The Foxhole Court
Ratings137
Average rating3.6
It took a minute for this book to grow on me, and by the time I was fully invested, it was over. Glad there's more to read, because I'll be reading it!
DNF @ 33%
I REALLY dont like third person narrative, so I already wasn’t off to a good start.
Based on reviews people either really love or really hate, and after it being recommended on Reddit multiple times I gave it a try.
Not for me… it required so much brain power to follow what was going on and I read to escape.
When the “mafia” got involved I called it quits.
Maybe will attempt later but for now I’m over it
Had some troubles getting into it because there's a lot of characters and it took me some time to get to know everyone and not mix them, but once this was set up the story was really captivating. This first book is hard, by its introduction of all the characters but also by how Neil comes to be included in the Foxes team (really not pleasant). However, by the end you start to grow fond of all of them and really curious about what will happen next, so I'm really looking forward to discover more about this story in the next volumes!
tw: mentions of drugging, rape
k. so. what the fuck was that.
idk what y'all know about this book, and i honestly don't care, but i was expecting a story about a kid who survives an abusive home life getting a second chance and ending up on a sports team and a m/m romance. basically a somewhat angsty sports-romance heartstopper. this is what i wanted okay the pastels
and this is what i gotttt: emo shit that would not fly or make sense irl, the most unlikable characters ever, some batshit mafia plot, bully romance gag, and just straight-up glorified abuse?? whyyyy
big sigh let me just summarize this for y'all.
this book follows a boy named neil but neil has a ✨ dark past ✨ because his family was abusive and involved in the fucking mafia, so neil is basically hiding his true identity all the time. neil gets recruited to this college sports team for a fictional sport called “exy” and i don't really understand what it is because i hate sports so please don't ask me. there are these three (sometimes four?) guys on the team who are essentially bullies to neil but neil can handle himself because of his ✨ dark past ✨ so whatever. but then the boys drag neil out to a club and drug him and get borderline rape-y all because they believe he's a spy for the other team. then neil decides to stay on the team even after that because why the fuck not. (by this point in the book the author has used every slur and derogatory name for gay people btw.) then there's a bunch of sports scenes that i skimmed because i don't give a shit. i think i was so mad that i blacked out because i cannot remember how this ended at all. ain't no way this wasn't a fanfiction turned into an original story for publication. also one of the shit ass bullies is neil's love interest so there's that.
anyways. this was a miserable experience. fuck this, fuck haikyuu because y'all told me this would be like that for some reason, i'm out!
gonna go play the newly-ported gay lawyer investigations game because i'm tired. i'm so tired.
this book is so ridiculous that i genuinely have no idea how i feel about it. it's unlike anything i've ever read - is that a good thing?? i dont know!!
i can tell from just the first book that the characters are what make this series. unfortunately i don't feel like i've been aquainted with them for long enough to feel attached to them, but i do see the setup for future books so i'll reserve my judgement until then. what i will say is that they all stick out, and have things that make them memorable, so that's a definite plus! yes, some of them are cartoonishly antagonistic at times, but i can somewhat look past that for now because i'm interested to see the arc these characters go through.
the writing here is serviceable enough - the prose isn't amazing, but it's not terrible. i definitely felt like the first half dragged a bit, but this did get better as the book progressed. is the plot anywhere close to realistic? not at all, but it's clear that's not what the point of these books is.
overall, i have no idea what to even rate this. i'm going to go with 3 stars, but i'm intrigued and think this book may improve with the context of the rest of the series filled in.
Meh. No lo odié pero tampoco me encantó. Sé que es solo una introducción a la historia y todo eso, pero realmente siento que no es algo que me vaya a enganchar. Estoy en duda de si leer el segundo libro.
The characters were hard to follow the first time I read this book, but after reading the rest of the series and rereading The Foxhole Court, it was a much more pleasant read. This book may be somewhat confusing, but don’t give up on the rest of the series if you’re okay with the content warnings. I think the story is really well written, and it gets better from here.
the premise of this entire book is incredibly weird and the made up sport is hard to follow but i’m obsessed?
6th time reading: don???t comment. i know.
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4th time reading: do i even have to say it? this series has NO business being my comfort read and yet here we are.
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3rd time reading: still four point five your honour
LIST OF THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THIS BOOK THAT ARE WAY TOO (UNINTENTIONALLY) FUNNY
* neil literally runs out of the room in the middle of his first conversation with wymack
* only for him to get hit in the stomach with an exy racket by andrew for no real reason
* kevin suddenly appears out of darkness because he has to make a dramatic entrance as well
* nicky just randomly starts talking in german to aaron and andrew as they???re showing neil around for the first time
* when at the stadium for the first time aaron acts like he???s a magician when he just says ???lights??? and then someone else turns them on
* nicky calls riko a rat bastard
* when andrew tells neil he???s being a difficult bitch neil???s response is ???thank you???
* andrew calls neil a jock to his face
* a number of completely useless but very relatable paragraphs are dedicated to neil struggling to pick his uni courses and scheduling them all
* neil picks the monsters??? lock and bursts into the room like the dramatic he is
* at some point kevin grabs neil by the fencing on his helmet and drags him halfway across the field like that
* ???is your spine the spine of the righteous???
* after the first time in columbia nicky offers neil a glass of water and neil upends it on the floor
* neil falls asleep on his books the first time he tries to do homework
* andrew uses the word ???powwow???
* neil stabs himself with a pen to stay awake during class
* wymack makes kevin run up and down the bus to keep him awake
* neil ???can???t go around fighting people??? josten bitching at riko on national tv the first chance he gets
* neil and kevin sit in complete silence for HALF AN HOUR as they wait for the rest to get back with their drinks
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2nd time reading (06/01/17-11/01/17): 4.5!!!!
listen. i love this book a lot. neil “i'm fine” josten is my son and he deserves all good things in life.
it's actually really nice rereading this already knowing what's going to happen, because the first time around i felt like i was so full of adrenaline ALL THE TIME i probably missed a lot of detail (kevin is half irish???)
anyway i love my foxes and i would give my life for most of them. now time for the raven king aka time to Die???
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1st time reading (14/03/16-16/03/16): 4.5
Let me please make myself clear: this book is not particularly well-written and it is all kinds of edgy. If you can just forego literary standards, though, and read this as if it were the novelisation of a trashy, fun shonen sports anime, it kind of eats.
I don't think it will be for everyone, since some plotpoints and character beats definitely had me raising my eyebrows, but I dunno, maybe try to find some content warnings online and see if this will work for you :P
Don't let the relatively low rating fool you into thinking I'm not gonna read the rest of the series, because I absolutely will. A guilty pleasure read in the truest sense of the word.
I cannot honestly explain why I loved this book so much. It's miserable and grim and the cast of characters is filled with abhorrent people who toss around slurs like it's nothing. [tw for f slur and r slur]
But for some reason it really captivated me. The twisted games that Andrew played and the determined desperation of Wymack to make his team great and Neil's navigation of this whole world purely for a game he loved was amazing to read. There were scenes that made my blood boil and my heart race. Though I would give a trigger warning for people with extreme body issues as Neil faces several situations in this book where he is has to reveal his body where he doesn't want to. As a trans guy, those scenes particularly made me quite anxious, though this really helped me to connect with Neil's struggles. (I too would hide a binder at the bottom of my bag haha)
The end of this book was so intense, while also being very calm as well. It made me so excited to read the sequel, and I can absolutely see why everyone says it's so good.
Когда мое фырчание на хайп вокруг этого цикла сошло на нет, я наконец-то смогла открыть первую часть. Что же, я была удивлена! Удивлена, насколько быстро книга смогла перенести меня в юность... когда я зачитывалась фанфиками. У героев “все плохо”, они никому не нужны, кроме друг друга, но у них есть цель, до которой они хотят дойти... кажется?
Признаюсь, я люблю медиа, связанные со спортом. Это большое поле для развития отношений, драмы, командного духа, воодушевляющих и запоминающихся сцен, особенно в подростком возрасте, когда ты только на пороге к взрослой жизни.
Автор, во-первых, должен сделать главного героя привлекательным для читателей, наделить его необычными навыками, характером или предысторией, благодаря которой он сможет попасть в команду и засиять - сам и зажигая других. Ну и не забыть про мотивацию, которая чаще всего заменяется на “я до смерти люблю играть в название_спорта”.
Во-вторых, нужны интересные сокомандники и тренерский штаб, которые будут поддерживать и указывать на ошибки. Нужны индивидуальности, создающие конфликты, но не затмевающие своей историей главного героя.
Ну и в-третьих, соревнования и чемпионаты. Команда должна за что-то или кого-то бороться, тем самым прорывая себе путь на вершину через десятки команд, стиль и личности которых тоже нужно раскрыть.
Подытожив, вырисовывается большой объем работы, который нужно преподнести ненавязчиво, в то же время раскрывая основных персонажей и преподнося идею. И на удивление, все это здесь есть. При всем этом автор еще и придумывает свой собственный спорт - экси. Нельзя не похвалить такой огромный труд, хоть и бывали слабые части.
Так почему написанное выглядит как фанфик?
Ко всему коктейлю автор добавляет абьюз, наркотики и якудза. Понимаете проблему? Не забудьте передать привет сухому языку и проблемам с логикой.
Нил Джостен обожает экси, но он должен скрываться от мафии, меняя имя и внешность. Он так сильно сопротивляется вступлению в известную команду аутсайдеров и так сильно старается не выделяться, что в конце концов попадает на телевизор и раскрывает свою историю тем, кто непосредственно с ней связан. Занавес. И таких неприятных, нелогичных моментов много, особенно поначалу: команда-аутсайдер с собственным стадионом, заказными формами и клюшками, общежитием и автобусом; при этом их билеты дороже обычных, так как они отправляют часть денег на благотворительность; в их команде буквально человек на условно-досрочном, под таблетками и с оружием на поле. Не знаю, нужно ли мне хвалить или порицать, что в жестком спорте разрешены межполовые команды и борются они на равных.
Может все хорошее заложено в спорт? И да, и нет.
Честно, я расстроилась, увидев описание первых тренировок. Они до жути пресные и не давали нормального представления о новом для читателей спорте. Меня больше удивляло, что обычные упражнения (например, сбивание конусов) для Нила были новшеством, но ладно, спишем на отсутствие тренировок в его прошлой школе... ах да, наш герой же одарен физически и специально занижал свои результаты. И его (одного из сотни заявок!) выбрали в команду за... любовь к экси? Но единственным его достижением был быстрый бег и пару забитых мечей.
Однако, первый и единственный матч в книге описан бодро, хоть соперники, как один, шаблонны. Хотя по этой игре видно, как автор (или тренерский штаб) брезгует тактикой для командного спорта, совершенно нельзя понять его ключевые моменты. Потому что правила игры все еще до конца не понятны, и в книге, к сожалению, они не вынесены.
Из плюсов можно выделить разноплановых героев, ведь именно на них держится фанбаза. Они живые и отличаются друг от друга (хотя брат-акробат Аарон полностью обезличен), но, если честно, узнать ближе хочется “хорошую” сторону Лисов, а не торчать с братьями в который раз в клубе. При этом тот же Эндрю, на мой взгляд, вышел очень карикатурным, особенно во время угроз. А с пополняющимися всю книгу багажом тайн Нил теряет очки привлекательности как главный герой. Тем более автор слишком явно давит на тему “принятия”, что для меня стирает интерес к внутреннему конфликту Нила, с которым он борется в этой части.
Все это мог исправить авторский стиль, но он полностью примитивен (а перевод потерял некоторые интересные фразы), за ним не хочется возвращаться. Моменты вне общежития и поля кажутся лишними, будто не из этой книги. Хотя я понимаю, что через них автор сближает парней и ставит новые конфликты, но лично мне сложно их было переварить, а в некоторых местах и накрывало испанским стыдом. Наверное, именно из-за этих сцен и “напряжения” между персонажами, остается чувства фанфика. А текст, наполненный скучными глаголами и перечислением однотипных действий, не кажется продвигающимся вперед.
В общем, если вы любите или любили фанфики и аниме про спортивные команды и можете переваривать тонны нелогичностей и надвигающейся драмы, то “Лисья нора” не окажется для вас разочарованием.
Для всех остальных эта завязка может показаться затянутым и не перевариваемым нечто, которое даже сложно подвести под троп “изгои исправляются и становятся любимы”. Нет здесь этого. Автор хочет драмы и травмы каждому персонажу, но не на спортивном поле, а душевном, которое невообразимым образом никак не влияет на их игру. Я понимаю оба лагеря, но пока для меня это приятный ностальгический фанфик, который - что важно - вызывает эмоции.
Este libro ha sio una locura de leer. La escritura es simple pero a veces incomprensible, hay un montón de personajes y la trama medio que no existe. Se siente más una introducción al segundo libro. Espero que el segundo me guste más
Review for series–
I really wanted to love this series, but apparently I'm one of the few who didn't. I don't get the appeal. 1. The Exy sport just confused me. It's an interesting idea, but, why? 2. The mafias and the weird obsession with the sport. 3. The Monsters were not nice guys, and their fvcked-up childhoods didn't excuse their attitudes and behaviors. I love a flawed character and redemption stories, but this wasn't that.
I just found the whole story bizarre and I couldn't get over it. I liked Coach, Dan, and Matt, but they were about it.
I'm surprised at how beloved this book is. Clearly, it's a me problem.
Good narration.
this is part one of my review. I have a lot to say, and Goodreads doesn't like that, so part two, aka all the things that confuse me about this series, can be found here
“Did you know I've never been skiing? I'd like to try it one day, though.”
0/5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMEND
the
Anyways tl;dr: an idiotic boy who's on the run from a crime lord murderous father joins a college sports team who's enemy has ties to the mafia and also it's gay and also Kevin Day
let's talk about the characters, shall we?
Neil Josten.
Andrew Minyard.
Kevin Day.
Coach Wymack.
Nicky Hemmick.
Dan Wilds.
Matt Boyd.
Allison Reynolds.
Aaron Minyard.
Renee Walker.
Seth.
Riko Minyard.
things emi loves about the foxhole court
swoon
things emi hates about the foxhole court
but like I also feel bad for him? He spent his entire life trying to impress his dad and brother and someone they can be proud of all for his brother too shoot him in the head at the end of the series. Riko deserved it but he also didn't deserve that,
this is part one of my review. I have a lot to say, and Goodreads doesn't like that, so part two, aka all the things that confuse me about this series, can be found here
this book had characters in it ive never seen before. each one was so original and raw, especially neil and andrew. ANDREW IS SO INTRIGUING like i just need to know everything about him. also his and kevin's friendship better be explained more because i want to know more about them!!!! fuck nicky and aaron i don't like them! dan and matt are my favs!!!!
3.5 stars
This book a bit odd and...confusing. And by confusing, I mean I had to go back and reread so many parts because it was just so unclear sometimes what the characters were referring to and what exactly was happening. This is mainly what brought it down from 4 stars to 3.5.
However, The Foxhole Court left me very eager to start book two of the trilogy! The entire first book felt more like the first half of one book rather than the entire first book of a trilogy. This is because the