// THE FOXHOLE COURT BY NORA SAKAVIC: REVIEW // IN WHICH I FLAIL A LOT

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

(Cover + Summary from Goodreads)

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.
But Neil's not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil's new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can't walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he's finally found someone and something worth fighting for.


(all views expressed in this review are my own)

A BRIEF LOOK AT ADALINE'S FAVORITE THINGS IN BOOKS: large groups of boys who "hate" each other but would also die for each other. sarcasm. pure cinnamon rolls too good for this world. characters who suffer from anything, whether their past, illnesses or something else entirely, and then go on to learn to deal with their issues. d i v e r s i t y. girls who kick ass in their own unique ways and are utter queens. smol angry beans. tol angry beans. all the angry beans. gay ships. fantastic writing, and quotable lines. 

The Foxhole Court was kind of like one big melting pot of everything I adore in books. I can't help but be a little annoyed at myself that I took this long to read it, honestly. And I mean, the first book is a free ebook, and the others are only .99 cents. I really don't know what I was thinking.

BUT IT'S ALL GOOD NOW BECAUSE I'VE READ IT AND LOVED IT AND GAH I HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS SERIES.

My rating keeps steadily rising as I keep thinking about this book and as all the different scenes and emotions hit me. The gist of it is this: at the time this review is being written, it's been about a day since I finished The Foxhole Court. In that time, I have

a.) saved an embarassingly large amount of fanart
b.) made a special personal playlist for the book
c.) bought the entire rest of the series on my ipod
d.) immediately started the second book in the series, which I never do
and e.) spent at LEAST a good two hours devoted purely to thinking about this on my trip back home from vacation. 

(I'm currently halfway through The Raven King, and it's official, I'M FOXHOLE COURT TRASH.)

I'll admit that I was really wary going into the book. I'd tried quite a while ago to get into it, but I've always done horribly with ebooks, and it just wasn't what I was expecting/looking for at the time. I'm also extremely wary of self-published stuff?? (Which I will no longer be as worried about after this)
But The Foxhole Court has been on my ipod forever, and while I was on vacation, I thought,"why the hell not?" and mentally devoted myself to finishing it. Which was the best decision ever.

The thing about The Foxhole Court is that it's messed up. It's a bunch of shitty people who've all come from horrible places, to be a part of this sports team that specially recruits the broken and messed up in an attempt to give them another chance. The team members grate against each other, and for the most part, they fight like hell. Everybody's got their secrets, and everybody's got their hidden sides. Arguably my most favorite thing was watching all the characters interact with each other. Each one is complex and different. Nora painted an insanely intriguing, intricate cast that felt like some of the realest characters I've read about in a while. Each time I go to pick a favorite, I can't because I just adore them all so much. I love sarcastic, "I'm fine," Neil, and sullen superstar Kevin, and the ever cheerful Renee, and the kickass "not-gonna-take-your-crap" Dan, and the psychotic midget Andrew (my smol son) + his quiet twin Aaron, and rich Allison who gave it all up to follow her passion, and the ever hilarious Nicky who is gay as hell, and caring Matt, and loud-mouthed Wymack who's like an angry mom friend and- I. JUST. LOVE. THEM. ALL. OKAY. 

oh, oh, oh! And did I mention the fact that Neil is demisexual (!!), and Nicky is Latin American, + that there are other members of the team who are PoC (people of color) characters, and the sport played in the book is one in which girls + guys can play on the same team??? 

*avidly screams because diversity + equality*

"I will ask you only once to tone down that animosity."  

"I can't." Neil said. "I have a bit of an attitude problem."

While the book was very character driven, the plot itself was also extremely interesting. I liked Neil's plot-line/background, and the way information is very slowly fed to you. It definitely adds to the addictiveness of the story-- making you rush through to try and learn more + more. The whole idea of the sport of Exy was fantastic. I'm soooooo not a sports person, but the game was explained in a way that even my little brain was able to comprehend (i.e. if you're like me and don't understand football, you'll be fine). 

"Exy was a bastard sport, an evolved sort of lacrosse on a soccer-sized court with the violence of ice hockey, and Neil loved every part of it from its speed to its aggression. It was the one part of his childhood he'd never been able to give up." 

I was pleasantly surprised to also find that while Exy plays a big part in the story, and is a big deal for the characters, it's not something that is focused on to an extreme. There's not a lot of scenes describing long, drawn-out plays, or anything of that sort. It's an integral part to the story, but it's balanced well with all the other things going on in the book, and for that I was extremely appreciative. Because like I said, I don't sports. I thought that the one long game scene near the end was done particularly well, and I really enjoyed the description of the event. It was fairly easy to keep up with what was going on, and what the players were doing.

I do have to say that there were a few things here and there that miffed me, or that I found problematic throughout reading. For the most part though, they were just tiny little things. And while I didn't agree with certain things, or found them to be not exactly the greatest, they were slight enough for me to overlook them in the grand scheme of things. The Foxhole Court kind of reminds me of a well-written fanfiction, in a sense??? Like, it has it's issues, but at the same time you just really don't care because the story is addictive and the good things greatly outweigh the bad. Also, as I mentioned at the beginning of the review-- the entire series is self-published. It hasn't gone through the wringer of a publisher's editing crew a thousand times like other books. Knowing that, I went into the book pretty worried that there'd be a lot of grammatical issues, or plot holes. I was surprised at how well written everything was, though! There were no plot holes, only one grammar thing ever caught my eye, and the whole thing was extremely well-written.

"Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it." 

And I mean, I don't know. At the end of the day, this is just one of those books that makes me flail and resort to the most unintelligible garbles. It's one of those books that, for me, puts all my favorite things together and is something I felt on so many emotional levels. I want to compare it to The Raven Boys, just because I have so much love for the characters and the story, and it's similar to my fondness for the boys of Henrietta. Hell, I think I might love this messed up team more than I do even Ronan + the boys. And that's saying something.

★★★★✰

*4.5 out of 5 stars*

Let's discuss! Have you read The Foxhole Court?? If not, do you think you will? (you really really really should okay) What book contains your favorite group of characters? Tell me everything below!! :) 

(also hello hi yes I am back from the vacation from hell. we broke down twice on the way back, and then finally managed to get home, only to find that our air isn't working, in 90+ degree weather. i'm currently kind of dying, but i mean, it's fine. i'll be catching up on comments + all manner of things in the next few days. hope y'all are having a better time than my fam. xD)