A review by dododenise
The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

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

3.0

(this was a reread and this is a new review)

This book is better and still as bad as I remember it. It is better because this time I was able to keep track of the characters, whereas last time I felt overrun by them. It also helped that I knew what I was getting into this time around. 

My main criticism remains: this book feels like a prologue. The storyline is not fit for an entire book. The pacing is off and in no shape or form is this the story a book should follow. There’s a reason why many books follow similar arcs. It makes this book a drag even though it really doesn’t need to be. The characters are intriguing already. But if everything around it doesn’t work, then reading this book is a piece of work. And the party scene will probably always remain one of my most hated moments in books ever. 

If only looking at this book I’d say the author probably is homophobic and ableist (and I’d assume bigoted in other ways too). The constant slurs, the way Nicky is written as the only visibly queer character in this book… It’s just not great. I assume it is not like that, she definitely redeems herself somewhat with more visibly queer characters later in the series. But it still makes this book problematic. 

If I didn’t love these characters and made me somewhat enjoy this book I would’ve given it an even lower rating. I’m excited that this is over and I can get into the good stuff with the next books.