October Reviews

A little late, but I really wanted to get The Sunshine Court finished to keep it with The Foxhole Court series, so what's a day late for a series? We'll pretend that made sense because I'm sick and my brain is soup.

Onward!

Earthflown by Frances Wren

This book had the unfortunate happenstance of being the book I read during almost the entirety of my move, so it was hauled in a box and briefly lost, before being recovered and finished on my mattress on the floor.

Ethan is a healer, a rare type of aptee who can heal a person's injuries with touch. And when a gunshot victim is brought in, Ethan does everything he can to save her, despite her brother, Javier, getting in the way. So when Javier returns to apologize and ask Ethan on a date, Ethan's wary but willing to eat a free dinner. While their affection for one another blooms, journalist Ollie is tracking Javier's family and their involvement in water purification and glass distribution, convinced he can blow the whole scheme up, assuming it doesn't get Ethan killed first.

The world building for this was super interesting; an ultra high tech London also collapsing under a clean water epidemic, with politicians and wealthy families controlling how the water is purified and who will benefit from it most. I also really liked the aptee aspect of it; Ethan's healing and Javier's empathetic projections and receptions were cool new takes on a sort of fantasy magic in a sci fi setting. 

The characters were all fascinating as well-- suffering from their own anxieties or apathetic in the face of societal collapse. Despite their strange beginning, I was really rooting for Javier and Ethan, because even if the circumstances of it all is messy and complicated, they seemed to at least be good for one another. Probably. I also liked the back and forth from their romance to the more sinister political plot that Javier's sister was creating and Ollie was actively tracking. It gave both sides a lot of depth as they veered closer or further away from one another.

The ending felt a little abrupt, but I can see what the author was going for with a sort of cynical cyclical mess, and it allowed me to hope for a happy-ish ending for everyone. Overall I thought this story was creative, the dialogue snappy, and the  book itself a good read.

All For The Game Series by Nora Sakavic (The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, The King's Men)

I first read this series the summer after I graduated from college (a thousand years ago), and fell into a pit of obsession with absolutely no one to scream with about it. This time around was because my dear friend had discovered the series and wondered if I'd read it, so I figured it was time to dust them off and do a reread, and boy was it easy to fall right back in.

I'm not going to do a full summary for this series, because it's fully wild. There's a made up sport, assault, drugs, gangsters, the yakuza, generational trauma, hidden identities, and so on and so forth. Instead, my head hurts and I wrote a list that is mostly coherent about my thoughts on the reread:

Brutal and doesn't pull punches

Hits every content warning possible and the fallout is brilliantly written

Characters are interesting, setting lends itself to the story being told-- locked in time

A lot of heart, even if it's bruised, and the big moments in each book feel even bigger for how their built up to. Kings Men starts slow but about halfway through picks up speed like nothing else, but the pacing of the others is pretty consistent. The story can seem convoluted when trying to explain it to someone, but honestly in the moment it all feels structured and makes sense, despite the sheer amount of how much is going on. 

Neil is an unreliable narrator learning how to trust again, and that honesty is felt more and more as the series progresses. 

Neil and Andrew's relationship is complicated and built on mutual trust, something neither of them really know what to do with, but ultimately is good for both of them in that "you two are perfect for each other and also should not be inflicted on anyone else" way, 10/10 

The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic

The long awaited follow up to The Foxhole Court and by god is it just as brutal as the first series.

Jean Moreau is a Raven and he belongs at Evermore. Except, after Renee pulled him from the wreckage of Riko, he can hardly walk, let alone play. So when he's sent away to play for the USC Trojans instead, his sense of self is lost. He'll have to reckon with his past if he wants a future, and grim as it may seem, Jean may just be starting to want it.

Jean has always been an interesting character in TFC series, so to drop into his head was both interesting and horrifying. He endured a lot of terrible shit and is still processing a lot of it, so mind the content warnings of this book as much as TFC. More of his history emerges, along with the horror his whole life has been, which really sets the scene for Jean's mindset.

I was also excited to get some of Jeremy's perspective and background. Another stellar character-- honestly, all the Trojans were fun to see more of, I'm glad their getting the opportunity to shine in this book like the foxes did in the previous series. And some of the foxes make appearances-- Kevin, Neil, and Renee are threaded throughout, their impact felt all the way from across the country. Neil from and outside perspective is even more insane than his point of view, so that was fun.

Overall this was more of a book about healing than TFC series-- not to say those books aren't about healing in some way, they're just more about learning when to run and when to stay and when things are worth fighting for. The Sunshine Court is Jean's slow and painful trudge away from who the Ravens and Riko make him believe he had to be, reluctantly learning about freedom and good things that exist in the world. And while he has a long way to go, he's given the opportunity to get there, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Overall I had a good month for reading! Woo!

Literary recommendation: I know it's in this review, but truly rereading TFC series reminded me of how good it is, it really takes over your brain

Media recommendation: Halsey's new album The Great Impersonator is incredible