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cait_0310's review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Stalking, Drug abuse, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Alcohol, Death of parent, Body horror, Death, Sexual harassment, Murder, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Rape, Addiction, Physical abuse, Vomit, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
cait's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Outing, Sexual assault, Drug use, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
gcarney15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexism
anniereads221's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Rape, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Addiction, Violence, and Toxic relationship
fa1ryts's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
the whole team slowly getting close to each other, andrew slowly starting to trust neil and not holding back and them starting a (complicated) relationship 3
this is the best enemies to lovers slowburn hard pining i hate everyone but u extreme version book ive read
its also the best book out of the whole trilogy !! there wasnt rly much happening in the previous ones but this one covered the story really well
i INHALED this book in a night and i couldnt stop reading shaking crying screaming i need more andreil i need a movie or series adaption @netflix
i also found most of the characters likable ! they all had a depth in their pain and together they managed to start healing and became a family
i just feel like the author couldve squished in like 20-30 more pages just so we could see where andreil's relationship was going and what happened after the game and maybe like a few pages of just happiness bc the characters deserve nothing less
and also there were quite a few times when the description took too long and i wasnt rly invested in most of the exy games BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT
happy pride to andrew and neil
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
li_reading's review against another edition
0.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Bullying, Ableism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Gun violence, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia
jenny_librarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Rape, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Addiction
fanboyriot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Slow Burn
Found Family
Hurt/Comfort
Angst with a Happy Ending
Mutual Pining (though they don’t know it)
This is obviously my favorite of the series. I love the character development in this last book. The relationships between the foxes getting stronger, Neil finally clueing in on the thing him and Andrew have and being literally the last person to know.
It was an emotional roller coaster for sure, with Neil’s life going bad to worse to okay again to having hope for the first time in his life. Of having a chance of a future. It was absolutely amazing.
I think this book did a good job with taking care of any loose ends. It is the perfect example of angst with a happy ending and I don’t see myself getting over it anytime soon. Here’s to another re-read.
POV: Third Person
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rep: Demisexual (MC), Gay (LI), Gay (SCs), BIPOC (SCs), Mental Illness
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Torture, Blood, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal death, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Physical abuse
natnat_7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Body horror
Moderate: Misogyny, Outing, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Rape