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francisdee's review against another edition
3.0
Listen i wanted to give up on this till like the last three chapters, so..
It felt like 11 chapters of random mess, sport, and then finally plot at the very end.
It felt like 11 chapters of random mess, sport, and then finally plot at the very end.
brookesgoodbooks's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
3.25
rychelereads's review
3.0
[contemporary, dark, trauma, sports, new adult, found family]
This is an absolute train-wreck that you can't look away from UNTIL you realize its actually a sports anime in written form, then it all makes complete sense.
The characters are archetypal and all of them have intensely traumatic backgrounds. I did feel like the author was attempting to one-up herself with every background detail reveal. The general feel of all the foxes including Coach Wymack is "I'm hard cuz my life is hard." The violence is largely unwarranted and you have to suspend disbelief for much of the character descriptions:. I love the found family storyline but cannot for the life of me understand how anyone in the book survived this particular brand of dysfunction. Might I also add that each character on the Foxes, due to recruitment criteria, have extreme trauma and are essentially dealing with shit, but the amount of enabling and further abuse they throw at each other makes absolutely no sense. I get that hurt people hurt people, but damn.
Until we finally got the obligatory explanation of the game Exy, I was completely lost. The author references the sport heavily before we see a game or get a better explanation and each one of them made me roll my eyes because I had no clue how to relate. I also thought this game was played on skates the entire time and couldn't decide if it was ice skates or roller blades.
The writing itself is okay. The descriptive sentences can be short and disjointed, and they don't always flow nicely. Couple that with the extreme angst of the plot, characters, and dialogue and it can be pretty stifling to get through some bits.
BUT I SIMPLY NEED MORE
I am obsessed with the Foxes and would love to know more about the enemy characters and the other teams. The games end up being the best written scenes in the book and I simply can't get enough. This book promises gang involvement and more secrets and history reveals which I NEED. Once you accept that this is a written sort of anime, all of these very anime things are easy to accept: the extreme disregard for reality without magical realism, the angst, the heavy mood swings, the absolute detail put in for character visual description, the end-all-be-all atmosphere of every encounter, the list goes on.
This is an absolute train-wreck that you can't look away from UNTIL you realize its actually a sports anime in written form, then it all makes complete sense.
The characters are archetypal and all of them have intensely traumatic backgrounds. I did feel like the author was attempting to one-up herself with every background detail reveal. The general feel of all the foxes including Coach Wymack is "I'm hard cuz my life is hard." The violence is largely unwarranted and you have to suspend disbelief for much of the character descriptions:
Spoiler
Andrew's entire being but especially the knives strapped to his wrists at all times; Neil's disguise of contacts and hair dye being enough; many etc.Until we finally got the obligatory explanation of the game Exy, I was completely lost. The author references the sport heavily before we see a game or get a better explanation and each one of them made me roll my eyes because I had no clue how to relate. I also thought this game was played on skates the entire time and couldn't decide if it was ice skates or roller blades
Spoiler
it's neither these fools are simply runningThe writing itself is okay. The descriptive sentences can be short and disjointed, and they don't always flow nicely. Couple that with the extreme angst of the plot, characters, and dialogue and it can be pretty stifling to get through some bits.
BUT I SIMPLY NEED MORE
I am obsessed with the Foxes and would love to know more about the enemy characters and the other teams. The games end up being the best written scenes in the book and I simply can't get enough. This book promises gang involvement and more secrets and history reveals which I NEED. Once you accept that this is a written sort of anime, all of these very anime things are easy to accept: the extreme disregard for reality without magical realism, the angst, the heavy mood swings, the absolute detail put in for character visual description, the end-all-be-all atmosphere of every encounter, the list goes on.
margrietvkuijen's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eglily's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
restlessparadise's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Gore
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, Ableism, and Religious bigotry
thimsu's review
5.0
This book totally missed my expectations. Characters were annoying... But it really feels like home for some reason. So I love it anyway.
sleepybythelake's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'll update this once I have time, but loved this so much! These kids are just insane, I love them.
UPDATE
So I'm actually writing after finishing The Raven King. I literally read that after I finished this one. Basically, I've read a book a day lol
ANYWAY, I liked The Foxhole Court a lot. I was kinda in a reading slump and this took me out of it!
I kept reading, I couldn't put the book down, I needed to know more. This was soooo entraining, although of course the characters have to deal with some real shit.
Neil is so funny istg, Kevin a must protect and Andrew is... well insane, but he grew up on me at the end (THOUGH NOT AS MUCH AS IN THE SECOND BOOK OMG)
The other main characters are just the best. I know I said this already but I love all of them so so much.
Like, I'm so excited I can't even find the words!
UPDATE
So I'm actually writing after finishing The Raven King. I literally read that after I finished this one. Basically, I've read a book a day lol
ANYWAY, I liked The Foxhole Court a lot. I was kinda in a reading slump and this took me out of it!
I kept reading, I couldn't put the book down, I needed to know more. This was soooo entraining, although of course the characters have to deal with some real shit.
Neil is so funny istg, Kevin a must protect and Andrew is... well insane, but he grew up on me at the end (THOUGH NOT AS MUCH AS IN THE SECOND BOOK OMG)
The other main characters are just the best. I know I said this already but I love all of them so so much.
Like, I'm so excited I can't even find the words!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Cursing
dunder_mifflin's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, and I'm excited to read the next one now! I was kind of hesitant about reading this series at first, since it was hyped up a lot on Tumblr, but I ended up giving it a shot (obviously) and I'm glad I did. I like reading about fucked up people and fucked up relationships and so this was evidently a good choice for me. I don't think it's quite worth five stars because it wasn't written well enough for that and in a few places I found myself a little confused, having to Google things or ask others who'd read the books to clarify one or two things. But really enjoyable anyway, and next up: The Raven King.