Saturday, March 23, 2019

Mini Reviews: The Foxhole Court || When The Sky Fell On Splendor








The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic



Series: All For The Game #1
Genre: Young adult (?) contemporary (?)
Pages: 237
Publication date: January 2013
Content warning: Homelessness, violence, abusive relationships, drug use, offensive “jokes,” assault, death, gangs, mental illness
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.


Likes: It was free on Amazon. Honestly, I haven’t been this irritated at a book in years. I’m struggling to come up with “likes.”

I wanted to read something that got me out of my comfort zone, and this novel did it. I usually avoid sports books (and art and music books) because those things often don’t translate well to fiction. I enjoy them in real life, but they’re bland in books because you can’t see or hear them. The made-up sport in this book—Exy—is bland, but it has redeeming qualities. I like that the characters don’t have to be massive, muscular dudes to play on a university team. The teams are co-ed, and Neil is small.



Dislikes: The only reason I finished this book is because it’s short. Reading it was a frustrating experience because the author seems to have a deep aversion to research. It’s hard to feel grounded in a story where the details are vague, everything is made up, and nothing is believable. The sport is made up, the university is made up, the drugs are made up, the mental illnesses are made up (or so vague I don’t know what they are), the “medicine” for them is made up. If you’re going to fictionalize this much, you have to do a lot of explaining. The author didn’t do that, so I was confused for most of the story.

I don’t understand how the Foxes team is allowed to exist. They lose all of their games. The players refuse to practice, or they practice on their own without training staff. They do drugs and secretly drug each other (which the coach seems fine with?) They’re casually and pointlessly violent with their teammates (which could lead to injuries). They think it’s a good idea to bring knives onto the court when they play games (?!). What university is going to tolerate this?

I don’t understand the characters’ motivations. Neil is paranoid about someone uncovering his real identity, but he continues to hang out with his teammates after they roofie him, question him about his secrets, and assault him when he doesn’t tell. Why is he friends with these people?




The Bottom Line: I can’t suspend my disbelief this much. Everything is made up, and nothing makes sense. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing this one.








When The Sky Fell On Splendor by Emily Henry



Genre: Young adult science fiction
Pages: 384
Publication date: March 2019
Content warning: Death, injury, neglect
Almost everyone in the small town of Splendor, Ohio, was affected when the local steel mill exploded. If you weren’t a casualty of the accident yourself, chances are a loved one was. That’s the case for seventeen-year-old Franny, who, five years after the explosion, still has to stand by and do nothing as her brother lies in a coma.

In the wake of the tragedy, Franny found solace in a group of friends whose experiences mirrored her own. The group calls themselves The Ordinary, and they spend their free time investigating local ghost stories and legends, filming their exploits for their small following of YouTube fans. It’s silly, it’s fun, and it keeps them from dwelling on the sadness that surrounds them.

Until one evening, when the strange and dangerous thing they film isn’t fiction–it’s a bright light, something massive hurdling toward them from the sky. And when it crashes and the teens go to investigate . . . everything changes.


Likes: Look at me, reading a book right after it comes out. Usually my preorders sit on the shelf for a year before I get around to reading them. This one was too tempting to leave on the shelf.

When The Sky Fell on Splendor is a fast-paced story about six teens who became friends after a steel mill explosion. This could be a straightforward novel about grief and friendship, but it’s not. The author puts a creative spin on typical teen book topics. While the teens are filming a video one night, something falls from the sky. Do the bright light and the strange creature who steps out of it have something to do with the mill explosion?

If you like plot-driven books, this is a novel for you. The plot gets moving early and doesn’t let up. The twists kept me awake for most of the night. I couldn’t put the book down until I discovered what the alien wants. I didn’t expect the book to end the way it does, but I was satisfied with the conclusion. It wraps everything up nicely.

Can we have more teen friendships in books, please? I want to read about friend groups. I like the banter and the quirky-yet-flawed characters in this one.



Dislikes: Too many characters. Since the plot moves fast, we only get superficial details about some of them. I think those characters could have been deleted without hurting the story.

A few of the plot events are too stereotypical sci-fi/horror for me. You’ve got your creepy fog, your sinister FBI people, the weird neighbor, some comic-book-style superpowers. I’ve seen all of this stuff a million times before.



The Bottom Line: I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would, but it definitely entertained me and kept me guessing. If you like science fiction, I recommend it. 











20 comments:

  1. Ugh Foxhole Court was a DNF for me. I had no idea what was going on and didn't get it. I'm excited for the Emily Henry book.

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    1. I hope you like When The Sky Fell On Splendor! It’s a fun story.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. I don't think Splendor is a place I want to live

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  3. Wow. Foxhole Court was on my TBR a long time ago but I eventually deleted it and uh, I'm glad I did now. That sounds truly awful. The Sky Fell on Splendor is one that I really want to read though! I'm sorry you didn't love it.

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  4. I loved Henry's first two books so much, but this one is so different. Not sure if I will read it. I had downloaded Foxhole, because everyone was raving about it, but I the things you mentioned would drive me nuts.

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    1. I might pick up Henry’s other novels eventually. They don’t appeal to me as much as this one did, but I know a lot of people love them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  5. This might nudge me over the edge into reading Splendor, I like the eerie sounds of it, although the tropiness of it is a little off- putting.

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  6. Oh dear, sorry the books didn't live up to expectations!

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    1. Splendor is pretty good, but the other one? I don’t understand the hype.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. Too bad about The Foxhole Court and sorry When The Sky Fell On Splendor was a little meh. Hopefully your next book is much better!

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  8. The Foxhole Court sounds like such a strange book! It seems odd that the author would make up all this stuff, an entire sport, illnesses, and then not explain any of it.

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  9. I have the Foxhole Court on my to-read list as it was free and I heard good things about it, but that does sound really weird with all the made up stuff and how they drug each other and take knives to the game. That just sounds strange.

    I am also guilty of keeping books on my shelf for a long time before reading it and it's nice to read one right after it releases. It sounds like a good story driven book with a group of teen friends. Too bad about there being too many character and too little details about them and some parts being too stereotypical. Great reviews!

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    1. Thanks! I’m happy that I actually read a preorder in a timely manner. It seems dumb that I preorder books and then leave them sitting around forever.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. The Foxhole Court sounds like a hot mess. I hate when a character's thoughts and decisions and actions make no sense. Major pet peeve. I'm glad When the Sky Fell on Splendor was a better read, even if it wasn't quite what you were expecting.

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  11. I am glad that Splendor was pretty good but WOW can we talk about Foxhole Court? I have known people who will shout from the rooftops that this is their favorite book of all time. Then I also see people who hate it with the fire of 10,000 suns and honestly I want to read it just to see where I fall at this point. I mean, even if I hate it, sounds nice and snarkable hahah. And reading your review was worth the time you spent reading the book, I promise! :D

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  12. I cannot remember where I saw Foxhole Court before, I think maybe I saw more than one bad review and knew to stay away from it. Ha ha. 😏

    When the Sky Fell on Splendor sounds like it would make a great movie, or Netflix series. 👍✨

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  13. I'm so sorry you didn't love The Foxhole Court, I feel like this book has either raving, adoring reviews or DNF reviews haha.
    I definitely want to read When The Sky Fell on Splendor, it sounds so intriguing and YAY for friendships 💕
    Lovely reviews!

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