Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Лисья нора

I would've dnf'd it if my friends hadn't made me finish it.
The diversity is little to none and it's poorly written at that, there are no canonically POC characters, the queer characters' identities are barely spoken about beyond Nicky making sexual jokes about other male characters and kissing Neil without his consent once and Neil mentioning that he doesn't feel attraction to anyone. Andrew's mental illness doesn't fit the criteria for any actual mental illness and perpetuates the idea that mental illness makes people dangerous and crazy. There was no plot at all, I could've read the first and last 20 pages and I would've gotten the same thing out of the book. The writing was bad as well and the book took me 2+ months to finish when I usually finish books about this length in a week tops.

Content Warnings

ediedidntdie's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I adore this book, which is very embarrassing to admit.

If you like terribly written books with amazing characters, then I recommend this book.

To be honest, the first book in this series is more of a really really long first chapeter; but if you can get through it, the series does become better.

The plot doesn’t make sense. Following Neil Josten, a serial killers son who’s been running from his father all his life and has finally decided to stop running in order to follow his life long dream of becoming an “exy” star (a made up, extremely dangerous sport) on an collage team made up of lost young people. And you may be thinking “Why would I want to read a book about a fictional sport” well I thought that too, and trust me you shouldn’t want to read it it’s shit.

The opinions on the characters change with each reader, however If you don’t like any of them there’s a very VERY slight chance of you liking this book.

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have a new favorite series and I'm not sorry about it. I'm going to find it slightly difficult to distinguish between the three books in my review because I read them all in a row, but I will do my best.

Neil is my favorite kind of character. He is so freaking chaotic and closed off but at the same time has the simplest wishes and needs and is willing to do literally anything to make them happen. This boy will risk his life to play a sport for a year and have an opportunity to call a place home. I love him, I want to protect him, he is my new child.

There are some seriously dark aspects to this book. I knew about the content warnings going in, but I was still surprised with how dark it got in places. There is forced drugging pretty quick in the series and the levels of abuse that these characters have faced in the past is absolutely horrifying but I love them so much.

I am not a huge sports person in real life but I freaking love Exy. It's made up, but is basically like a mix of lacrosse and handball and soccer. Kevin Day is a treasure. Andrew Minyard is a freaking demon and I love him. Nicky is too pure for this world. I love these idiot children.

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fthepatriarchy's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

this was written in like 2020 before these became my comfort books lol

okay first off i have 0 interest in sport. absolutely none. i’m only reading this for the characters. i like neil but his absolute lack of humour annoys me. make a joke. just one. please.
it’s actually a good book though, it has a lot of triggers + i put as many as i can think of but probably google the rest.
the writing style’s really matter-of-fact? like there’s little to no description but honestly i really like it.
the coach calling everyone the r slur is not appreciated though ☹️ everyone in this book is so aggressive. i actually weirdly like andrew? maybe just because i’ve struggled w similar problems but if he’d tone down the scary aggression then i’d like him.

Content Warnings

foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Seriously though what the fuck is Exy?? Does anyone actually know. And no addicting is NOT an answer even though it's true.

Rep: Aspec male MC with PTSD and anxiety, queer side character that is addicted to drugs, Black female side character, half Mexican/biracial gay side character, side character with depression, Japanese side character, involvement of Japanese mafia.

CWs: Ableism (including use of r-slur), addiction, alcohol and alcohol abuse/binge drinking, bullying/hazing, cursing, drug abuse, drug use, drugging of character against their will, homophobia (use of slurs), mental illness (anxiety, PTSD, depression), murder, panic attacks/disorders, toxic friendship, violence, vomit, past mentions of child abuse, past mentions of domestic, emotional and physical abuse to child and spouse, death, death of parent, medical trauma, misogyny, suicidal thoughts/ideation, sexism.

More detailed break down of all CWs for the WHOLE SERIES

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