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A review by pastelwriter
The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
2024 brief thoughts:
I stand by everything my past self has said. The day this book stops being my all time favorite and my comfort read…is the day I’m dead. The Foxhole Court brain rot will live on forever ✌🏼
Review written in 2018:
Look. I'm going to be completely honest here. This was the second time I read this book since I first read it in 2016, and I am extremely biased in favor of this book. The reason for this is (mostly) because of one of the characters. Neil Josten was one of the first characters I read about that I GENUINELY identified with. I had read plenty of books before and enjoyed them and liked the characters, but Neil Josten was one of the first characters I truly saw myself in. Between his sexuality (which is explored further in the rest of the trilogy) and his persistence on saying "I'm fine" when he's not, I greatly connected with him the first time I read this novel, and that connection still remains to this day. I tried to read this novel objectively, but I have to admit I failed. This book is too close to my heart, for many reasons, for me to even pretend at objectivity.
The primordial thing that needs to be acknowledged about this book is that this is a story about terrible boys doing terrible things. This is the ultimate book for any of you who love problematic faves. All of these boys, especially the deeper you go into the series, reveal themselves to be even more problematic. If that's not your thing, though, if you're looking to read about well behaved boys, or even just nice ones, this is not the book for you. This book is about rude boys, mean boys, violent boys, drug abusing boys, etc etc. Especially in this first installment, they're all very difficult to love except maybe Neil and Matt. It's not always pleasant to follow these boys and the bad things they do, but it is what it is.
I want to point out, though, that the terrible things they do are never played off as okay things to do. They may not always face consequences for their decisions, but Neil calls out the others on their toxic/negative/bad behavior. I just wanted to make that clear.
The second fact which is important to point out about this book is that you have to suspend your belief on what is reality while reading it. You cannot expect a 100% realistic world from this book. A lot of the things that happen in this book are very out there and sometimes feel downright unrealistic. Neil often makes choices that make you think no one in the real world in his position would do, but it's just something you have to accept. This book is all about drama and secret convoluted plots and twisted backstories and all that good stuff, so if you're not up for that then stay away from this book. Let me emphasize the DRAMA aspect of it. Seriously. It feels just short of a telenovela. You have been warned.
Finally, before I speak about why I love this book instead of just giving you warnings, you need to know that this book is about two major things. It's about two boys' obsession with a sport, and it's about discovering the motivations behind another boy's violent and explosive behavior. If you want things to make sense from the start, for character motivations to be clear cut from the beginning, don't hold your breath. Also, if you're too big on sports you will probably not enjoy this book because (apparently) the team dynamics are very unrealistic, but also if you hate sports a lot you might not enjoy this book. When I first read this I really hated sports, and yet I still found myself enjoying it. The truth of the matter is this book focuses HEAVILY on sports, and this will probably greatly affect how you feel about it.
That's all for my warnings. On to my two main reasons for loving this book (apart from the fact that all my warnings above did not hinder my enjoyment of this book).
The biggest reason, which I hinted at in the first paragraph of this review, I loved this book was because of Neil Josten. Neil Josten and his big mouth are 80% of the reason why I eat up this trilogy like it's candy. Scratch that. Neil Josten, as a whole, is 80% of the reason why I'm obsessed with this series. It's not just about me relating to him for who he is. It's also the fact that I thoroughly enjoy following this dumbass around. Yes. I (fondly) call him a dumbass because just you read this book and try not to think he's both dumb and smart. He is both things simultaneously, and I love him to bits. You can tear my love for this boy from my cold dead hands. I want to love and protect him, and I want him to know what love and happiness is. He deserves the world. I did warn you I was biased about this book because of him, right? Right. I could write a whole essay solely on all the reasons why I adore this boy, but I'm not gonna bother you guys with that. Just know that Neil Josten owns my heart, and I'm not even mad.
The second reason I adore this book is because of the dialogues. All the characters are witty and sharp tongued, and it is the most entertaining thing to read. It's not realistic for all of them to be so quick witted, but I don't give a damn. All their quips and jibes at each other are what have me highlighting nearly every page of this book. The sass levels are out of this world, and I live for it. If you guys could see the notes I wrote while rereading this book, you would see how I pointed out their dialogue at least three separate times. It really is something to behold.
As a small side note, as I'll probably speak more in depth about him when I reread the rest of the trilogy and write reviews of the following books, Andrew Minyard is a bastard during this whole book, and I love him. You'll probably hate him when you read this book for the first time, but if you just lay back and enjoy all his asshole behavior for what it is (i.e him being a jerk 99% of the time just because he can), you'll have a good time.
That's all I have to say about The Foxhole Court. Watch me next week wax poetic about Neil and Andrew and their development in book two. It's gonna be a fun one.
I stand by everything my past self has said. The day this book stops being my all time favorite and my comfort read…is the day I’m dead. The Foxhole Court brain rot will live on forever ✌🏼
Review written in 2018:
Look. I'm going to be completely honest here. This was the second time I read this book since I first read it in 2016, and I am extremely biased in favor of this book. The reason for this is (mostly) because of one of the characters. Neil Josten was one of the first characters I read about that I GENUINELY identified with. I had read plenty of books before and enjoyed them and liked the characters, but Neil Josten was one of the first characters I truly saw myself in. Between his sexuality (which is explored further in the rest of the trilogy) and his persistence on saying "I'm fine" when he's not, I greatly connected with him the first time I read this novel, and that connection still remains to this day. I tried to read this novel objectively, but I have to admit I failed. This book is too close to my heart, for many reasons, for me to even pretend at objectivity.
The primordial thing that needs to be acknowledged about this book is that this is a story about terrible boys doing terrible things. This is the ultimate book for any of you who love problematic faves. All of these boys, especially the deeper you go into the series, reveal themselves to be even more problematic. If that's not your thing, though, if you're looking to read about well behaved boys, or even just nice ones, this is not the book for you. This book is about rude boys, mean boys, violent boys, drug abusing boys, etc etc. Especially in this first installment, they're all very difficult to love except maybe Neil and Matt. It's not always pleasant to follow these boys and the bad things they do, but it is what it is.
I want to point out, though, that the terrible things they do are never played off as okay things to do. They may not always face consequences for their decisions, but Neil calls out the others on their toxic/negative/bad behavior. I just wanted to make that clear.
The second fact which is important to point out about this book is that you have to suspend your belief on what is reality while reading it. You cannot expect a 100% realistic world from this book. A lot of the things that happen in this book are very out there and sometimes feel downright unrealistic. Neil often makes choices that make you think no one in the real world in his position would do, but it's just something you have to accept. This book is all about drama and secret convoluted plots and twisted backstories and all that good stuff, so if you're not up for that then stay away from this book. Let me emphasize the DRAMA aspect of it. Seriously. It feels just short of a telenovela. You have been warned.
Finally, before I speak about why I love this book instead of just giving you warnings, you need to know that this book is about two major things. It's about two boys' obsession with a sport, and it's about discovering the motivations behind another boy's violent and explosive behavior. If you want things to make sense from the start, for character motivations to be clear cut from the beginning, don't hold your breath. Also, if you're too big on sports you will probably not enjoy this book because (apparently) the team dynamics are very unrealistic, but also if you hate sports a lot you might not enjoy this book. When I first read this I really hated sports, and yet I still found myself enjoying it. The truth of the matter is this book focuses HEAVILY on sports, and this will probably greatly affect how you feel about it.
That's all for my warnings. On to my two main reasons for loving this book (apart from the fact that all my warnings above did not hinder my enjoyment of this book).
The biggest reason, which I hinted at in the first paragraph of this review, I loved this book was because of Neil Josten. Neil Josten and his big mouth are 80% of the reason why I eat up this trilogy like it's candy. Scratch that. Neil Josten, as a whole, is 80% of the reason why I'm obsessed with this series. It's not just about me relating to him for who he is. It's also the fact that I thoroughly enjoy following this dumbass around. Yes. I (fondly) call him a dumbass because just you read this book and try not to think he's both dumb and smart. He is both things simultaneously, and I love him to bits. You can tear my love for this boy from my cold dead hands. I want to love and protect him, and I want him to know what love and happiness is. He deserves the world. I did warn you I was biased about this book because of him, right? Right. I could write a whole essay solely on all the reasons why I adore this boy, but I'm not gonna bother you guys with that. Just know that Neil Josten owns my heart, and I'm not even mad.
The second reason I adore this book is because of the dialogues. All the characters are witty and sharp tongued, and it is the most entertaining thing to read. It's not realistic for all of them to be so quick witted, but I don't give a damn. All their quips and jibes at each other are what have me highlighting nearly every page of this book. The sass levels are out of this world, and I live for it. If you guys could see the notes I wrote while rereading this book, you would see how I pointed out their dialogue at least three separate times. It really is something to behold.
As a small side note, as I'll probably speak more in depth about him when I reread the rest of the trilogy and write reviews of the following books, Andrew Minyard is a bastard during this whole book, and I love him. You'll probably hate him when you read this book for the first time, but if you just lay back and enjoy all his asshole behavior for what it is (i.e him being a jerk 99% of the time just because he can), you'll have a good time.
That's all I have to say about The Foxhole Court. Watch me next week wax poetic about Neil and Andrew and their development in book two. It's gonna be a fun one.