gcarney15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexism
moss_acre_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
is very obviously written in 2013 tho so take that as you will
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Violence, and Physical abuse
there's so muchsabinehunter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization
lucyfette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
hinted spoilers below. read carefully.
i was completely hooked from start to end and the only thing i’ve been able to think about is neil josten and andrew minyard. their relationship is so painstakingly slow burn and is so reflective of the trauma both of them has faced. their characters are not written to be good people, but ones that have dealt with so much, and find comfort and home with one another. (plus enemies to lovers/still enemies? lol) the found family made my heart ache and i wish happiness for every single member of the foxes. so many points had me freaking out, or having to take a breath away from the book before i could continue. the story is well crafted and the relationship between the characters will have you so invested. i cant. i wish there was twenty more books in the series.
i will admit, amongst my praise, that there are some flaws. the plot is sometimes a bit wonky and confusing, and the writing gets a bit clunky and repetitive at parts. i appreciate that this is self published work though!
please i urge you to read the all for the game series. there are definitely some hard triggers (there are so many cw but coming from someone who is extremely sensitive all sections are easily skippable and it wouldn’t hinder ur understanding of the plot not reading them) but nothing that isn’t dealt with respect and proper explanation afterwards (i wld expect neil to have a bit more trauma/ptsd than he does, but this is a short series i get it) but overall i’m completely and utterly in love with the books. pls read! fall in love with andrew and neil, they need some love fr 😵💫
Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
girloutoftime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Torture, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Mental illness, and Self harm
atlas_oliver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
impeachnixon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Some things I liked:
- THAT LAST EXY GAME!! The Exy scenes are always some of my favorites, but there were so many little things (Neil's past on defense, Kevin changing his hand) that finally paid off and it was so good!!
- I loved the found family really coming out in this story!!
- I think the writing and general pacing were best in this book!
- While I have issues with the relationship between Andrew and Neil in this story, I'm a sucker for any romance ever. Plus, Neil and Andrew's relationship really grew on me, both how we got to see their feelings slowly develop and how their trust in each other developed (I especially loved their conversations about and attention to consent).
Some things I didn't love:
- The two antagonists being a mafia/gang and a sports team felt a little unbalanced. Neil being nearly killed by his father around the 250-260 page mark made the rest of the pacing strange. Also, at some point I feel like the story got too big for its breeches and it was hard to believe that Neil can make it out of all of this alive.
- Andrew and Neil's relationship felt kind of rushed? Like within the confines of this book only, their relationship developed at a reasonable to slow pace over the course of the 400 pages. But in the context of the whole series, it just kind of came out of nowhere.
- Andrew had a lot of... flaws that made him fairly annoying. His violence was concerning and made him not really a character I wanted to follow? It's one thing when he gets into violent arguments with his teammates who know him, put up with him, and can handle him. But when he's threatening, like, Katelyn? Also, his whole agreement that his brother can't date anyone that Andrew breaks when he starts seeing Neil? Wasn't always a fan of Andrew, and I feel like I could have been if his character was developed and explored further and if his flaws were treated as flaws.
- Stuart's whole character kind of came out of nowhere, and felt like he came out of convenience. There were a few other things that felt like they were big plot conveniences, but that was the biggest one that I remember.
There are a lot more things that I thought, but that's just some things. I definitely enjoyed my reading experience overall!
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Cursing, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual violence
otbval's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
tsky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia
frenchave03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Torture