Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

10 reviews

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

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.

cuppa_69's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

amoonymess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

This book is so bad it actually turns all the way around and it turns out so good that you end up obsessed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Outing, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

adrienanthony's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t think I have ever read a book with such an intense “it’s complicated” when asked if the characters are loveable

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Content Warnings

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

My list applies for the entire series. Absolutely not for the faint of heart, take care of yourself. If literally any of this bothers you, do NOT read this or any other book in the series, I am so serious.

infinite_helix's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I literally cannot rate this. It’s amazing. It’s awful. I want to hide the characters away and also smack half of them upside the head for being assholes. So much problematic.  But omg did I devour this. Like in two days. As in: up till the wee hours squinting at my phone screen. As in: immediately had the urge to make myself a jersey for this fake college sports team. I love vicious, damaged people being unabashedly different, not doing anything by “normal” rules because they aren’t “normal” and shouldn’t have to pretend to be, and still there’s love and loyalty and it’s twisted and warped from trauma and pain but is it not still love? 

There’s something about seeing your ugly parts you’ve hidden being reflected so honestly in a book and being told you can still win and be a team and be a champion and leave the things you don’t want and move on and you don’t have to be soft, you can be ugly and callused and you’ll find your people who understand and know and are doing the same and they will love you and you will love them and that’s what it’s about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Literally so many horrible things propelling all of the characters and their relationships but the overarching plot is that they are all (except for Andrew) desperate to play this sport that consumes their lives and gives them purpose. To the point they’re willing to face off against gangs and their horrible pasts barreling towards them for the chance to make this team legendary. They are all deeply traumatized and have terrible coping mechanisms and take it out on each other frequently. But they are also a team, and they will not let one of their number be taken away.

vpiuke's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

i think this is a solid 4 stars for me. while the plot is constantly all over the place (sports, mafia, drugs, violence, found family, gay guys???) and all the characters are messy as fuck, it is a captivating read all the same and i couldn't put it down until the very end. 
even if the plot themes might be controversial, something that can't be denied is how well-written the story is. the writing style is very similar to maggie stiefvater's in 'the raven cycle' books, so if you're a fan of those, i'd give this one a shot :)
i did enjoy the story itself. it is well structured and it evolves at a good pace, never too obvious but hinting at what's coming next. the characters are original and come in nicely together, as a group they're very well balanced and developed. the sport side of the story is a clever counterpoint to the other sub plots, and i personally really enjoy how it compliments all the drama that the characters inherently carry with them. it lets the story breathe while also keeping a steady pace. 
this is a very violent story though. maybe not that much in this first book, but it gets heavier as the plot progresses in the next ones. there's trauma, there's physical, sexual and emotional abuse, there's guns and knives and torture and self harm. if you're ok with these and are up for a dense, emotional tale, then you found the one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-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

4.0

The reread has been so much fun. I think I'm enjoying it more because I don't have think about the plot too much, and I already understand everyone's position and backstory.
 I really love Neil as a character. I like that despite being so careful and running on survival for so long, there's this thread of oh he wants people to care for him and wants to have somewhere to call home and wants to have friends and just wants to stop running and have a life. And it's not too pronounced since his issues are too big (especially at the start of it) to allow too much of it, but it's there. 
I really enjoy Wymack and Neil's relationship. I mean Wymack is fun with all the Foxes 'cause he's just the tired older fatherly figure to them, but he's just so goddamn tired of Neil's whole thing. Like you can tell that at any given moment he just wants to scream at the kid "Let me love you and care for you and give you home and safety, you goddamn idiot!" 
Also the slowburn of Andrew and Neil is also fun of course. Like you don't realise it on the first read but it's so clear on the second read how much Neil is focused on Andrew. And not just because Andrew causes him most trouble in the first part of the book, but he's already so attuned to Andrew.
The Neil and Kevin relationship is an interesting one. Kevin being so determined to make Neil into a champion but having only the Raven's way of leadership to go on, Neil on one hand wanting it so bad but on the other hand knowing it can never be.

also there's a part where Neil is listing all the things he's jealous of Kevin to have - fame, family, freedom, safety and of course a) that's not entirely true but more importantly b)it's interesting because in the end (im taking end of the third book) Neil gets to have all of that too.

Oh, and I'm also taking note of the Kevin & Andrew relationship that is fascinating in a different way. Kevin knows where to push Neil but he knows he can't move Andrew unless he gives him good enough incentive. 
Point is there's a lot of good dynamics to look at.

With all of that being said, there's some issues I am gonna continue being uncomfortable with. The villains of the books being Japanese is just :// Nicky's 'I'm gonna flirt with any boy within vicinity" also bothers me a lot 'cause it's such a stereotype. I'm not sure about how the portrayal of Andrew's psychological problems and the effect of his medication is making me feel.

and honestly I think that Seth was just such a killable character and you basically instantly recognized he's the one who's gonna go and since he was the one throwing slurs around and just being the biggest asshole with no redeeming qualities his death was just inevitable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, and Outing

natnat_7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Car accident

louisa_pennyfeather2021's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The character appearances canonically and how many members of the Fandom view the characters differs. Overall, it's not a bad storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Outing