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ericageorge91's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.25
The Foxhole Court follows Neil Josten, a boy trying to outrun his violent past. He gets recruited to a college Exy team, the Palmetto Foxes. A ragtag bunch whose members have only one thing in common: they all needed a second chance.
In 2016, I devoured this trilogy in a week. Right now, my reread has proven that this was definitely not the 5⭐️ read I remember 🥴 I never noticed the massive amounts of exposition, for one thing, and the amount of times a grown man threw around the R word was certainly…something.
This isn’t the most realistic story, okay? By any means. The author didn’t want to research a sport so she created her own which may or may not be her approach towards the drugs in this universe. I don’t want to say this reads like fanfiction because there are quality fan-made stories out there, but parts of this story felt like someone prompted a Tumblr user to write a found family, sports AU with queer angst.
To be fair, I think she delivered on that count. I think about these characters to this day. I read fanfiction about these characters to this day. I think the characters are the best part, to be honest. If you want a brain off, just vibes book, you could give this a chance.
If you do decide to read this story DO NOT listen to the audiobook! You know how when someone does something talented, people will say, “Oh, rent was DUE!!” This guy…. 🤦🏾♀️ Rent was not due. Mortgage was not due. In fact, he received a generous gift and bought the place in cash. He sucked any and all soul from this story. All the characters sound the same and he sounds like someone told him to do a Fonzy impression the entire narration. It’s embarrassing.
TW: Child abuse, murder, death, drinking, drug use, flashbacks, ablest slurs, sexual assault (forced kissing under the influence)
Rep: Asexual MMC, gay side character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Vomit
lim's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, and Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
lunalunera's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Vomit, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Ableism
marc_le's review against another edition
dark
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Drug use
Minor: Homophobia and Ableism
infinite_helix's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
I literally cannot rate this. It’s amazing. It’s awful. I want to hide the characters away and also smack half of them upside the head for being assholes. So much problematic. But omg did I devour this. Like in two days. As in: up till the wee hours squinting at my phone screen. As in: immediately had the urge to make myself a jersey for this fake college sports team. I love vicious, damaged people being unabashedly different, not doing anything by “normal” rules because they aren’t “normal” and shouldn’t have to pretend to be, and still there’s love and loyalty and it’s twisted and warped from trauma and pain but is it not still love?
There’s something about seeing your ugly parts you’ve hidden being reflected so honestly in a book and being told you can still win and be a team and be a champion and leave the things you don’t want and move on and you don’t have to be soft, you can be ugly and callused and you’ll find your people who understand and know and are doing the same and they will love you and you will love them and that’s what it’s about.
There’s something about seeing your ugly parts you’ve hidden being reflected so honestly in a book and being told you can still win and be a team and be a champion and leave the things you don’t want and move on and you don’t have to be soft, you can be ugly and callused and you’ll find your people who understand and know and are doing the same and they will love you and you will love them and that’s what it’s about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Self harm, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Bullying, Outing, Mental illness, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Murder
Literally so many horrible things propelling all of the characters and their relationships but the overarching plot is that they are all (except for Andrew) desperate to play this sport that consumes their lives and gives them purpose. To the point they’re willing to face off against gangs and their horrible pasts barreling towards them for the chance to make this team legendary. They are all deeply traumatized and have terrible coping mechanisms and take it out on each other frequently. But they are also a team, and they will not let one of their number be taken away.giou's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
amelierawr's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
This will be a rant
(in the following I will mention drug abuse and sexual assault)
This was garbage, yet I still enjoyed the read. It has so many problems that I don't know were to start. The plot is alright overall, your typical dark fanfiction shit, but it was intriguing enough to keep me reading.
It's fast paced and has a lot of issues plot wise, but I can look past that. What bothered me the most and caused actual problems were the damn characters. I think i never felt so much hatred towards a whole cast.
I went into the book knowing the trigger warnings so it luckily didn't catch me off guard, yet I think Im allowed to take issue on how such triggering topics got handled. It was bad- like really really bad.
The main cast is a sports team put together by the coach, who gives people that went through a lot in their life another chance. They all have some issues, but that doesn't excuse their behaviour in any way.
My main problem lies with the 3 cousins. In one scene they force feed the mc drugs and held him down when he tried to flee, one even sexually assaulted him later on, yet they never really face any consequences. The coach does scream at them, as they've done something similar to another player too. But they don't face any risk of being thrown out the team at all.
I get that coach tries to give everyone second, third or even fourth chances, knowing they wouldn't get them elsewhere, but that's just ignorant and hurts to see. It never get's really addressed in the book of how disturbing that was, even the mc "brushes it off" a few days later.
Im just disappointed. The only bearable characters were Matt and Dan, kudos to them for having mental heath issues but still knowing how to treat others like human beings. /s
Putting your characters through the most traumatic shit imaginable doesn't equal good writing/dark fiction.
The "romance" was a complete disaster, because it's based on exactly those unresolved issues. If the author had more interest in actually establishing the characters and not focus on how corny and dark they can go, I think this would have been much much better.
I don't have a problem with reading about toxic relationships in general, but at least make it understandable why it is the way it is, like how they cannot break up even when the relationships hurts one of them/ both in the end.
++positive thing was the great dynamics the characters had, even when most of the dialogue was insulting I genuinely laughed at some of those interactions.
torn between either giving a 1/5 or 4/5, which is why I will let it stay unrated
(in the following I will mention drug abuse and sexual assault)
This was garbage, yet I still enjoyed the read. It has so many problems that I don't know were to start. The plot is alright overall, your typical dark fanfiction shit, but it was intriguing enough to keep me reading.
It's fast paced and has a lot of issues plot wise, but I can look past that. What bothered me the most and caused actual problems were the damn characters. I think i never felt so much hatred towards a whole cast.
I went into the book knowing the trigger warnings so it luckily didn't catch me off guard, yet I think Im allowed to take issue on how such triggering topics got handled. It was bad- like really really bad.
The main cast is a sports team put together by the coach, who gives people that went through a lot in their life another chance. They all have some issues, but that doesn't excuse their behaviour in any way.
My main problem lies with the 3 cousins. In one scene they force feed the mc drugs and held him down when he tried to flee, one even sexually assaulted him later on, yet they never really face any consequences. The coach does scream at them, as they've done something similar to another player too. But they don't face any risk of being thrown out the team at all.
I get that coach tries to give everyone second, third or even fourth chances, knowing they wouldn't get them elsewhere, but that's just ignorant and hurts to see. It never get's really addressed in the book of how disturbing that was, even the mc "brushes it off" a few days later.
Im just disappointed. The only bearable characters were Matt and Dan, kudos to them for having mental heath issues but still knowing how to treat others like human beings. /s
Putting your characters through the most traumatic shit imaginable doesn't equal good writing/dark fiction.
The "romance" was a complete disaster, because it's based on exactly those unresolved issues. If the author had more interest in actually establishing the characters and not focus on how corny and dark they can go, I think this would have been much much better.
I don't have a problem with reading about toxic relationships in general, but at least make it understandable why it is the way it is, like how they cannot break up even when the relationships hurts one of them/ both in the end.
++positive thing was the great dynamics the characters had, even when most of the dialogue was insulting I genuinely laughed at some of those interactions.
torn between either giving a 1/5 or 4/5, which is why I will let it stay unrated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Drug use
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
Minor: Misogyny
pitsikakku's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Ableism, Homophobia, Drug use, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent
slightlylostwriter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
3.0
On both subjective and objective levels, this book had many problems, some of which bothered me greatly, others which didn't, except on a few occasions. It had many flaws, but I had fun with it. It's bizarre. It's all over the place. It's short but could've been shorter. The characters are very over the top. Some concerning things are glossed over that should not be so (ableist and homophobic language, a SA scene, nonconsensual drugging to name a few), and you should be aware of this going into the book.
If I was Neil, and thankfully I'm not, I would've left the foxes at the very least after Eden. Most of them are not good people, which can be attributed to their trauma in most cases but does not make everything they say or do okay in any way. I care for them as fictional people but would not want to be associated with them in real life.
This book is not for everyone, and it is a MUST to read the trigger warnings cause there are MANY.
I will read the rest of the series because I care about the characters, and it was a fun read because of how ridiculous it was.
If I was Neil, and thankfully I'm not, I would've left the foxes at the very least after Eden. Most of them are not good people, which can be attributed to their trauma in most cases but does not make everything they say or do okay in any way. I care for them as fictional people but would not want to be associated with them in real life.
This book is not for everyone, and it is a MUST to read the trigger warnings cause there are MANY.
I will read the rest of the series because I care about the characters, and it was a fun read because of how ridiculous it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Addiction, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Emotional abuse
walkintime's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
2.0
What even is this book. While I was reading it this was all I could think about. This has been on my radar for a while now, since lots of people seem to like it a lot and I think, if I read this like in 2014, I would've gotten it. I would've understood the nuances of problematic characters creating a somewhat found family but, reading it now, I just don't get it. There are so many questionable things happening and the characters seem to be just some random assessment of trauma and toxic relationships which they replicate between themselves. It tries to be really deep and touching at times but it ends up showing just how many layers this can have of problem. I also think most of the time the author just added up random trauma and addiction to this characters so that they could have some depth because really their entire personalities are based on that. Also, that Exy thing was weird as hell I read this entire book and I still don't understand how this works. Anyways, I'm giving 2 stars because after all I finished it so it was at least entertaining enough for me to do it and also because I'm considering reading the sequel just to see how far the author goes with this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Ableism, and Drug abuse