Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

136 reviews

bookish_bonnie's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

• 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

There’s an oddly addicting element to this series. 

“But it’s not realistic!” You cry. “That’s not how this works, like, at all! All the characters are insane!” 

Yet readers everywhere turn another page. And another. Eventually, they finish the series, and each of them know it’s only a matter of time before they’ll pick it up again… 

So is the curse of reading All For The Game. My friend passed it on to me. Now I shall pass it on to all of you. Good luck. 🫡

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

nbtrz's review against another edition

4.5

didn’t love the writing at all but why was this so entertaining? 
the story is so compelling and getting to uncover neil as a character and his upbringing is so fascinating. andrew is such an interesting character too and all the dynamics that revolve around him and the foxes in general are so much fun to read about. 
i also found exy to be a little harder to get into because it is very poorly explained and its pretty difficult to get a grip of what’s going on in the game. (and why is it such a violent sport???)
there’s a lot of things i dont agree with and that really threw me off  but the story still pulled through for me somehow. 
the whole book is as wholesome as it is heartbreaking and honestly, i blame me taking a liking to this on haikyuu. we love a good underdog team in this household.
overall, starting aftg was long overdue and much needed at this point. really hope i dont get overly attached 🤧

rip seth, hello starter neil

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Physical abuse

Minor: Homophobia

m_riaelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is for the first three books of the All for the Game Series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I can't distinguish properly the TW if it's major, moderate or minor.

danaslitlist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

I see a lot of reviews saying this book was confusing or too complicated to follow, and I’m calling bullshit on that. If y’all can read your high fantasy romance, you’re gonna be okay with this series. Grow up.

I’m also seeing reviews trying to downplay the enjoyment of the book because it’s not something they’d thought they’d enjoy which I’m gonna say is a bullshit way to review a book. If you like it, own it! Enjoy the series!

I went into this with the assumption I’d either hate it or I’d think it was fine, but I wasn’t prepared to actively enjoy it as much as I did. I found the characters interesting and was honestly invested so much in their relationships and personal issues. The fact that half these characters are by design unlikable and flawed is incredibly brave on the author.

 While I’m not a huge sports fan, I found the fictional sport of Exy pretty straight forward and easy to visualize when it was occurring on page but this book is primarily character driven with Exy being the setting. The mafia element while surprising and seemingly “out of nowhere” in terms of trying to describe it to others actually made sense and worked fine. 

The writing is solid and had some genuinely beautiful lines and moments. 

This book does has some flaws, namely the use of the r-slur on occasion since it was published back when the use of that word wasn’t so frowned upon. There were a few repetitive moments as well, but not enough to throw me out of my immersion or enjoyment.

Basically; enjoy this for what it is! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and Murder

unicorn3's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The thrilling start into a great series that's still somehow written like a Wattpad story although it captures many people who love it (including me), like the writing is really bad, not good, I understand why many people stop after book one, it doesn't get much better I fear, but the story progresses, don't await some crazy plot, this is more about the characters and how they heal from their past trauma.
The characters are not without flaws, but they act to stereotypically at some points making it hard to see them as their own but rather as a not really there character.

The plot idea is great with Neil being on the run from his father, definitely curious on how it'll continue (as if I haven't already read this series, but it's great for new readers!), Kevin and the (Riko) Moriyama drama that Neils more included in than he wants to admit.

Exy as a sport sounds great, the game is described really well and it's easy to understand the sport (at least I caught on the first time I was reading it), the concept seems great.

All in all, after rereading the first book, it's a good start for this series but mainly the characters got extreme flaws not due to their characteristics, but based on mostly stereotypes I suppose, there's also an inconsistency after this book considering the characters and their development.

Definitely check the trigger warnings before you start reading tho!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I am confused but also intrigued.  It is a bit hard to visualize the sport itself but the self-destructive characters have been really compelling and there is a lot of mystery in their backstories that seems messy and complicated.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

brimacca's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

hariyek's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kai_lynn127's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

This is the first book in one of my favourite series of all time!

The plot is amazing (if not slightly unhinged) and the story's development is so well thought out that you really get to know and love each and every member of its found family.

Neil Josten (the chaotic gremlin that he is) is the main character and unreliable narrator that come to both want to protect and also throttle, and his love interest, Andrew Minyard deserves the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

This book is has very heavy themes and alot of trigger warnings, so be careful to check all the triggers beforehand.

hearts_for_adri_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, and Car accident