The Foxhole Court (All for the Game) (Volume 1)

I would give it 3.5 stars if that were an option. The book did captivate me but I was a bit put off by the sometimes difficult to follow plot. All the characters are "quirky" and some harder to figure out than others. It is this aspect of the book that does make it a compelling read. I did download book 2 of the series but have not begun to read it yet. Hopefully as more is revealed I will be able to rate it hire. Based on the reviews I read which for the most part were raves about the book, I believe it has greater appeal to a younger audience like recent college grads,

This is super slowburn - you really have to read the others for a full story. I've read better fanfiction, but this is pretty decent for published m/m fiction, especially for the price of the series. And there's established fandom which is nice.

I love, love, loved the first book. Honestly I'm trash for a good novel with an odd protagonist but this had everything I wanted, drugs, sporty people, violence, all the yaaaas. I Love Nora Sakavic and I know its a nom de plume but whoever you are, my exy goddess, i love you

This has great ratings and I'd heard such good things about it, but I thought it was terrible. I didn't think it was well written - particularly the very stilted dialogue. People speak in contractions, and if none of your characters speak in contractions it reads like you're a 14 year old writing an assignment for class. I also didn't like any of the characters, but that doesn't always preclude me from liking a book. I think my biggest issue with the story was the lack of world building. It was unclear if it was supposed to take place in the future or in an AU or what, and there was really no introduction to the world the story was set in. Going along with that, I couldn't get past the fact that she had this set in a world of college athletics and the NCAA. Nothing about how the NCAA of this book functioned was accurate, and it frustrated me so much. Obviously this won't bother people that don't know how college sports work, but I wish the author had made up a pretend governing body if she was going to completely disregard how NCAA sports work.

Clearly a lot of people love this book, but I honestly don't get the appeal. A lot the things that bothered me about it are the same things that bother me about most of the fanfic out there, so maybe people that read a lot of fanfic won't be bothered by the things I saw as flaws. I don't know.

I don't know who the audience for this series is, but it is some sort of cult favorite for people with no taste.

To me, this book was written by somebody who thought, "wow, I wish I could make an anime, but I can't, so I'll just write a book instead." And they proceeded to create one of the absolute worst books I have ever read, if not THE worst. I think the fact that this book gets nothing but rave reviews made my anger at this book even worse because I was expecting, like, you know.... a story? This isn't even a story. It's a self-indulgent vomiting of words onto paper.

The sport in it isn't a sport. The author doesn't even bother to give a satisfactory explanation of the rules or anything to give you a concrete picture of what the ENTIRE NOVEL is based around. You just have this vague idea of "Exy" and it's a sport and there are rackets I think, and that's about all you get. Exy is just a tool to explore the relationships between a bunch of unrealistic, cartoony characters who would never, ever exist in any realm of reality and are therefore absolutely pointless to read about.

I can go on, and on, and ON about the reasons I hate this book. There are no redeeming factors whatsoever. This isn't a book about anything at all and it will make you feel like you are losing IQ points to read it. It is just pure garbage. Maybe I'm too old and too used to reading actual literature instead of Tumblr posts, but I guess I just wasn't the right audience.

Okay. So I read The Foxhole Court (and the other two books) in the All for the Game series. I did it For Friendship. It’s really the only reason I actually finished all three of them. (They are all very much parts of one story. The last book is marginally better than the first two, but only very marginally.)

The kindest thing I can say about these books is that they’re a mess and apparently I am not in the audience for them.

(This surprises me, to be honest. I was very willing to like them, or at the very least to have fun with them and enjoy them.)

The more honest thing I can say is that it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone is in the audience for them. Looking at most of the glowing reviews on Goodreads and the store and at the wild enthusiasm on Tumblr makes me feel like I’m being hoaxed, or gaslighted, to some unknown purpose. I felt like maybe I was reading an entirely different version of the book than everyone else, or like I was crazy, or dumb. But I’m not a stupid reader, I swear.

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s enjoyment, for those who are super into these. But I have been asking, WHY do you like these? Help me understand. (And I’m still open to hearing more about it, if anyone wants to share.) And so far, everyone who has responded has basically said, well, they’re not objectively good, but I love the characters. Which… okay, fair. It’s like Teen Wolf (except way worse; although conversely, Teen Wolf has a lot more money and input behind it and thus should be more ashamed of itself for its egregious issues).

The real question that I want answered (which I probably will not get answered) is “There are (inarguably) obstacles and problems in this book. Why were they way too much for me, but not too much for you? What was the redeeming good stuff that kept you reading and enjoying and loving it?” Because I am hard pressed to find any.

I was too distracted —
- By all the Fake Topics (Fake Sport. Fake Mafia. Fake Medication) that don’t really work that way, at all. (AND that don’t seem to have any kind of plot or story purpose, in some cases.)
- By terrible lack of research. (Especially as regards the Fake Topics. Like, I assumed — and later read it confirmed by the author — that she didn’t know enough about a real sport so she made up her own. But dude. If you’re going to do that, you have to know MORE about sports in general in order to do it in a way that makes sense. Just like if you want to make up your own language for your elves or aliens or whatever, you have to know A LOT about languages in general and how they are constructed and so on in order to make it sound good.) (And don’t even get me started on the Fake Medication. You couldn’t even EVER call it “meds” like real people do? Not to mention how it makes exactly zero sense that a character would be on meds with those effects for that reason. Not to mention how him coming off of them seems to have no effect whatsoever on his behavior, so what was the point of them in the first place? NOT TO MENTION the term “sobriety” which is so objectionably used throughout the books that it makes me steaming mad. See? It’s really hard to get into a story when you’re alternately wailing in frustrated despair because you don’t understand what’s happening, and raging because of stuff that is just so wrong and makes no sense, besides.)
- By illogical, unclear, unrealistic, unmotivated behavior. (Also wildly melodramatic.)
- By backstory that didn’t get revealed in a timely manner. (Timely so that I can understand and care about what’s happening.)
- By stilted dialogue and baffling character interactions and world-views. (Why don’t the characters make sense? Why is nearly everyone so unpleasant? Why is there so much abusive behavior? Why is there so little tenderness or connection — and what there is, is most often told rather than shown? Why is there this fixation with really weird (but never really EXPLORED) possessiveness/owning people? Why is it that it would make more sense if this were a paranormal book with vampires or magical bonds or something? Why does so much of the dialogue read like poorly translate subtitles? Why do characters have so many conversations that are FRAUGHT with intensity, but make no sense because I haven’t been given the information necessary to understand why what they’re talking about is important, or even, sometimes, what they’re talking about at all? (Finally, finally at the end there are a few conversations of those kinds that actually pay off, because I had finally been told or shown what I needed to know to understand and appreciate them. But it’s very much too little, too late.))
- By adequate but flat writing. (Though many of these story problems are also writing problems. But I’m saying — it’s so seldom funny, or witty, and there are no pretty metaphors or delicious language use here. Which probably would not really be appropriate for the story… I’m just saying that the language/writing/style is not a redeeming feature.)
- Most of all by constant, constant confusion — about what is happening, about why, about why I should care — and the resulting frustration.

Any one of these problems (aside from the last) I might be able to overcome. Heck, probably several of them. But it was just problem piled upon problem piled upon problem — and I couldn’t get past it, couldn’t get into the story enough, couldn’t stop being frustrated and confused long enough to truly engage.

Part of me kind of hopes that the author continues to write, because the intensity of character and story here were real. But it was all so unsuccessful in execution that there’s no way I could ever recommend these to anyone.

Warning unpopular review ahead:
I did not get the hype, first this was so WAY over the top, unbelievable and contrived. Exy & the description was confusing, it was kinda like box lacrosse so why make it up? How about drug testing and regulations in the NCAA, also any college level athlete trains like crazy their whole lives, this book has a bunch of strays who are thrown together - just no

As with many the store published stories, the "series" is more of a full book in three parts. There is a lot of telling instead of showing, and it all seems a bit rushed and like researching how crime families, therapy, sports, recruitment, or coaching works was not on the author's list of priorities. I could forgive most of this if every Japanese person in the series wasn't an evil Yakuza, dragging the book into even more predictable and slapped together plot territory. Neither content nor writing is good enough to excuse the flaws in the other. This is filler reading for when you're trapped on public transport and have nothing better to look at.

This was a baffling and at times infuriating read. I suppose it could be said that this is a plot-less book. I don’t mind a character driven story or a character study, but every book needs the tiniest of plot threads for it all to make sense. We don’t have to be dealing with some sort of high concept or elaborate plotline, but the reader does need a point in the distance, no matter how small, that they can look towards. The Foxhole Court does not have this. As I approached the end I routinely wondered how things would wrap up, not because the author did such a great job infusing mystery, but because there wasn’t anything to resolve. There was no arc from beginning to end.

If the book has strong points it is the characters. All of the conflict stems from their interactions and it is this conflict that compels the reader forward. Sadly these people occupy a very precarious world, one where its rules don’t make a whole lot of sense and the reader is left wondering if a bit of realism was introduced would any of this be happening at all. The answer is no. Essentially our protagonist Neil comes from a horrific background and has been on the run for years, changing his identity and trying to stay abreast of his tragic past. He is recruited for a made-up sport called Exy and is brought face to face with Kevin, someone who technically knows who he is and should be able to blow his cover. Kevin doesn’t recognize him (yet) but should have been enough to send Neil running for the hills. Instead Neil runs headlong towards Kevin (and disaster) even though it is avoidable.

So Neil begins playing for the Foxes and is introduced to a horde of sociopaths and just downright awful people, the worst of the worst being a homicidal dwarf called Andrew, who everyone seems to be afraid of for some inexplicable reason. Andrew is clearly unbalanced and belongs in jail, but we’re told he’s cut some sort of deal and is taking his medication, which quite frankly makes little sense in terms of how the drugs affect him throughout the story.

It’s difficult for me to describe what happens in this book because there aren’t really any touchstones for me to land on. Neil trains with his new teammates and he frets constantly over being exposed. He’s in an incredibly hostile environment, surrounded by people who don’t have his best interests at heart and yet he chooses to stay. What’s more is he knows how dangerous this all is, but we’re told that he has some sort of fixation on Kevin and that he hopes to play Exy for a few months. This is another thing. Neil knows he will only be able to keep up the façade for a short time before having to leave, which again makes me wonder why he doesn’t just go and avoid all of this mess in the first place.

Much of this was overlooked initially. I understood Neil came from an abusive background, that he was a scared boy, alone and looking for a bit of stability wherever he could get it. That’s sensible for the most part. But when we come to the scene where Andrew and his gang take Neil to Columbia I found myself enraged for him. It was an extraordinary violation, the worst we had seen from Andrew and his followers. Andrew orders Neil to go out with them, and though Neil knows they cannot be trusted he goes anyways. Perhaps he didn’t expect them to go quite so far. But the reality is they did, and this should have been the end for Neil. They drug him against his will, he is physically assaulted for the umpteenth by Andrew and there is even the threat of rape from Nicky, who has spent much of the book making passes at Neil. I was actually afraid for Neil in that moment, and maybe that was the intention, but for nothing to actually come of it, for no lesson to be learned was just dumbfounding. What is revealed about these characters in that moment is that they are not only dangerous, but that they have no respect for anyone or anything and think people are play things to be maneuvered and used.

The next morning Neil wakes up in a bed with Nicky, his memory unreliable, and his body completely wrecked from the drugs. He manages to escape through a bathroom window and hitchhike back to home base where he is chewed out by coach Wymack and his teammates. Their reaction is truly perplexing. Wymack and all of the adult authority figures carry the weight of a straw man. Their presence is wholly unneeded because they bring no order to the chaos. Wymack was worried about Neil’s safety when he finds out that Neil hitchhiked and yet unconcerned by Andrew’s little initiation ceremony. I suppose he doesn’t have a problem with allowing Neil to be assaulted and violated. Even worse, his teammates knew what Andrew was doing and didn’t really do anything to stop it. This is where I take serious issue. Are they all psychopaths? Do any of them have consciences? What sick world have we slipped into where this kind of behavior is suddenly acceptable, ignored, and goes unpunished by virtually everyone who occupies this world?

I assumed Neil would leave after this as what Andrew has done is unforgivable. No. He stays. He even seems fine with Andrew for the most part, though he isn’t sure about Nicky, who is quite possibly the most harmless member of that group.

The rest of the novel meanders aimlessly until we reach an end that completely lost me. At one point Neil publically defends Kevin and we come to find that it is the sign Andrew has been looking for. Apparently all of this abuse has been about protecting Kevin, and Andrew being unsure about whether or not Neil meant Kevin any harm. So Andrew breaking into Neil’s things and drugging him and threatening him was all for Kevin, but now that Neil has “proven” himself, Andrew is ready to invite Neil into the family. Andrew offers to protect Neil, to help him stop running. How this is to be done, I don’t know. It’s never explained why Andrew is so feared or why he is equipped to hold a powerful criminal family like the Moriyama’s at bay. Perhaps that is to come later. Or maybe it will never be explained because it just doesn’t make any sense. Still Neil accepts Andrew’s offer and goes out again with Andrew and his gang to Columbia. This is the height of stupidity and you’re left feeling that whatever happens to Neil at this point is his fault and deserved. I gathered that we’re supposed to feel like Andrew is not so bad now that he’s allowing Neil to choose if he wants to be drugged or not. But this is what I don’t get. Andrew is authoritative, controlling, and demeaning every step of the way. He has no physical boundaries, views people as his property, and constantly manhandles them. I thought I would go crazy if I had to read one more sentence where Andrew had seized Neil by the collar of his shirt or by the neck or arm. You would think Neil would loath being touched like that after what he came from, instead he allows it and accepts Andrew as his family though Neil repeatedly states his doesn’t believe in family. This is the end of the book.

So here we have it. The book moves along with no particular point at all, until we come to an end that left me not wanting to read any further. I can understand obsession and brokenness and even cruelty, but the Foxhole Court took it to a level that stretched the limits of believability. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be picking up any of the other books, though I do wish the author all the best with the rest of her career.

This is a contemporary thriller novel about a young man running away from his mafia/gang father and his obsession with a weird sport. I was disappointed because I thought this was supposed to be a romance novel. As far as I could tell, there was no relationship or romance at all. The sports parts were boring for me. What a little plot there was, was also boring. I guess it was supposed to be largely a character driven, but they were all, psychotic.

I loved/hated this book. My feelings towards it are so contradictory I don't even really know how to articulate them, but I'll try.

(very very minor spoilers ahead. Nothing that gives away any plot surprises or anything major.)

Things I liked:
- all the drama (this might be a minus for some people, but I love a good angsty story, so it was definitely a plus for me)
- the fast pace (again, this might be a minus for some people as the book did seem a bit rushed, but I don't think the book was good enough to hold my attention through anything long and drawn out so the fact that it was a super quick read was actually a plus in this case)
- the intensity/passion. This book gave me FEELS. Not always good feels, but lots of them. A big problem I have with a lot of the 'good' books out there, is that I feel that often times an author's attempts to make their book pretty/poetic/prose-y/whatever kind of sucks the raw emotion out of the story. The writing in this book was rough, for sure, but it was so full of emotion that I honestly prefer it to all those perfect books full of prose and pretty descriptions and endless metaphors.
- the characters. kind of. sometimes. Oh, these characters. They had so much potential! I loved them for that potential.

Things I really didn't like:
- all the melodrama. And yes, I know I put this on the 'pros' list as well. I love drama, I do. But so much of the drama in this book (and the rest of the series) just made no sense whatsoever. So much of it came from the characters making completely idiotic decisions for no logical reason other than that the author wanted there to be drama. If only the author had worked just a bit harder to create logical reasons behind all the drama.
- the writing. I know I said I prefer raw/passionate writing to clinically perfect writing, and that's true. But some of the grammar mistakes in this book drove me up a wall. Commas where there should be none. Nonexistent commas where commas needed to be. A really strange lack of contractions that made all of the dialogue sound completely unnatural and forced.
- the characters. Like I said before, the characters had so much potential! I feel, though, that the author tried so hard to make her characters 'edgy' that she forgot to make them realistic or likable. One of the characters, for example, straight up pulls knives on and threatens to murder his teammates. Or he straight up drugs them against their will. Or he straight up threatens to break their necks. Etc. Not okay! To me, these things are pretty much unforgivable. No matter what this character's angsty backstory is, the things he does are not okay! What's worse is that all of this character's teammates just kind of accept his behavior. "oh well, that's just Andrew being Andrew.' Also, the characters (Neil especially) are constantly doing completely idiotic things/making completely idiotic decisions that make no logical sense. There are 'explanations' for their behavior, sure, but the explanations are also completely illogical. (Neil, at one point, agrees to appear on a live tv show despite the fact that he has spent his entire life trying desperately not to be noticed by anyone. He agrees to be on the show because one of his teammates threatens to stop practicing Exy with him if he doesn't. Like, seriously? I get that Neil loves Exy, but seriously??) There is very little logic or reason in this book.
- the complete lack of research into, well, anything. The author clearly has no idea how college athletics work and clearly did not care enough to research it before writing this book (no metal detectors in the stadiums? no mandatory drug testing for the athletes? and how the hell did the Ravens become an evil cult with nobody from the university or the NCAA noticing?). The author clearly also does not understand how medication works (one character takes mandatory magic mood adjusting pills for half the series, then comes off the pills with no change to his personality/mood whatsoever despite the fact that his family members constantly talk about how 'terrifying' this character is when off his meds).
- Exy. This book is centered around the made up sport of Exy. Exy makes no sense. It's only been around for 30 years, and yet it is so popular that it's played on colleges across the country AND in the olympics, and Exy stadiums built to seat hundreds of thousands of fans sell out on the regular. Very unlikely. Not to mention, there is no reason at all for Exy to exist. This book would have been 100% the exact same book had the sport been lacrosse or soccer or hockey or whatever. There is nothing specific about Exy that affects the plot in any way. I imagine the author just didn't feel like learning enough about an already existing sport and so made up her own.
- the bad guys. there were too many of them. The bad guy starts out to be Neil's father. In fact, pretty much everything Neil does in the beginning is based around running from his father. Then halfway through the book -surprise!- the bad guy is actually this other family, and Neil's father gets pushed to the back-burner and ignored until, like, halfway through the last book. I don't mind twists and turns, but having this new bad guy completely push the original bad guy out of the way makes me feel as though all the time spent on the original bad guy was irrelevant and a waste of time. If Neil's father is such a minor detail that he can be ignored save for the very beginning and very end of the series, why bother to include him at all?

I think my main problem with this book (and the rest of the series) is that all of the problems were such easy fixes! Bad grammar? Proof read it! Unrealistic/psychotic characters? Tone down their crazy decisions and bit and have them react to things in normal ways! Things aren't researched? Do some freaking research!

This book had SO MUCH potential! But despite all of its (many many) flaws, I cannot deny that it was an entertaining read that held my attention for all three books. Which, I guess, is kind of the point.

4-4.5 stars - This is probably one of my favorite books of 2013 so far, mostly because it is so intriguing and different. It's like someone mashed up some anime sports manga with scary mafia and psychotic teammates and abusive pasts and (for right now) mild m/m references and the New Adult genre and mixed it all together into this crazy parfait that sounds odd but when you try it, was so good, and I couldn't stop eating it because I had to know what the next layer down tasted like.

What I liked: I didn't immediately attach to the main character of Neil, who you learn very quickly has a shady, scary past that he's running away from, but soon it was very easy to empathize with the fear that he factored into his daily life, and how he learned to always have his eye on the exits. The writer did a great job of having that fear and survival instinct color Neil's actions, so even as he was making a huge change in his "stay low--stay on the run" routine by joining Palmetto State University's Exy team (a made-up, but very popular sport that's similar to lacrosse), you could still see how his mind was working, and checking-off his various flight paths to safety if he needed it.

Neil's teammates are a mixed bunch of characters, but all very interesting and readable (and often with their own hidden motivations.) You have Kevin, the athletic star that is rising again from a crippling injury; psychotic Andrew who is glued to Kevin's side for unknown reasons and has to stay on court-appointed drugs to be allowed to play; Andrew's very apathetic twin Aaron; the twins' cousin Nicki, who has no problem leering at Neil, and there's their coach, who very easily recognizes all the signals that Neil silently gives off about having a deep familiarity with abuse and violence.

I also dug that for a (somewhat) m/m sports book, there were great female characters, both on the team, like their captain Danielle and the mysteriously sweet Renee, to their team doctor. It's a very mixed group of characters, some of who hate each other, but they were a very interesting group, and no one felt superfluous.

The story was really fascinating and surprising as you follow Neil into this new situation, where he battles between two things--the sport that he loves and being safe, and the path that he goes to try to obtain those two things is really readable and engaging. (This is definitely a book that kept me guessing.)

Heads-up: This is the first book in a trilogy, and it doesn't end in a terrible cliffhanger, but nor does it end neatly. It feels like the end of a really tough game for Neil, but he still has a season of games ahead of him, and a lot of potentialities that could go from awesome to terrible, so I'm assuming we'll see what happens in the next two books.

The good news is that book 2 The Raven King is already out, so you can jump right into that. The bad news is that book 3 is not out yet, but will mostly likely come out later this year.

Heads-up also that this volume is high on characters and interactions and development, but low-low-low on m/m romance. (Like, no romance at all.) You get some ideas of where things will lead, but nothing is set. Don't go into this thinking sexy times, because you will be disappointed. (For most of this, Neil doesn't come off as having sexual/romantic feelings at all--he's been too used to not having any connections, so much of this book is his understanding that he can maybe rely on others.) I didn't really miss it though, although what glimpses I started to see, I wanted to see more of, so I'm hopeful there will be more than brief "Was that? Could that be?" flashes in the next book.

What's really awesome? This novel, and yes, it's over 80,000 words, is free-free-free right now on Smashwords and the store. (And the sequel is a dollar.) The free is a great deal for such a good novel. Even with a few editing errors, I thought it was still a fab read.

At the same time, I totally think it's like the author is pimping the first hit of her drug to you for free, because once you dive into that crazy sports-mafia-psycho-teammate world, it's going to be really hard to refuse the next hit.

Really recommended, especially if you're okay with sports, college kids, and a really-really slow burn. Definitely a fresh, interesting read.

I've had this e-book for seemingly forever, and just never started it. I'm so glad I did. This book was not quite 5 stars, but it did intrigue me. I will let you know right now that this book is full of 'triggers.' I'm personally not affected by the things in this book, and I do believe some of them help the story. However, there are events in this book that seem excessive. This does get better in the rest of the series, and I love the character progression because of it. The author weaves a fantastic story, that is not hampered by not being completely based in fact. I see this book as a sort of real-life fantasy, and I immediately had to pick up the second book because I needed to see where the story went. (Also, props for getting me to read a book with sports as part of the focus, even a fantasy one.)

This is a review for the entire series of All for the Game. It won't contain any spoiler.

I just finished reading the entire series of All for the Game and it's absolutely stunning. I read that one of the reviewers said that this series is more like one long extended story and I'm inclined to agree. This doesn't take away from the series at all, but it does mean that you might want to have the next book ready when you read, because the next one picks up right where the previous book leaves off.

So what is this series about? Most and foremost, to paraphrase from another character in the story, it is about "giving people one more chance than what others are willing to give, whether it's the second, third, fourth or fifth." The main character is Neil Josten, someone who had been on the run for pretty much all his life but stopped because he wanted to play a sport called Exy. He meets his team, which is made up of teenagers who have are all broken and hurt in some ways. They play Exy as a team, but their personalities constantly clash and they're just as likely to fight their opponent as they are to fight each other. This is the story of Neil finding his second chance with them and learning to trust again. If you came here only because of the M/M tag, you might want to rethink. There's no romance until the third book. Instead, it's mostly centered around sport and college life with a dab of mafia/gang/violence feel. Along with it, there's an amazing cast of characters, intriguing story line, and several mysteries to uncover regarding the characters' past. It is a joy to follow them as these broken people learn to be whole again and it's amazing how masterfully Sakavic can weave everything together.

Some warnings: M/M, no romance until the third book, casual mention/act of violence/murder, drug use. Also, another reviewer mentioned it already, but the beginning of the first book, The Foxhole Court, would get a bit confusing as everyone on the team is introduced. Try to keep track of them and later in the book, you'll have no problem distinguishing them as you learn more about each individual character.

Despite all these warnings, I do highly recommend this series. It is a incredible read.

for the love of all that is good and holy, read this entire series. i first read this series last year and am only now leaving a review, but i should've done it much sooner. all for the game has become one of my all time favorites. it's written so incredibly well, the characters are so well-sculpted, so fleshed out, and i love them all like my children. the romance is a slow burn, but it's fantastic. WARNING THOUGH: this series can be very triggering for trauma survivors. i was able to get through it all, but there were certain parts that really hit me, mostly in the second book. if you can handle it, read it.

I finished the series a while ago and can sincerely say it is one of the best I've ever read. The characters are incredibly well-rounded and realistic, and you can tell that the author knows exactly what she wants you to think (or not know what to think) about every single character at each moment in the series. The plot is incredible as well, and I couldn't seem to put the books down. The writing is honest even when the characters are lying, and the dialogue is clever and catchy without ever being insincere.
All that being said I feel inclined to say this: if you plan on reading this series, it may be smart to look up a list of trigger warnings. While being an incredible trilogy, it can be rather violent and graphic at points. Also, one of the main themes of the series is trauma and recovery, so there is no shying away from more hard-hitting topics.
If you have no issues with the content, then I would strongly recommend this series, and you can bet I've already told all my friends about it.

I haven't read a proper book since forever (and I mean it like a proper novel) mostly because I didn't have much time, but also because there was nothing that caught my attention for long enough. My taste in books and in fictional stories are quite complex, and usually I am attracted to stories that talk about things that are usually "too delicate" to be included into a story.

The Foxhole Court caught my eye because it talks about what I love the most: it's a story about broken, violent, leftover youth. It's about the abandoned young people usually noone talks about, where they have been marked as useless and unsavable. It's a book about second, third, tenth chances. I loved the concept because giving faith and possibilities to the young generation is such an important topic to me that I was actually surprised. The young Foxes are not guided (well even if Coach Wymack tries) nor taken for granted. They are given a chance to start again but they have to take it and sweat for it themselves and themselves only.
The last three chapter got me on the edge so bad, I wasn't excpecting that AT ALL. I fell in love with Andrew so quick that I questioned my own sanity for a second there.

I loved this first book because I managed to stick to the end. This book isn't fast paced, and the continous random things that happen keep you more confused than surprised. I managed to read it to the end because I wanted to know if the author was giving any answers. This is a big spoiler: she doesen't. She leaves you wondering and hungry for answers and as soon as I finished the FHC I started the Raven King immediatly after.
There is a thin homoerotic undertone, but it's almost always covered by disinterest (Neil), by Exy (Kevin) or by violence (Andrew), but if you are looking for clear resolving and quiet relationships this book is not for you.
The Foxhole Court is a story about young teens who have seen too much and felt too much, and in spite of everything, are trying to survive, clawing and crawling their way out to find a peace the don't even know it exist.

Extremely not reccomended if you are still squeamish or particularly sensible to the subects of extreme violence between family members, mental abuse, death of young people, drug and alchool abuse, murder for business. Those themes are not lightly treated (the author takes them seriously) but the characters are dealing with them very harshly, and more than one time they are violently responding. You have been warned.

This book was great. The characters are relatable, and all have tragic pasts without being cliché or annoying Nora does a great job with development and arcs for each character without being redundant or boring. Even though the characters all have past traumas, they’re all very individual, with their own well-written personalities and complex relationships.

The author does a great job of balancing out the more cerebral psychological plot lines with action scenes, whether it’s a fight or an exy game. It’s paced well and it kept me reading!

Go Foxes!!!

Really loved the story and how Sakavic created successfully not only her own sport but also the amazing relationships between all of the characters. Really, really loved reading it. Highly recommend all three of the books in this series.

I read this book because a friend recommended it and I devoured the series because it's so utterly good. The characters feel so real and tangible you can't help but be enveloped by their story and their struggles. You hate characters at times and love them at times. The ability of Nora Sakavic to so expertly twist the feelings of her readers from hatred for a character to pure sympathy is nothing short of masterful. The only downfall of the series is that there isn't more, then again, the series ending leaves the reading feeling nothing short of satisfaction and happy at such an ending.

This book was an unexpected surprise. Considering not much really happened, it kept my attention the entire time. I finished it in a day. I’ve heard the series gets better and better so I’m intrigued. On to book 2!

This book sucks. The main character continues to make ridiculous and outlandish choices that no one, in their right mind or not, would have made. It drags this poor kid through incredibly unrealistic situations with unrealistic characters. With as far stretched as this author has written the characters they may as well have been rainbow colored unicorns. I am ashamed to say that I read this.

These books have honestly changed my life. I didn’t think going into it that these books could mean so much to me (espesically since you can get all three on kindle for less than $2). This series has changed my outlook on life and they hold great emotional value to me. I can’t wait to get them in a physical copy just so that i can cherish them even more.

I've read all three books before and I loved them and now I can listen to them all I want when I walk to class or in the shower and still it's just as great as the first time I read it. I totally recomend, the voice is fairly decent for how I envisioned Neil speaking and I'm glad that its finally in audio form!!!

For the most part I felt detached from the characters up until maybe 50+% of the book and the writing was a little off for me at first but it did get better, in my opinion. I liked this definitely enough for me to keep going with the series!

I'd been steered toward The Foxhole Court thanks to multiple glowing recommendations, and I have to say I was not let down. I love sports, I love reading, and I love relatable characters that are so fleshed out I can see them walking down the halls of my own university. The Foxhole Court is heartbreaking in the best way--the characters have unambiguous flaws yet mysterious pasts that leave the reader hungry for the next chapter. It's so well-paced and holds this steady speed throughout the novel. And my heart was totally thumping during the games because SPORTS! I had almost forgotten why I liked them so much. It took a new one to remind me! Just bought the next two books, can't wait to read them!

Great freaking series shows character development and showed flaws. Show that trauma is not as easy to get over as a lot of books seem and how people cope in diffremt ways. Would recommend to everyone