of names just sprang out of nowhere. Bless ebook search function for saving me multiple times.
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THIS GODFORSAKEN GAME? How do they play it? Why is it so violent? What is the shape and size of the ball? What is the shape and size of the goal? What is the shape and size of the racquet? How sturdy and how deep is the net, if they're meant to smack AND catch with it? How did it get so popular in such a short time? I can't visualise anything other than the court. Maybe it's the curse being non-American.
There are quite a few clichés. Be it the personality of the characters, or their behaviour, or the plot.
The writing did read like a fan fiction at times. I wasn't bothered by it as long as it didn't leave out necessary details and drove me crazy. Just a thing to note.

NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY

AHEM

THIS WAS SO FUN??

Like, I do realise that the way I fell in love at chapter 1 was most definitely due to seeing this series EVERYWHERE and growing fond of the characters before I knew anything about them. And the constant comparison to the sister fandoms that I am actively a part of — I'm talking about Tumblr's Holy Corvid Trinity, of course (Six of Crows, The Raven Cycle, and this one, if you didn't know). Plus, it's character driven + gay + dysfunctional + found family + sports + mafia. I mean, that's right up my alley.

Let's talk about the characters. NEIL JOSTEN, my love. I don't know what it is about him that captivated me from the beginning, but I absolutely adore him, he's my little pookie. Although, he's gotta have to sort his priorities out lmao (bro was more scared of Kevin potentially hating him than getting murdered by his mafia family, I gotta respect that). I hope one day my boy is able to live freely without being paranoid about every little thing.

I know, I listed a lot of gripes I had with Exy, but listen, IT'S A CO-ED SPORT!! I love the girls and I hope we get to see a lot more of them in the upcoming books. Renee Walker, I don't know anything about you, but I love you. Matt is an absolute sweetheart. So is Dan. I wish we got to see more of Allison and Seth. Coach Wymack, what a gigachad. I loved his dynamic with the kids, and loved the way he handles them. I need to see more of Betsy and Abby, as well.

Now moving on to Andrew's lot. For a good majority of the book, I didn't understand how I was supposed to believe that Neil is going to end up being friends — or, uhhh, lovers — with any of these people. Nicky, I have to admit, I didn't like him in the beginning, most definitely hated him in the middle, didn't like him in the end. Aaron is... just there, I guess? I forget he exists half of the time. Kevin reminds me of Rin Itoshi from Blue Lock, so I automatically like him. Andrew, well, sometimes I'm absolutely in love with him, sometimes I don't have an opinion on him, sometimes I flat out don't like him. This roller coaster is perfect to his character to a T, so kudos to that. I can smell the sibling angst coming up, and sibling angsts are always the death of me. Praying for my future self.

Random other things I liked: The last couple of chapters were WILD! I literally couldn't put the book down. A lot of messed up things happened. Almost all of the characters are clinically insane and need therapy. They hate each other, but if you try to hate them, they'll hate you more. All the little things Neil did out of paranoia (sitting in the back of the classroom where no one can approach from behind, or in the middle of the car where he could see both the driver and the passenger). The banter and the chemistry between the Foxes. The way the queer characters were represented. How funny a lot of the scenes were.

It doesn't matter if you like this book, or think it's trash. I think we all can agree that the Moriyamas have a special place in hell. And that chapter 7 was mega messed up.

TL;DR
This book is unhinged and definitely not for everyone. If you are willing to overlook certain aspects and just read for the fun it brings, go ahead. But, I strongly urge everyone to look up the content warnings before proceeding.

Content Warnings

liaer's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

It's one of the few books in a while that I have read with such intensity. I read half of the book in one might and the other half the second night. It's fast paced and keeps you wondering. Even core aspects about the protagonist aren't revieled like his real name. It's definitely a heavy book with certain writing decisions I don't particularly agree with. However, it also has grabbed my attention like few others have.

Content Warnings

fiautiful's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

2.25

sidrabibi's review against another edition

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1.0

The book consisted of a bunch of teens who do violent stupid things for a sports games

giannarodriguez's review against another edition

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4.25

i rlly like neil as well as the team’s dysfunctional dynamic, also did not care abt seth’s death like at all was lowkey hoping it would happen jfc i hated that guy. also andrew to me rn is… okay i guess. still kinda hard for me to get past the drugging but at least he’s keeping neil safe.

nestasbff's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

2.5 ⭐️ |
y’all lied to me. this was so infuriating.
every single character pissed me off at some point.

this was so hard to get into. i genuinely didn’t understand anything until i was like 60% into the book, which isn’t a good thing.
even after finishing i don’t really care about any of the characters, i don’t feel connected to them at all. there were way too many characters and names to remember that i was constantly confused who’s who and who they are to the main characters.

the writing was questionable to say the least. it felt like i was reading a (not very good) fanfic. the characters dialogues felt emotionless. if you asked me what this book was about, i genuinely wouldn’t be able tell you, because nothing of substance actually happened.

Content Warnings

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