#‘yeah so neil is the runaway son of a crime lord and he’s also trying to avoid the yakuza’

[justanotherbarrelrat]

can’t believe i gotta go to thanksgiving dinner and pretend to be normal. how can i do that when jerejean. when all for the game

[justafangirlwithideas]

Hey! I’m super interested in the book you have been blogging about (I wasn’t able to catch the title but it sounds amazing. Maybe Foxhole Court?) do you mind telling me what it’s about?

Hey!!! Ahhh this ask made my day!!! I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me about this books for ages!! 

So, I will try to keep the capslock in this post to a minimum. I would say I’ll try to keep it short, but… I know I won’t.

First thing you need to know is that these books are my favourite of all time, along with TSC possibly.

It’s a trilogy called All For The Game, and the first book is called The Foxhole Court. It’s written by Nora Sakavic, and it’s self published. The first book is available for free online, and the next two only cost a dollar each as ebook. They are also available as physical books, but those need to be ordered online, as bookstores do not stock them as far as I know (as they are self published).

Now onto the story… It’s quite complicated and I can’t say too much because of spoilers but I’ll do my best. With which I mean I have had this ready for two years waiting for someone to ask me but I’ll probably get over excited and make a mess of what I’m trying to say so I need an excuse.

Okay so, the story follows Neil Josten, the runaway son of a crime lord. He was on the run with his mother, but when she died he decided to pick up exy again, which she had always forbidden. Exy is a sport made up by Nora Sakavic, and it’s kind of a weird combination of lacrosse and rugby. The rules are really clear though, and trust me, you don’t need to care about sports to read these books. By the end of the first book you’ll wish exy was real though so you could show off your knowledge. Anyway, Neil gets recruited to a college exy team. He knows he shouldn’t go, that he should run, but he loves exy to much to let go. So he goes to university and joins this exy team. 

 But this team is infamous for being dead last every season, and the coach is believed to be a misguided idealist who only recruits players he believes need a second chance. As a result the team is a fractured mess and half of the players hate each other.

Now this is where I lose my cool because I’ll give you a run through of the characters…. And I love them all so much… Get ready for this rant. 

SO FIRST. NEIL. LIKE I SAID, RUNAWAY SON OF A MAFIA BOSS. KINDA AN ASSHOLE FOCUSED ONLY ON HIS OWN SURVIVAL AND EXY (AT LEAST AT FIRST) BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY BLAME HIM. BASICALLY A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR WHO CAN NEVER KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT AT THE RIGHT TIME AND I LOVE HIM!!

ANDREW!!! EVERYONE THINKS HE’S A PSYCHOPATH AND HE’S UNBELIEVABLY VIOLENT. PROBABLY SHOULD’T CROSS HIM IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE BUT THE WHOLE FANDOM LOVES HIM!!! ALSO HE’S THE MUM FRIEND AND A MIDGET

I should probably to Andrews group first and then the upperclassmen (that’s the main two groups the team is divided into) but I’ll just kinda rant about whoever comes to mind first.

OBVIOUSLY NEXT IS RENEE!!!!!! RENEE MY SWEETHEART!! SHE’S MY FAVOURITE IF YOU COULDN’T TELL! SHE’S THE SWEETHEART OF THE GROUP AND KEEPS EVERYONE IN LINE WITH HER KINDNESS AND GENTLE QUESTIONS! SHE’S REALLY CLOSE FRIENDS WITH ANDREW THOUGH, WHICH THE REST OF THE TEAM DISAPPROVES OF BECAUSE THEY ALL LOVE RENEE AND EVEN THOSE WHO DON’T HATE ANDREW…. DON’T WANT HIM TO INFLUENCE HER

KEVIN!!! KEVIN DAY IS THE STAR OF EXY. HE WAS A NATIONAL CHAMPION. UNTIL HE BROKE HIS PLAYING HAND AND FELL FROM GRACE. THE FOXES (the team) TAKE HIM IN AND HE LEARNS TO PLAY WITH HIS WEAKER HAND. ALSO AN ABSOLUTE HISTORY NERD!! OH AND HE’S A HUGE ASSHOLE BECAUSE OF HIS SINGLE MINDEDNESS AND NEED TO BE THE BEST

NICKY!! ANOTHER CINNAMON ROLL WHO IS OCCASIONALLY AN ASSHOLE. HE DOES NOT DESERVE THE CRAP HE’S BEEN THROUGH…

DAN!!!! DANIELLE WILDES IS THE FOXES CAPTAIN AND THE MOST BADASS, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER I HAVE EVER READ ABOUT!! SHE’S GOTTEN SO MUCH SHIT THROWN AT HER, BUT SHE STAYS STRONG, EVEN WHEN NO ONE BELIEVED IN HER!!!

MATT!! DAN’S BOYFRIEND AND JUST WOW!! THE ONLY GUY ON THE TEAM WHO IS NEVER, NEVER AN ASSHOLE! HE’S SUPER SWEET AND SUPPORTIVE AND PROTECTIVE, OF ALL HIS FRIENDS

ALLISON IS DESCRIBED AS A CATTY BITCH, AND YEAH SHE IS. BUT SHE’S ALSO BADASS AND AMAZING. SHE’S THE RICH GIRL WHO GAVE UP HER INHERITANCE AND GOT DISOWNED TO PLAY EXY

THEN THERE’S AARON. ANDREW’S TWIN AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST ASSHOLES. HE DOESN’T LIKE ANYONE, EXCEPT MAYBE HIS COUSIN (NICKY). STILL… YOU MIGHT  LIKE HIM BY THE END OF THE BOOKS

LAST IS SETH. HE’S JUST AN ASSHOLE AND I DON’T LIKE HIM. @ali-fairchild DOES THOUGH SO…

Okay so i didn’t describe all there pasts, but like I said, all of them need a second chance for some reason or another. Some of their pasts are revealed immediately, some throughout the books. All I’m gonna say is that AFTG has the best characterisation I have ever read, and that’s a HUGE compliment.

Now, like I’ve mentioned in a lot of posts there are quite a few trigger warnings. These books are really intense and deal with a lot of issues, so I’ll list a few warnings below.

first of all, there’s a crazy amount of (casual) violence

physical abuse

substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) including by minors

domestic violence (not actually detailed in the books but past events mentioned)

sexual abuse and harassment 

rape

medical drugs

mafia

torture

Here’s a very extensive list, if you’re unsure whether you are okay with these.

ANYWAY, I REALLY REALLY HOPE YOU DECIDE TO READ THESE BOOKS (THAT GOES FOR EVERYONE) AND IF YOU DO, TEXT ME!!! I CAN FANGIRL WITH YOU!! 

MY FOXES, MY BABIES DESERVE SO MUCH MORE RECOGNITION!!

Also one last thing, if you do read them, please, please don’t spoil yourself. I know it’s like that for every book, but especially this one. So many things, especially character backstories, are revealed bit by bit, but it’s for a reason. 

HAVE FUN READING THESE IF YOU DO 

OMGGGGG I CAN’T THESE BOOKS

*fangirls for the next few hours*

I hope this has convinced you these books are totally worth it. Any more questions, let me know.

[michaelmilkers]

lgbt fiction: all for the game by nora sakavic

okay. all for the game has three books: the foxhole court (262 pages) the raven king (286 pages) and the king’s men (370 pages) and i finished it in 3 or 4 days i think

summary of the first book:

“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.”

obviously it was written by a woman but she gets a pass because the majority of it is very well done and she didnt try and make it a story ABOUT being gay. in fact the romance doesnt even start until a bit into the series which i found surprising

as i said in an earlier post i liked that the main characters were a cohesive group, it wasnt just main character, love interest, and background noise. the plot didnt feel like just something in place to orchestrate the romance, it was more that the romance was an aspect of it.

the main characters are on a sports team (a fictional sport) and for the most part there are six men and three women. their team captain is a woman.

would i recommend this series? yeah, i would. i really enjoyed it. it wasnt predictable, rejected a lot of m/m fiction stereotypes and tropes, and the story was genuinely interesting. i quite honestly could not give less of a fuck about mainstream sports (im a karate gay) but the scenes where they are playing the game are actually really exciting with the way the author writes them. 

with that said, i have a complaint.

three of the main characters are gay. the main character, the love interest, and a third character who from the start is very very open about being gay. at first it was refreshing to have a character so out like that, but then i was waiting for him to be fleshed out more and he just... wasnt. it got a little better in the second and third book but for the entire series he was basically The Gay One. all of the characters come from some sort of rough background, and even his backstory completely centers around him being gay with not accepting parents and all that. he flirted around endlessly to the point of being predatory, even though he has a boyfriend he is supposedly very committed to??? he was a fun character but it was just disappointing.

and now for trigger warnings, because this series has some heavy shit. i want yall to take this as seriously as possible: this series has some heavy shit.

minor stuff: frequent smoking, drinking, and recreational drug use, casual homophobia towards The Gay One, and what i guess counts??? as a sex scene a couple times, but seriously blink and you might miss it. a john green novel is more nsfw than this. mentions of self harm and suicide, but not in-depth.

major stuff: F R E Q U E N T violence of varying severity, which is sometimes described sort of in detail, physical and psychological torture, parental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, rape, and csa. the last two are not described in detail but are mentioned kind of frequently after that part of a characters backstory is revealed. also semi-major character death a few times.

im going to put specifics i found particularly jarring/concerning without spoiling under the cut

one of the (male) characters was subjected to prolonged and repeated sexual abuse at the hands of a foster brother starting from an unnamed age, but it was as young as seven. the specifics of the abuse are not described, but some of the things the abuser said are, with mentions of incest (biological not foster) although it never actually happened

the protagonist and a few other main characters walk in on one of the (male) characters being raped. this is not described, and i had to read it twice to understand that that was what was going on. the situation is immediately stopped.

this event is brought up later in a mocking manner by an antagonist.

the protagonist is subjected to prolonged psychological and physical torture at the hands of an antagonist trying to basically break the protagonist. the reader sees tidbits of it but the rest is skipped over, with the book resuming with the aftermath.

the protagonist is tortured with knives, cigarettes, and a lighter on one occasion. parts of this are described.

one of the characters was beaten by his mother throughout his childhood. this is mentioned not described.

one of the characters was sent to conversion therapy. this is mentioned but not described.

this is a lot but everything turns out to be okay in the end, with a lot of the abusers getting whats coming to them. if you think you can still read the books i highly recommend you to do so, its really worth it in my opinion.

[lifelibrariesandlemontrees]

Book Review: All For The Game Trilogy

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

Okay, so first things first: I fucking love this series. It’s a ridiculous premise, and if you’re easily offended or triggered you might want to avoid it. But if you’re not? I definitely recommend it. I first read it like, a year ago or something and I honestly don’t know why its taken me so long to rave about it on here.

The second thing I will point out, is that clearly I only have the image and summary for the first book given above. That’s because I 1. couldn’t find a good picture of all 3 books, and 2. Don’t really feel like they’re three separate books anyway. They technically are, and they’re sold that way, but ultimately I find that each book flows into the next so that it’s less of three distinct books and more of one story broken into three parts. Does that make any sense? I swear it did in my head. 

I saw these books recommended on Tumblr, and chances are that if you’re reading this review you probably have too. But maybe you’ve never picked it up. Maybe you’ve been hesitant, wary of independent authors or bad Tumblr recommendations. Maybe you just thought it sounded stupid, to which I tell you- yeah, it sounds that way. Believe me, this entire series sounds like the kind of unrealistic, overly-dramatic bullshit that I hate, but it’s SO. GOOD. 

I think it’s in the characters. There’s a full cast of wonderful, well developed characters that you’re going to fall in love with (Except for Seth. I can’t really make myself give half of a damn about Seth, but idk man some people like him. You might too???). The plot line is a little out there, but the writing just makes it work? It’s like some kind of literary magic. I don’t care much about sports or gangs or illegal activities and yet I find myself deeply in love with a book series centered around all of these things.

But like I said before, there are the characters. As much as the story is focused around the illegal gang drama and the sports and such, the story is also very much focused on the characters, Neil in particular, and their relationships with each other. Each character is fleshed out, well-rounded, and unique, complete with both positive and negative traits and everything in between. 

As a fan of romance stories, I especially like the unique aspects of this book in which the romance is very subtle and slow burn and, unless you’ve seen all the fan art and stuff, might not expect it, until suddenly BAM. Tis’ upon you. Once it is, it deals very heavily ( and refreshingly, tbh) in issues of consent, stressing it’s absolute importance. On the representation front, this book comes complete with several examples of homosexuality and one demisexual character, which isn’t something I’ve seen much of in literature. If you’re waiting for him to explicitly state that he is, that’s not going to happen, but it’s clear in his behavior and the author has confirmed it on her blog. 

(As a fun- fun?- fact, my spell check is losing its mind over the word “demisexual”. It wants me to change it to “bisexual.” Like...sorry spellcheck, can’t do that.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that these books are ridiculous and beautiful, and while I’m not telling you who the main love interest is, I will tell you that it’s a pretty great (if somewhat unconventional) love story. Also there’s a huge Tumblr cult-following and it’s pretty damn active, so that’s fun. 

Definitely check this series out. Laos, as an added bonus, it’s REALLY cheap on Amazon. Definitely worth the money.��