Name: The Foxhole Court
Rating: 3.857443820224719 (356 reviews)
ISBN: 9788378896029

Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court

i've occupied online fandom spaces *meaningfully* since i was about ten years old, and i feel like i have seen aftg fanworks and discussions and what-have-you flourish on the fringes of my periphery that entire time. i don't know why i waited until now to read it, especially since my tolerance to media centred on tortured teenage boys has faded with age, but hey. you know what? i get it.

i'm talking to marauders fans who grew up specifically writing/reading sports anime mafia AUs: this is for you.

(i'm so glad i'm reading this *after* becoming an ice hockey fan. idk that it helps my incredulity at the logistics of exy any, but it certainly enhances my enjoyment of the sports talk compared to how lost i would have been had i no idea how a team contact sport like this even worked)

dan :)

i've occupied online fandom spaces *meaningfully* since i was about ten years old, and i feel like i have seen aftg fanworks and discussions and what-have-you flourish on the fringes of my periphery that entire time. i don't know why i waited until now to read it, especially since my tolerance to media centred on tortured teenage boys has faded with age, but hey. you know what? i get it.

i'm talking to marauders fans who grew up specifically writing/reading sports anime mafia AUs: this is for you.

(i'm so glad i'm reading this *after* becoming an ice hockey fan. idk that it helps my incredulity at the logistics of exy any, but it certainly enhances my enjoyment of the sports talk compared to how lost i would have been had i no idea how a team contact sport like this even worked)

kitkat

2024 4⭐️ me ha durado dos dias literalmente jajaja neil josten mi amado 🙌 releyendo como excusa para leer the sunshine court neil es tan sassy 3’5 ⭐️ Ops I did it again, sorry not sorry Me encanta aaaaaa neil es tan hot cuando habla en aleman y FRANCÉS o sea 🌝 he notado muchas veces como pequeños indicios de celos o interés en el otro 🌚 gracias autora por escribir este libro, me ha ayudado a superar momentos duros. Re-lectura ☁️

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 for the Game, Book 1 

This was extremely boring without a single likable character. I think I’m supposed to give a fuck about Neil, and maybe if the writing was better, I would. I at least don’t hate him, so that’s a win. Completely loveeee the casual ableism and disregard for consent as well.

On top of this being a waste of 250 pages, the sports part of it is wholly unnecessary and borderline offensive. I’m honestly glad that a lot of people who enjoy this book don’t like actual sports because as someone who watches and enjoys real life athletics, this drove me insane. The mechanics of the game may as well have been quidditch (which also made no sense). The way that the NCAA and the school and fans interacted with exy and players was nonsensical at best. I completely understand why it’s always the people who don’t like sports that read sports related books. I’m genuinely shocked that this series has such a strong fanbase that made it far enough to tell people “it gets better, I swear!”

Nik ✨

This was extremely boring without a single likable character. I think I’m supposed to give a fuck about Neil, and maybe if the writing was better, I would. I at least don’t hate him, so that’s a win. Completely loveeee the casual ableism and disregard for consent as well.

On top of this being a waste of 250 pages, the sports part of it is wholly unnecessary and borderline offensive. I’m honestly glad that a lot of people who enjoy this book don’t like actual sports because as someone who watches and enjoys real life athletics, this drove me insane. The mechanics of the game may as well have been quidditch (which also made no sense). The way that the NCAA and the school and fans interacted with exy and players was nonsensical at best. I completely understand why it’s always the people who don’t like sports that read sports related books. I’m genuinely shocked that this series has such a strong fanbase that made it far enough to tell people “it gets better, I swear!”

I just love these books so much not even I believe in this review. I’m too biased, sorry. 

luca

crazy story but it could use more explanation on the made up sport(exy). also they kept using the word racket but they meant like a lacrosse stick. kind of a slow start but really picked up the quarter. interested in seeing where this goes.

Lydia 

Kat 

Lisa-Maria Hofmann

The infamous Foxhole Court to the rescue when I’m in the deepest reading slump ever – and they did it. I’ve had this on my kindle ever since @Stephanie loved it deeply and I finally found the courage to deep dive into this band of misfits, loving every second of it.

It is for sure no absolute literary masterpiece but that’s perfect in itself, because none of the characters are perfect either. They are diverse, absolute menaces, unpredictability on two legs and to be fair I rarely had a hunch of what would happen next. It has become rare that a book manages to surprise me, but the Foxhole Court did and that is pretty impressive in itself.

One of the points I adored the most was the immaculate banter between the characters. I hate it if it’s portrayed in books as if characters despise each other but it’s oh so obvious they don’t. Give me actual aversion, give me the bite and the tear, give me proper nastiness. I’m so tired of the pretending and then revelation that they never even hated each other – negative feelings towards other people are valid, too, and to have them portrayed the way  they were in this book? I was here for it.

As someone who enjoys banter bordering on meanness and villainy, this book was made for me. All the quick-witted responses, the sharp dialogues and rarely knowing who would leave the conversation having the upper hand kept me on my toes and made it massively enjoyable to me.

Having said this: If you’re on the hunt for likeable characters – keep moving. This book makes you second-guess every emotion you have towards every single one of the players all the time and the only thing ever changing is your ranking in the most despicable characters. However, any time the reader settles on hating every single one of them, enter their opponents and redirecting the hatred towards them.

The unpredictability of it all added a fun element for me and in general I quickly fell in love with this band of misfits and their fitting leader. The sport itself is a super interesting concept and I’d give everything to play it once.

With all this praise, there is a reason this book did not break the 5-star mark: It wasn’t enough. There was not enough information about the system of the game itself, the way the season works (tournament? Playoffs? League system? What’s a Class 1 team? How do scores work? Is one goal one point scored? Are there differences? How does the schedule look in general? Etc). Knowing more about this would have deepened the involvement of the reader in the season’s happenings which were kept a bit shallow by leaving this out. However, the match description was perfectly done (with exception of aforementioned points missing).

Plotwise … there was not much progress made, if one left the altercations between team members out of the equation. Which is okay but might be a point of critique for some readers.

At some points the writing itself made it a bit difficult to follow who is currently talking to whom about who and the language used could have been a tad more precise to avoid this.

All in all: I’m in love with the team. I know this sort of character is not for everyone and if you don’t feel comfortable with these menaces running wild that’s valid, too. I, however, related a lot to some of them and I thought this book was serving massively quotable parts and a different depiction of characters for once.

Leonie

The infamous Foxhole Court to the rescue when I’m in the deepest reading slump ever – and they did it. I’ve had this on my kindle ever since @Stephanie loved it deeply and I finally found the courage to deep dive into this band of misfits, loving every second of it.

It is for sure no absolute literary masterpiece but that’s perfect in itself, because none of the characters are perfect either. They are diverse, absolute menaces, unpredictability on two legs and to be fair I rarely had a hunch of what would happen next. It has become rare that a book manages to surprise me, but the Foxhole Court did and that is pretty impressive in itself.

One of the points I adored the most was the immaculate banter between the characters. I hate it if it’s portrayed in books as if characters despise each other but it’s oh so obvious they don’t. Give me actual aversion, give me the bite and the tear, give me proper nastiness. I’m so tired of the pretending and then revelation that they never even hated each other – negative feelings towards other people are valid, too, and to have them portrayed the way  they were in this book? I was here for it.

As someone who enjoys banter bordering on meanness and villainy, this book was made for me. All the quick-witted responses, the sharp dialogues and rarely knowing who would leave the conversation having the upper hand kept me on my toes and made it massively enjoyable to me.

Having said this: If you’re on the hunt for likeable characters – keep moving. This book makes you second-guess every emotion you have towards every single one of the players all the time and the only thing ever changing is your ranking in the most despicable characters. However, any time the reader settles on hating every single one of them, enter their opponents and redirecting the hatred towards them.

The unpredictability of it all added a fun element for me and in general I quickly fell in love with this band of misfits and their fitting leader. The sport itself is a super interesting concept and I’d give everything to play it once.

 

With all this praise, there is a reason this book did not break the 5-star mark: It wasn’t enough. There was not enough information about the system of the game itself, the way the season works (tournament? Playoffs? League system? What’s a Class 1 team? How do scores work? Is one goal one point scored? Are there differences? How does the schedule look in general? Etc). Knowing more about this would have deepened the involvement of the reader in the season’s happenings which were kept a bit shallow by leaving this out. However, the match description was perfectly done (with exception of aforementioned points missing).

Plotwise … there was not much progress made, if one left the altercations between team members out of the equation. Which is okay but might be a point of critique for some readers.

At some points the writing itself made it a bit difficult to follow who is currently talking to whom about who and the language used could have been a tad more precise to avoid this.

 

All in all: I’m in love with the team. I know this sort of character is not for everyone and if you don’t feel comfortable with these menaces running wild that’s valid, too. I, however, related a lot to some of them and I thought this book was serving massively quotable parts and a different depiction of characters for once.

 

Much love for the tiny psychotic ones.

And for @stephanie, for making me read it.

Aishling

Third read [30 May 2021]:
Bumping this up to 5 stars after this read, cause it’s just so bloody good and I enjoy reading it so much. I know there are issues with the plot, but the writing is just so good that every moment is entertaining and the characters are just so incredible. 


Second read [28 Aug - 29 Aug 2020]:
Literally just as entertaining this time, what sort of magic does this book have.

I read someone say that this first book is more like a first chapter to a story, and I have to agree. It’s a brilliant read but it’s just the beginning of the whole story and there’s so much more to come in the future books. 

And I’ll say this because I had no clue going into this series, there are a lot of triggers warnings that need to be disclosed first. There future books feature heavier stuff than this one, so just be warned. 

Personally I loved how it was all written, it comes across like a YA with the darkness of an Adult story. There’s a lot of suspense with no silly drama which again was just up my ally. I honestly cannot fault this book/series at all. 

First read [22 Aug - 23 Aug 2020]:

um kinda confused but i think??? i like it??

The Foxhole Court

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