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josie_readz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Child abuse, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Drug use, Homophobia, and Torture
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
evicteline'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Rape, Alcohol, and Child abuse
Minor: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Medical content, Murder, and Death
lucyfette'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
4.75
hinted spoilers below. read carefully.
i was completely hooked from start to end and the only thing i’ve been able to think about is neil josten and andrew minyard. their relationship is so painstakingly slow burn and is so reflective of the trauma both of them has faced. their characters are not written to be good people, but ones that have dealt with so much, and find comfort and home with one another. (plus enemies to lovers/still enemies? lol) the found family made my heart ache and i wish happiness for every single member of the foxes. so many points had me freaking out, or having to take a breath away from the book before i could continue. the story is well crafted and the relationship between the characters will have you so invested. i cant. i wish there was twenty more books in the series.
i will admit, amongst my praise, that there are some flaws. the plot is sometimes a bit wonky and confusing, and the writing gets a bit clunky and repetitive at parts. i appreciate that this is self published work though!
please i urge you to read the all for the game series. there are definitely some hard triggers (there are so many cw but coming from someone who is extremely sensitive all sections are easily skippable and it wouldn’t hinder ur understanding of the plot not reading them) but nothing that isn’t dealt with respect and proper explanation afterwards (i wld expect neil to have a bit more trauma/ptsd than he does, but this is a short series i get it) but overall i’m completely and utterly in love with the books. pls read! fall in love with andrew and neil, they need some love fr 😵💫
Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
cozybookseller'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
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Torture, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Mental illness, and Self harm
tuni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexism, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Homophobia
atlas_oliver'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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
alyssadavis's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.5
Neil had been doing one stupid thing after another all year long and this has turned into one of the best years of his life.
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death, Grief, Murder, and Self harm
shannyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol
luisaaaa'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
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
Minor: Animal cruelty
yea it’s a lot lol