Reviews with content warning for Murder - Des secrets bien cachés: Une équipe de marginaux, T1

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Des secrets bien cachés: Une équipe de marginaux, T1 by Nora Sakavic

165 reviews

trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

Phewwww

Okay, let me get the things I didn't like out of the way first:

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.

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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.

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mkw1lson's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book is both exactly what I expected it to be and not at all what I expected it to be, which actually ended up being a very good thing.

Here's the thing - the premise is objectively ridiculous, however, the best thing this book does is just accept that. It's like watching a soap opera - you know it's ridiculous, you know the characters are over the top and the situation is (at minimum) improbable, but the emotional weight still exists. The story is still compelling and the characters are still interesting. Really, the root of this story is a young guy - Neil - who is lost and lonely, and he just wants something to hold on to. After spending so long just surviving, he chooses to live a bit. Remove everything extra, and how deeply relatable is that?

This books greatest strength is definitely in the characters.

That said, this is the weakest book of the series. The pace is a little off and the structure is a bit odd to me. There are characters who I think (?) I'm supposed to like that do awful things, and it's never adequately address to move on from. It also felt very odd to have a mentally ill character skipping their meds as being "sober"...? The book is written from a limited third person POV, unreliable narrator, but it still seems an odd choice.

Still, I enjoyed reading it! It was a quick read and I was engrossed enough by the end of the first book to have already purchased the rest, so I would say it is absolutely worth the read. Heed the warnings though!

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m4ximus_pr1m3's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

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? Yes

4.75

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amoonymess's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book is so bad it actually turns all the way around and it turns out so good that you end up obsessed.

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nikoops's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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? Yes

5.0

As you will probably read in several reviews: people generally do not recommend this book despite giving it 5/5 stars. It’s a fun read, one that I have read over and over again, but it’s not without its flaws. Be sure to read the warnings others post.

Describing The Foxhole Court (and The All for the Game series as a whole) is difficult. It’s decently written, with interesting character studies; the plot is fairly ridiculous, and borderline non-sensical, but all in all it’s fun. It’s the CW show of your sport’s books.

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