The Raven King (All for the Game, #2)

Naomi 

“He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.”

I HATE YOU I HATE EVERYONE.

karo

idc this book might not deserve 5* in my usual rating im having an impossible BLAST reading it

aleksandra

5/5

The author really said, "Let's make readers cry!" because after finishing this book, I needed a moment to collect myself. The final chapters were painful and heartbreaking to say the least. This does not change the fact that I almost immediately moved on to the second book.


I don't know what the author put in this series, but it's addictive. It's rare for me to get so caught up in a story that I can't stop reading it, but that's the case with this series. Ever since I started reading the first book, I can't stop thinking about anything else. I read, then I go to sleep and think about it, then I wake up and read it again. Honestly, the plot in this series is not even that dense and full of unexpected events. There's a lot going on, but if you really think about it, not much is actually happening. I mean, all they do is practice Exy, go to the club once or twice, and play a match against some rival team. Plus, two or three unexpected twists. And I’m still eating it up. 


The characters in this series stole the show though. I’m officially obsessed with Foxes. Honestly, they are a hot mess, they hate each other, they fight each other as much as they can, but they would still kill if someone hurt another. 

A few more characters made it to my favorites list, like all the women of the Fox Court, because they are all iconic and amazing.


  
    "Some of the strongest people I've known are women."
  


Also Coach Wymack, who has been on this list since the first book. I just love this man.


  
    "How can you stand having a team like ours, Coach? Isn't it exhausting dealing with us and our problems day after day?" Wymack emptied his coffee with one big gulp. "Nope."
  


And Nicky. He is such a sweetheart. I had mixed feelings about him in the first book but I have a feeling he will end up being one of my favorite characters here. He made me laugh every single time. 


  
    "Neil hit Riko," Matt said. "It was beautiful." 
"What?" Nicky squawked. "Not fair! I missed it! Go do it again. Or not," he added quickly when Wymack leveled a death glare at him. 
"You can't blame a guy for dreaming, right, Coach?" 
"Shut up." Wymack returned his glower to Neil."
  


I don’t even want to talk about Neil and Andrew characters here, because I will cry. I need to see them happy. That’s it. The pain needs to stop.


Moving to the romance part. There are many amazing couples in this series, or rather couples in the making, but I will focus on Neil and Andrew. They couldn't be further from being a couple, but their moments in this book satisfied me enough that I can wait until the third book where something finally happens between them. 


  
    "When Neil started to argue, Andrew hooked a finger under his chin and forced his mouth closed again with an easy jerk of his hand."
  


*swooon* in Neil and Andrew way. 


  
    "Why are you so special?" Matt asked. 
"I'm not," Neil said, confused. "Andrew doesn't give ground to anybody. Why does he keep saying yes to you?" 
"He's high," Neil said, twirling a finger near his temple. "He thinks it's funny." 
Matt eyed him a bit longer,"
  


Andrew saying 'yes' only to Neil. It has no reason making me want to cry. 


  
    "You're very interesting, Neil." She wasn't the first to say that, but Neil wondered if Andrew's opinion of him would change when he was off his medication."
  


A girl hitting on Neil and him thinking about Andrew first. Stop being in denial Neil. 


Honestly, I don't know if I'm ready for the final book, but I need these characters to finally find their happy ending. There seems to be no end to these characters' problems, so I hope everything works out for them in the end. 

Also, can Riko, The Ravens and all people in this stupid organization die? Someone should get rid of them. Preferably now. 


———————————


I'll write a proper review when I stop crying

nora sakavic gave andreil what maggie stiefvater didn't for pynch. or whatever. i ate well.

shei 

le pongo 4 estrellas y no me arrepiento de eso (aunque hablando seriamente seria más 3.5) me pareció mucho mejor que el primero

akynn 

Since I knew what happened in this book it made me dread getting to it. It took me longer than it would’ve while reading because I knew what was going to happen.

4.5 actually just cause of all the repeated explanations of things that were already in the first book. riko i hope u die. andrew i love u. neil i will protect u. kevin... hiiiiiii 😘

Julia Moran 

trixie

2.5/5 thank god this was one was slightly better than the last but like. zetus lapetus does nora sakavic get off to gay trauma

I LOVE THIS SECOND BOOK??? IT'S SO DARK AND HEARTBREAKING AND BRUTAL???? AND NEIL AND ANDREW BROKE MY HEART OH GOD I LOVE NICKY BUT I ALSO LIKE THE OTHER FOXES AND WYMACK UGHHH ALL THE FEELS I JUST CANT DEAL WITH THIS ITS SO GOOOD SO HEARTBREAKING I TEARED UP AT THE END WOW CANT WAIT TO START THE LAST BOOK

honour

roro

GAHSAJFJKSMCMA H YM GOD ILL WRITE A REVIEW LATER BUT WOW IM SO EAGER TO READ THE LAST BOOK I CANT WAIT TO SEE KEVINS REACTION AND ANDREWS REACTION AND EVERYONE ELSES REACTION OH MY GOD I LVOE THIS SERIES

Lisa-Maria Hofmann

I really get the the fanfictiony appeal of this, but the first 70 % were just a draining collection of characters standing around in different locations having disconnected dialogues.

chloe ✩‧₊˚✧｡*ﾟ

(this is me on the verge of a break down I'll come back and so a proper review maybe lmao)

I can not form words. I literally have nothing to say except that I love my babies and all these weirdly adorable moments in the book is making me tear the fuck up and the third book better be good to them THEY DESERVE HAPPINESS GIVE THEM A BREAK

grace richards

i am going to read the next book right now and if neil doesn’t tell his ducking team what’s going on with him i’m going to stab that scrawny motherfucker myself

Jasmine

4 Stars
So this book was a completely different experience from the first book. See, the first book was actually one of my least favorite books I've read of the entire year so far. I really wasn't even sure if it was going to be worth trying to continue on with this series, that was until I had at least four people outside of Goodreads encouraging me to stick with it claiming it would be worth it. Well, I kinda rolled my eyes because that's what most people say when it comes to books they love. However, in this case, they were completely right and I'm so happy I didn't give up on this series and I'm now eating my words! It shocked the hell out of me considering I could barely make it through book1 but I ended up loving this one! 

Book 1 felt chaotic and disjointed I couldn't connect with the writing or the characters. There were very few positives and the cliffhanger ending felt like a cheap ploy to keep you reading. I also didn't like Neil (he still frustrates me but I also love him sm. When did that happen?). What can I say if a book makes me care and changes my mind you have me for life. I don't know what happened but after I got through the first few chapters I couldn't put this one down and somehow ended up finishing the rest of the series in almost an entire day!! What a heart shattering and emotional experience it's all been! Omg I love the foxes and the family and relationships that formed in this book series... without giving away spoilers!! While I'm not going to go crazy and list this under my favorites series of all time, I will say I really had a great time reading these last two books. I grew to love these beautifully broken characters in such an immense way, and their found family. Neil and Andrew omg that's my kind of slow burn they are everything!

Abi Baker

i thought neil josten was the only real bitch in this house but it turns out there might be a few

Isabela H 

It’s official, I’m obsessed with this series 

** spoilers ahead ** 

The growing relationship between Neil and Andrew is genuinely really touching to watch because you can see how Neil is slowly figuring out how Andrew operates and acts accordingly. Everyone is so impressed only because they’ve never learned how to interact with Andrew in a way that works for both parties. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing how Neil finally stops running (because let’s be real, we know that Neil isn’t going to run at the end of the year) and how Andrew plays into all that. 

Kind of disappointed with how Christmas break was handled, it felt a little lazy.

Gabi

** spoiler alert **
           (I’m so fucking dumb, I wrote a whole review and deleted it all before posting it. Here’s my second try) 

I don’t even know where should I start, this book was just TOO much. 

Let’s start taking about Renee and how wonderful she is. She’s the best friend Andrew could ever get and I’m so glad that Neil is starting to talk more with her because I see so much potential in their friendship. 

About Andrew, oh boy I suffered, I knew about his past but I didn’t expect it to be that sad, I felt so depressed after reading that part that I had to stop reading the book for at least one hour. Thanks God Aaron protected him, I’m looking forward too see them finally getting along well.
Andrew didn’t deserve any of what happened to him and he’s so strong, I’m so proud of who he is, also he’s doing the treatment and I’m so excited to see him feeling better. 
I already knew about his sexuality, it was kinda obvious honestly but I’m happy that he felt comfortable talking about it with Renee and he let Neil know about it too. 

Taking about Neil, I’m SO PROUD of him, he’s the best. First he was able to start a “friendship” with Andrew (which isn’t easy at all), and they started to be more honest with each other. I also felt proud after seeing him protecting Kevin, and sacrificing himself to protect Andrew and the whole team. 

Now let’s talk about the trash named Edgar Allan Ravens, I hate them all so much I can’t judge the whole team because they are following their dreams, I also can’t hate Jean because I kinda feel bad for him, he’s just like Neil, doing that because his family is involved. But Riko is a piece of shit, he’s just the worst and I can’t wait to read how he’s going to feel after loosing the next games. 

I’m happy and glad that the Foxes are finally acting like a family, loving and supporting everyone. I’m nervous and excited to read the next book, but at the same time I’m sad because it’s the end and I’m not prepared to leave them.

sophia n

me while reading this book: wait whAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED

(5/5🌟)

no se que decir la verdad, estoy DESTRUIDA 

amo este libro con cada partecita de mi alma y amo más a neil, es demasiado valiente quiero darle un abrazo y decirle que todo va a estar bien, igual con andrew 😭😭😭😭😭

Kailey Rios

okay so this took me forever to read (i blame criminal minds). 

i definitely liked this better than the first book, but i still didn’t absolutely love it?? i was expecting to, what with all the five star reviews i’ve read gushing about it.

it has nothing to do with the writing or the story itself because i really did enjoy reading it. 

i just found myself not really connecting with the characters, which is probably more of a problem with me and not the book, but alas. 

this changed towards the tail end of the book but it still didn’t bump it up to five star status for me.

speaking of the end... actually, i can’t even talk about it because PAIN but it made me very eager to read the last book in the series. hopefully i love that one from the beginning!

overall, this was a very solid read, i think i should’ve just lowered my expectations.


  4 stars

The Raven King (All for the Game, #2)

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