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A review by sawyer_obrien
The King's Men by Nora Sakavic
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
This series but especially this novel is truly special to me. The All for the Game series stuck with me due to it's strong character development and an interesting plot line. The series features the main character, Neil Josten, a striker for a sport called exy. Exy is a bastardization of lacrosse that requires intense focus and skill. Neil is on the run from his father, a known serial killer, but makes the choice to play the sport he loves at the risk of his safety.
This is a new adult level novel as it is set in college and has many trigger warnings. Please read through them carefully before deciding to read!
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Character development:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Character development is one of the strongest aspects of this series. Though the plot may be wildly fantastical, the development of characters is incredibly realistic based off of their personalities and the experiences they go through
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The plot of this series is out of this world and incredibly complex. Personally, I don't mind that it is unrealistic in places because I think you have to go in expecting a bit of that. The three main plotlines are well woven so that, by the end, nothing feels out of place.
Diversity: ⭐⭐⭐
This was incredibly difficult for me to score. The representation of queer identities is strong compared to the average book, but the racial/ethnic diversity is lacking. However, the fandom makes up for that. Where there are characters that have very few physical descriptions, they have built up the cast to compromise of different types of people that weren't necessarily present in the text. If taking the book completely out of context, I would probably rate the diversity two stars for the gay and demisexual representation. If you count that the fandom labels characters as bisexual, black, asian, indigenous, etc. that score goes goes significantly up. Take my score with a grain of salt and just know that the author is a flawed human being and the actual text does not contain the amount of representation it ought to.
Willingness to reread:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is my favorite book. I will reread it over and over and each time I will focus on a new quote that I love or interaction that made me stop and think about the way I look at certain aspects of my life
Writing style:⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is originally a Russian novel and has been self published in English. There are mistakes. I was willing to overlook them in this case because everything else made up for it in my opinion. The narrator, a third person limited view of the main character, Neil Josten, has a very specific style. There are a lot of paragraphs of text describing past events or connections that Neil makes. I enjoy this type of writing style, but if you prefer more interaction based and dialogue heavy text, you may not enjoy this as much as I did.
Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book does begin the romance of the series. It is not a typical romance in that there are very clear boundaries that they each adhere to. Personally, I really appreciate this portrayal. It is very rare that you see romances written between characters who have experienced trauma to this extent and I actually think Sakavic did a good job with it. I have never read anything with consent this well done.
Sports accuracy:⭐⭐⭐⭐
As someone who played lacrosse for many years, certain parts of the sports descriptions stood out to me in a negative way. You can tell that the author has never played a sport similar to this. Granted, it is a fictional sport, so a certain amount you will just have to accept as the nature of the sport. I was able to overlook the few places that the lack of sports knowledge shone through and if you aren't a sports person, I don't think it will distract from the novel at all.
Please note the trigger warnings on this series and this book in particular. The King's Men mostly has descriptions of torture and if you can't read that, I strongly suggest skipping this book!
If you'd like to discuss this book, please DM me at sawyer.reading on Instagram, I'd absolutely love to chat!
This is a new adult level novel as it is set in college and has many trigger warnings. Please read through them carefully before deciding to read!
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Character development:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Character development is one of the strongest aspects of this series. Though the plot may be wildly fantastical, the development of characters is incredibly realistic based off of their personalities and the experiences they go through
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The plot of this series is out of this world and incredibly complex. Personally, I don't mind that it is unrealistic in places because I think you have to go in expecting a bit of that. The three main plotlines are well woven so that, by the end, nothing feels out of place.
Diversity: ⭐⭐⭐
This was incredibly difficult for me to score. The representation of queer identities is strong compared to the average book, but the racial/ethnic diversity is lacking. However, the fandom makes up for that. Where there are characters that have very few physical descriptions, they have built up the cast to compromise of different types of people that weren't necessarily present in the text. If taking the book completely out of context, I would probably rate the diversity two stars for the gay and demisexual representation. If you count that the fandom labels characters as bisexual, black, asian, indigenous, etc. that score goes goes significantly up. Take my score with a grain of salt and just know that the author is a flawed human being and the actual text does not contain the amount of representation it ought to.
Willingness to reread:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is my favorite book. I will reread it over and over and each time I will focus on a new quote that I love or interaction that made me stop and think about the way I look at certain aspects of my life
Writing style:⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is originally a Russian novel and has been self published in English. There are mistakes. I was willing to overlook them in this case because everything else made up for it in my opinion. The narrator, a third person limited view of the main character, Neil Josten, has a very specific style. There are a lot of paragraphs of text describing past events or connections that Neil makes. I enjoy this type of writing style, but if you prefer more interaction based and dialogue heavy text, you may not enjoy this as much as I did.
Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book does begin the romance of the series. It is not a typical romance in that there are very clear boundaries that they each adhere to. Personally, I really appreciate this portrayal. It is very rare that you see romances written between characters who have experienced trauma to this extent and I actually think Sakavic did a good job with it. I have never read anything with consent this well done.
Sports accuracy:⭐⭐⭐⭐
As someone who played lacrosse for many years, certain parts of the sports descriptions stood out to me in a negative way. You can tell that the author has never played a sport similar to this. Granted, it is a fictional sport, so a certain amount you will just have to accept as the nature of the sport. I was able to overlook the few places that the lack of sports knowledge shone through and if you aren't a sports person, I don't think it will distract from the novel at all.
Please note the trigger warnings on this series and this book in particular. The King's Men mostly has descriptions of torture and if you can't read that, I strongly suggest skipping this book!
If you'd like to discuss this book, please DM me at sawyer.reading on Instagram, I'd absolutely love to chat!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism and Child abuse