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galacticvampire's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more then what anyone else wanted to give you."
The Foxhole Court isn't for everyone. It has a unique style exclusive to books that didn't go through an editorial process, what can be either refreshing or amateurish, depending on personal taste.
It's different, the characters feel alive, and the plot is so surprising it's borderline nonsensical. The writing style is direct and portrays dialogue extremely naturally, until it doesn't and it's outright weird.
Because the characters are weird. And problematic. But that's clearly intentional and I have to give praise to the author for daring to give her characters unlikable flaws and make them genuinely morally questionable, completely unsanitazed.
The main problem with this book is that, given that is over 200 pages, not much happens. Space is taken by a lot of infodumping about the made-up sport and characters' backstories, that albeit necessary, are not integrated that seamlessly or naturally in the conversation. The result is that, by the end, the actual plot and story are still on very early stages, and the reader is seeking the next book as if it were simply the next chapter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexism and Death of parent
inescunhaleal's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment
violette_magpie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse
butter_fly's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Murder
jbellomy's review against another edition
2.5
ugh dnf. this reads like fan fiction and not in a fun way
_________________
EDIT DEC 2023
I did it. I read the unhinged fake lacrosse yakuza book. Someone on tumblr said this is a sports anime in book form and it clicked (particularly the psychotic love interest, who speaks and behaves like one of the twins from Ouran). I don't know if I like it exactly but it is for sure entertaining. Check those content warnings -- impossible for it to not be entertaining.
_________________
EDIT DEC 2023
I did it. I read the unhinged fake lacrosse yakuza book. Someone on tumblr said this is a sports anime in book form and it clicked (particularly the psychotic love interest, who speaks and behaves like one of the twins from Ouran). I don't know if I like it exactly but it is for sure entertaining. Check those content warnings -- impossible for it to not be entertaining.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit
fiekesfiction's review against another edition
sad
tense
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
(Many trigger warnings!)
I, once again, have mixed feelings.
The reason I read this is peer pressure and fomo (as always). And because I was interested in the “be gay do crime” and “found family” promise.
So did this meet those expectations?
In the foxhole court you follow Neil Josten. He plays the (fictional) sport Exy. Coach Whymarck recruits players to play in his team and live on campus. Specifically, he looks for young people in horrible family situations. When he asks Neil to join the team, it is the last thing Neil should do. He is the runaway son of a murderous crime lord. Getting involved in a high profile team and sports news broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation is dangerous and the truth will get him killed. But Neil’s not the only one on the team with secrets.
The idea of actually risking your life just to be able to sport is absolutely ridiculous to me. Also just playing such a violent sport. Also everything else that happened in this book. But it’s hard to not be interested in reading it.
My expectations were sort of met on the do crime part, yes. In fact, this book might present itself as being about sport but it’s mostly about maffia. It is insane and kind of unrealistic, but also really original and interesting. Part of the appeal of the story is the wild weirdness.
Unfortunately, part of the crimes were actually horrible and inexcusable and committed by characters who I think we’re supposed to like? Now that isn’t exactly sure, because the main character rightfully feels angry and (at least in this book) doesn’t forgive everyone easily.
It’s a complicated situation because we’re dealing with a bunch of very mentally unstable teenagers who are traumatised and also pretty terrible. Generally I feel like I might get over part of it (as the whole situation is insane and some of the flawed reasons are understandable) but I have a huge hatred towards Nicky and I will not get over it.
Then there’s the be gay part which…. Ehh I don’t see yet. But I feel okay because these people need more build up on their relationship and also their personality in general. (There’s just so many characters it’s hard to remember who everyone is.)
This obviously comes back in the found family theme. I like the moments where Neil reflects on how great it is to be part of a team and his jealousy and loneliness. Bút this is not the general happy lovely group of friends I expected. This is a bunch of horrible people who would probably die for each other but sometimes also would actually kill each other. They’re a mess and I love the idea, I think having fights within a friend group is normal and okay, but drugging someone because you don’t trust him and then sexually assaulting him is absolutely over the line and goes way over the “interesting dynamics” territory and into the “run and never interact with this person again” territory.
So it is complicated. I will say that I see a lot of potential for this to be heartwarming. I like that there’s this set up of Neil being lonely and having no one, because I feel like it might develop into him being part of this group and it being cute.
In general I think Neil is sometimes extremely idiotic, but also nice as a main character. As you’re seeing things from his perspective his actions are slightly more understandable. However, emphasis on SLIGHTLY. Because he is basically risking his life because he just can’t give up this sport. It’s to hard for him not to play, no matter the fact that it will draw the attention of people who are actively trying to kill him. and then getting on tv and picking a fight with a world famous player and son of a maffia boss even as he was trying to stay under the radar.
If we would’ve gotten anyone else’s POV he would probably just look odd and suspicious, while in this POV he just looked like a very dramatic and lonely idiot.
The other characters were a lot harder to understand. Especially as you don’t know much about them and their backstories.
Generally I had some issues trying to remember everyone’s names because there’s like 10 people in the team and then even more other characters.
I specifically remember Nicky, because I hate him.
Kevin, because I respect his commitment to the sport especially his backstory. I like that we know more about him and everything you know about him makes sense with his behaviour. He is far from perfect and like everyone, he annoyed me at times, but I feel pretty positive towards him.
Matt, because I think he’s one of the most likeable ones. I liked his relationship with Neil and his vibe. So far he’s great.
Renee, because I want to know more about her (and about the other girls as well.)
Andrew, because I don’t like him. He was super annoying and weird a lot of times, straight up horrible at other times, but I just didn’t really get him. I hated the way his medications were handled because it did not seem like the author did any research on it at all. He is horrible to almost everyone, I didn’t like how possessive he was and generally… ugh. But I do want to know more about what’s going on with him and why.
Other than that I only have vague ideas who everyone is and what their story is. But I am curious about the rest.
This is like if teenwolf didn’t have supernatural stuff in it and was more dramatic.
This story is a great time if you want to read some INSANE INSANE things with a vague found family of horrible people. But if you’re looking for something happy or objectively “good” it’s not for you.
I, once again, have mixed feelings.
The reason I read this is peer pressure and fomo (as always). And because I was interested in the “be gay do crime” and “found family” promise.
So did this meet those expectations?
In the foxhole court you follow Neil Josten. He plays the (fictional) sport Exy. Coach Whymarck recruits players to play in his team and live on campus. Specifically, he looks for young people in horrible family situations. When he asks Neil to join the team, it is the last thing Neil should do. He is the runaway son of a murderous crime lord. Getting involved in a high profile team and sports news broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation is dangerous and the truth will get him killed. But Neil’s not the only one on the team with secrets.
The idea of actually risking your life just to be able to sport is absolutely ridiculous to me. Also just playing such a violent sport. Also everything else that happened in this book. But it’s hard to not be interested in reading it.
My expectations were sort of met on the do crime part, yes. In fact, this book might present itself as being about sport but it’s mostly about maffia. It is insane and kind of unrealistic, but also really original and interesting. Part of the appeal of the story is the wild weirdness.
Unfortunately, part of the crimes were actually horrible and inexcusable and committed by characters who I think we’re supposed to like? Now that isn’t exactly sure, because the main character rightfully feels angry and (at least in this book) doesn’t forgive everyone easily.
It’s a complicated situation because we’re dealing with a bunch of very mentally unstable teenagers who are traumatised and also pretty terrible. Generally I feel like I might get over part of it (as the whole situation is insane and some of the flawed reasons are understandable) but I have a huge hatred towards Nicky and I will not get over it.
Then there’s the be gay part which…. Ehh I don’t see yet. But I feel okay because these people need more build up on their relationship and also their personality in general. (There’s just so many characters it’s hard to remember who everyone is.)
This obviously comes back in the found family theme. I like the moments where Neil reflects on how great it is to be part of a team and his jealousy and loneliness. Bút this is not the general happy lovely group of friends I expected. This is a bunch of horrible people who would probably die for each other but sometimes also would actually kill each other. They’re a mess and I love the idea, I think having fights within a friend group is normal and okay, but
So it is complicated. I will say that I see a lot of potential for this to be heartwarming. I like that there’s this set up of Neil being lonely and having no one, because I feel like it might develop into him being part of this group and it being cute.
In general I think Neil is sometimes extremely idiotic, but also nice as a main character. As you’re seeing things from his perspective his actions are slightly more understandable. However, emphasis on SLIGHTLY. Because he is basically risking his life because he just can’t give up this sport. It’s to hard for him not to play, no matter the fact that it will draw the attention of people who are actively trying to kill him.
If we would’ve gotten anyone else’s POV he would probably just look odd and suspicious, while in this POV he just looked like a very dramatic and lonely idiot.
The other characters were a lot harder to understand. Especially as you don’t know much about them and their backstories.
Generally I had some issues trying to remember everyone’s names because there’s like 10 people in the team and then even more other characters.
I specifically remember Nicky, because I hate him.
Kevin, because I respect his commitment to the sport especially his backstory. I like that we know more about him and everything you know about him makes sense with his behaviour. He is far from perfect and like everyone, he annoyed me at times, but I feel pretty positive towards him.
Matt, because I think he’s one of the most likeable ones. I liked his relationship with Neil and his vibe. So far he’s great.
Renee, because I want to know more about her (and about the other girls as well.)
Andrew, because I don’t like him. He was super annoying and weird a lot of times, straight up horrible at other times, but I just didn’t really get him. I hated the way his medications were handled because it did not seem like the author did any research on it at all. He is horrible to almost everyone, I didn’t like how possessive he was and generally… ugh. But I do want to know more about what’s going on with him and why.
Other than that I only have vague ideas who everyone is and what their story is. But I am curious about the rest.
This is like if teenwolf didn’t have supernatural stuff in it and was more dramatic.
This story is a great time if you want to read some INSANE INSANE things with a vague found family of horrible people. But if you’re looking for something happy or objectively “good” it’s not for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia
frantic_vampire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
2024 reread: This was the first time rereading this book and all I have to say is: damn. This is still such a good book! Neil is an unhinged, mouthy idiot and I still love him. I loved just how bitchy and scared and paranoid he is. I just…this book is so unhinged in the best ways and I still love all the characters. They’re all sweet, if a bit fucked up (okay, a lot fucked up) and I’m obsessed with them. This is still a solid five stars!
Original review: Holy shit! Why did nobody warn me that I would fall in love with this series? I knew I was a goner as soon as I finished the first chapter. I don’t think I’ve fallen for a book series that quickly since I read Wolfsong. There was something so compelling about the story, about Neil as a narrator, about the characters, and about the writing that drew me in and didn’t let go until it absolutely had to.
Neil is the biggest sweetheart! He’s got a serious attitude, he’s a little oblivious, he’s mouthy and argumentative and stupidly brave. I just wanted to give him a hug. I loved how the team just kind of adopted him as their little brother (and as their child) and have decided to give him all the love that he needs. And the monsters! Andrew, Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin. Why do I love these fucked up boys so much 🤦♀️? I just want to give them all the hugs and love. I also really loved the girls and Matt. They are all messed up in some way, but they’re family.
This is how to do a found family story! I just love the way they work together and they protect each other. I can already tell that this will be a series that I come back to again and again. It’s such a wonderful bit of storytelling that’s completely self-indulgent and decadent. This is getting a solid five stars. I would highly recommend this one!
Original review: Holy shit! Why did nobody warn me that I would fall in love with this series? I knew I was a goner as soon as I finished the first chapter. I don’t think I’ve fallen for a book series that quickly since I read Wolfsong. There was something so compelling about the story, about Neil as a narrator, about the characters, and about the writing that drew me in and didn’t let go until it absolutely had to.
Neil is the biggest sweetheart! He’s got a serious attitude, he’s a little oblivious, he’s mouthy and argumentative and stupidly brave. I just wanted to give him a hug. I loved how the team just kind of adopted him as their little brother (and as their child) and have decided to give him all the love that he needs. And the monsters! Andrew, Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin. Why do I love these fucked up boys so much 🤦♀️? I just want to give them all the hugs and love. I also really loved the girls and Matt. They are all messed up in some way, but they’re family.
This is how to do a found family story! I just love the way they work together and they protect each other. I can already tell that this will be a series that I come back to again and again. It’s such a wonderful bit of storytelling that’s completely self-indulgent and decadent. This is getting a solid five stars. I would highly recommend this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Blood, and Toxic friendship
nickoliver's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
4.0
... well, this is a surprise. I read this book for the first time in January 2018 and remember being very disappointed, but still curious enough to want to read the rest. But those plans didn't get concrete until recently, when I bought the entire trilogy in paperback off Ricardo (a Swiss website that's probably similar to like, Depop or something). And while five years ago, it was a 2 stars for me, it suddenly became a 4 stars.
If I had to guess, I'd say that had mostly to do with two factors: One, in 2018, I'd gone into it with huge expectations - probably too huge, considering this isn't exactly meaningful literature, so I was bound to be disappointed. And two, as a consequence, my expectations this time around were pretty much infinitesimal.
Of course, there were still a lot of things that I didn't like and that explained why a lot of people I know nowadays call it a "guilty pleasure". Some things were harmless. For example, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. It read very much like a self-published work, even if it did have one or two lines that hit the mark for me. And the beginning was pretty abrupt - you were dropped a bit unceremoniously into the story, and it took me a moment to orient myself. Plus, there was sometimes a bit too much repetition for my liking, especially at the beginning.
Secondly, the sport itself was confusing. It was a bit unhinged of Sakavic to invent an entirely new sport that doesn't actually exist instead of using one that already does - though since the invention of Exy and its creator played a big role, it was, admittedly, justified. It just made it hard for me to properly picture game scenes, because telling me that it was similar to lacrosse didn't help at all; I've never played or watched a game of lacrosse, either. Certain things also felt a bit unrealistic; seeing a bunch of college kids on national TV just for playing some sport? Is that a thing that Americans do?
Something I criticised on my first read was that nothing really happened and that I was bored out of my mind. I still understand where I was coming from - a lot was more talked about than shown, and time jumped in segments a bit too high for my liking. Sometimes, I was a bit too much on the outside, so that even when Neil had been with the Foxes for weeks, I had no feel for their relationships or dynamics. However, I wasn't really bored upon rereading this, and I did think that there was more happening than I'd given it credit for in 2018.
I hated the characters five years ago, and now I kind of feel like the point flew over my head. Because I doubt anyone in their right mind reads this book and rooting for any of the Foxes from the start. Andrew was deranged, and Kevin an absolute gigantic twat. (In 2018, I merely called him boring, which he was - more on that later -, but now I mostly picked up on how horribly he treated others, especially Neil.) I'd honestly be worried if anyone actually is into Andrew from the start, to be honest. And while Neil was a bit too passive and his tendency to be pushed around like a marionette was supremely annoying at times - especially for someone who's supposedly been on the run for ages; you'd think he'd know how to defend himself -, I didn't hate him, nor did I think he faded into the background too much. (I'm starting to feel like I'm reviewing my old review at this point instead of writing a new one 💀)
One thing I noticed this time around was how some characters barely say a word in the entire series, despite being present the entire time. For example, for a character as big as Kevin, I didn't think I actually got to see him as a person. Neil talked about how he made him feel on the court - which is to say, like a piece of shit -, and you got to see how others perceived him. But he very rarely said anything in dialogue, so I never truly got a grasp on him or understood his appeal. I mostly just found him to be both boring with zero personality, and an asshole. Nothing else.
The second person this applied to was Aaron. It actually took me until almost the end to realise I probably had seen him physically say something approximately three times. Out of all the Foxes, he felt the least developed, and considering he was Andrew's twin and part of his group, that shouldn't have happened. So a lot of the side characters were somehow simultaneously very important and present and not three-dimensional at all.
Those were my criticisms that were more or less harmless. Now, there were also a couple that felt downright offensive.
One of those was Nicky's portrayal. He was the only one who was gay - at least in this book; I don't know yet about the others -, and Sakavic wrote him as very predatory. He kept making advances and comments that he knew weren't welcome, and the way the others sometimes talked about him made him sound like he was two steps removed from being a literal rapist. I remember liking Nicky the most, and I do still think he was one of the more developed ones; but his portrayal as a gay man made me very uncomfortable at times.
The other one was the fact that the villains were specifically Japanese mafia, and the only one from them who tried to get away from them was white. I think. I'm a bit fuzzy on character descriptions, so maybe he wasn't. But he was the only one without a Japanese name, so if he was Japanese himself, it was certainly easy to forget next to the ones with clear Japanese names. I didn't like that; it felt a bit racially motivated.
Lastly, I didn't like all the slurs being used. There was a character on the team, Seth, whose animosity and douchebaggery was shown a lot through his use of slurs - be it ableist ones or calling Nicky the f-slur every time Nicky said something that sounded even remotely gay. I'm not the biggest fan of unlikeable characters' vitriol being shown solely through their use of horrible insults, so that kind of made me flinch sometimes.
Overall, though, I was surprised by how much I liked it this time around! Definitely had a lot to do with me generously ignoring the more ridiculous parts of it, but eh. I'm still thrilled that I had a better time than five years ago.
OLD REVIEW:
This was SO disappointing! I’ve had high hopes for it, since most people seem to absolutely adore it, but it just wasn’t for me.
+ I didn’t like any of the characters. I mean, yes, most of them seem to be more antiheroes than anything else, so maybe I wasn’t even supposed to like them. But Andrew was psychotic and awful and so unpredictable I’m still not entirely sure what to make of him. Kevin was always described in a way that made me feel like I had to be somewhat intrigued by him, but he was about as interesting as a brick wall. (Plus, this is a personal preference, but I have a hard time taking guys named Kevin seriously. I grew up with a Kevin, and he’s a goofball.)
Neil is extremely passive and only steps a little further into the spotlight towards the end of the book (like, the last 80% or so). The only character I liked a little bit - if we ignore his inability to say no to Andrew and his habit of kiss-drugging incompliant men - was Nicky. He sometimes felt like he would feel right at home with the Dregs.
+ the story was sooo boring! Nothing interesting happened. No, scratch that. Nothing happened, period. It was honestly more talk than show, and it drove me crazy.
+ there was way too much description. You don’t have to describe every single person in detail, honestly. I do have some imagination. Also, I’m pretty sure some of the characters were described several times?
+ I did not understand how Exy works. I think it’s a little bit like lacrosse, but that’s about it. I really did not like all the sports talk (although that one’s probably on me. I mean, it is a book involving sports. You’re allowed to go into detail in novels like that).
I’m still going to read the sequel(s), simply because I want to know what happens. And because I’d like to know if any ship sails, because there wasn’t any romance in here. Which, admittedly, wasn’t that disappointing because I’m not even sure for whom I was supposed to be rooting for.
If I had to guess, I'd say that had mostly to do with two factors: One, in 2018, I'd gone into it with huge expectations - probably too huge, considering this isn't exactly meaningful literature, so I was bound to be disappointed. And two, as a consequence, my expectations this time around were pretty much infinitesimal.
Of course, there were still a lot of things that I didn't like and that explained why a lot of people I know nowadays call it a "guilty pleasure". Some things were harmless. For example, I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. It read very much like a self-published work, even if it did have one or two lines that hit the mark for me. And the beginning was pretty abrupt - you were dropped a bit unceremoniously into the story, and it took me a moment to orient myself. Plus, there was sometimes a bit too much repetition for my liking, especially at the beginning.
Secondly, the sport itself was confusing. It was a bit unhinged of Sakavic to invent an entirely new sport that doesn't actually exist instead of using one that already does - though since the invention of Exy and its creator played a big role, it was, admittedly, justified. It just made it hard for me to properly picture game scenes, because telling me that it was similar to lacrosse didn't help at all; I've never played or watched a game of lacrosse, either. Certain things also felt a bit unrealistic; seeing a bunch of college kids on national TV just for playing some sport? Is that a thing that Americans do?
Something I criticised on my first read was that nothing really happened and that I was bored out of my mind. I still understand where I was coming from - a lot was more talked about than shown, and time jumped in segments a bit too high for my liking. Sometimes, I was a bit too much on the outside, so that even when Neil had been with the Foxes for weeks, I had no feel for their relationships or dynamics. However, I wasn't really bored upon rereading this, and I did think that there was more happening than I'd given it credit for in 2018.
I hated the characters five years ago, and now I kind of feel like the point flew over my head. Because I doubt anyone in their right mind reads this book and rooting for any of the Foxes from the start. Andrew was deranged, and Kevin an absolute gigantic twat. (In 2018, I merely called him boring, which he was - more on that later -, but now I mostly picked up on how horribly he treated others, especially Neil.) I'd honestly be worried if anyone actually is into Andrew from the start, to be honest. And while Neil was a bit too passive and his tendency to be pushed around like a marionette was supremely annoying at times - especially for someone who's supposedly been on the run for ages; you'd think he'd know how to defend himself -, I didn't hate him, nor did I think he faded into the background too much. (I'm starting to feel like I'm reviewing my old review at this point instead of writing a new one 💀)
One thing I noticed this time around was how some characters barely say a word in the entire series, despite being present the entire time. For example, for a character as big as Kevin, I didn't think I actually got to see him as a person. Neil talked about how he made him feel on the court - which is to say, like a piece of shit -, and you got to see how others perceived him. But he very rarely said anything in dialogue, so I never truly got a grasp on him or understood his appeal. I mostly just found him to be both boring with zero personality, and an asshole. Nothing else.
The second person this applied to was Aaron. It actually took me until almost the end to realise I probably had seen him physically say something approximately three times. Out of all the Foxes, he felt the least developed, and considering he was Andrew's twin and part of his group, that shouldn't have happened. So a lot of the side characters were somehow simultaneously very important and present and not three-dimensional at all.
Those were my criticisms that were more or less harmless. Now, there were also a couple that felt downright offensive.
One of those was Nicky's portrayal. He was the only one who was gay - at least in this book; I don't know yet about the others -, and Sakavic wrote him as very predatory. He kept making advances and comments that he knew weren't welcome, and the way the others sometimes talked about him made him sound like he was two steps removed from being a literal rapist. I remember liking Nicky the most, and I do still think he was one of the more developed ones; but his portrayal as a gay man made me very uncomfortable at times.
The other one was the fact that the villains were specifically Japanese mafia, and the only one from them who tried to get away from them was white. I think. I'm a bit fuzzy on character descriptions, so maybe he wasn't. But he was the only one without a Japanese name, so if he was Japanese himself, it was certainly easy to forget next to the ones with clear Japanese names. I didn't like that; it felt a bit racially motivated.
Lastly, I didn't like all the slurs being used. There was a character on the team, Seth, whose animosity and douchebaggery was shown a lot through his use of slurs - be it ableist ones or calling Nicky the f-slur every time Nicky said something that sounded even remotely gay. I'm not the biggest fan of unlikeable characters' vitriol being shown solely through their use of horrible insults, so that kind of made me flinch sometimes.
Overall, though, I was surprised by how much I liked it this time around! Definitely had a lot to do with me generously ignoring the more ridiculous parts of it, but eh. I'm still thrilled that I had a better time than five years ago.
OLD REVIEW:
This was SO disappointing! I’ve had high hopes for it, since most people seem to absolutely adore it, but it just wasn’t for me.
+ I didn’t like any of the characters. I mean, yes, most of them seem to be more antiheroes than anything else, so maybe I wasn’t even supposed to like them. But Andrew was psychotic and awful and so unpredictable I’m still not entirely sure what to make of him. Kevin was always described in a way that made me feel like I had to be somewhat intrigued by him, but he was about as interesting as a brick wall. (Plus, this is a personal preference, but I have a hard time taking guys named Kevin seriously. I grew up with a Kevin, and he’s a goofball.)
Neil is extremely passive and only steps a little further into the spotlight towards the end of the book (like, the last 80% or so). The only character I liked a little bit - if we ignore his inability to say no to Andrew and his habit of kiss-drugging incompliant men - was Nicky. He sometimes felt like he would feel right at home with the Dregs.
+ the story was sooo boring! Nothing interesting happened. No, scratch that. Nothing happened, period. It was honestly more talk than show, and it drove me crazy.
+ there was way too much description. You don’t have to describe every single person in detail, honestly. I do have some imagination. Also, I’m pretty sure some of the characters were described several times?
+ I did not understand how Exy works. I think it’s a little bit like lacrosse, but that’s about it. I really did not like all the sports talk (although that one’s probably on me. I mean, it is a book involving sports. You’re allowed to go into detail in novels like that).
I’m still going to read the sequel(s), simply because I want to know what happens. And because I’d like to know if any ship sails, because there wasn’t any romance in here. Which, admittedly, wasn’t that disappointing because I’m not even sure for whom I was supposed to be rooting for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia and Physical abuse
Use of the f-slur + ableist slurs
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