The Start of Something that Hasn’t Quite Found It’s Footing Just Yet

The Foxhole Court is the first novel of Nora Sakavic’s All for the Game, which gives an intriguing beginning for what is to come, but unfortunately does not really stand so well as a book on it’s own: it’s clearly just a buildup, and given it’s slim run of under 300 pages, I wonder if perhaps it would not have work to put the 3 instalments of the series into one novel with parts/books 1-2-3 all together? But that’s not my decision at the end of the day, and I feel like I will continue to see where the series goes, if only out of curiosity from some of the twists thrown in at the end.

This novel primarily deals with a teenager named Neil, though it is clear from the beginning that this is not his real name: he has been on the run for years from his father and those who know him, given that his dad is a well-known murderer currently in jail. Neil and his mother have been hiding their identities, yet Neil now finds himself on his own and is trying to just make it way through school remaining unseen, when he is recruited to a high-profile college Exy team; Exy is a lacrosse-like sport that Neil used to love as a child, and he recently found a newfound passion in at his latest school, only to find himself being offered a potential future that he never thought possible. The problems, however, are that a) if he joins this team his face will likely be more seen and he questions whether he looks different enough from when his father last saw him as a child to keep on the run, and b) one of the stars of this team is an old childhood friend of Neil named Kevin, who he really doesn’t want to recognize him (also Kevin’s family was involved in some crime with Neil’s father at some point?).

In any case, what could be just a simple sports story about a team of misfits thrown together that don’t get along but form a bond gets turned on its head into a darker tale involving murder, abuse, crime families, and mental illness. And this is certainly interesting and why I am curious to see where the story goes with this! But also, it’s a bit ridiculous, and the way these things are thrown together doesn’t always work so organically. This may also have to do with how some of the writing and dialogue doesn’t seem to flow quite so naturally, especially in conversations between the pricklier characters, of which there are many. Speaking of which, the characters are also a conflicting aspect of the novel for me, because it seems to me that there is more to these characters than the one-notes they appear to be right now, but I have yet to see it, and unfortunately a lot of them are very unlikeable or just so outlandish that I wonder how I’m supposed to root for them? Perhaps the dynamics of the team will be explored more in the next book in the series.

So really, this isn’t per say a great book, and maybe as the series goes on my impression of it won’t change given how I found the writing itself a little awkward. But I truly am curious about how all the little threads, dramas, and issues of these characters are going to come together in the end: the hooks are in me, and now I must see where I can find the next book!