kimschouwenaar's reviews
340 reviews

Please look up content warnings at https://booktriggerwarnings.com/The_King%27s_Men_by_Nora_Sakavic

“The Foxes would be okay, at least, and that was more than enough.”

Now how the heck am I supposed to get over this and just start a new series. So far, this has been my favourite found-family series.  Six of Crows is a close second, maybe even shared first-place, followed by  ACOTAR and  The Raven Cycle .

“I'm not trying to die," Neil said. "This is how I stay alive. When I'm playing, I feel like I have control over something. I feel like I have the power to change things. I feel more real out there than I do anywhere else. The court doesn't care what my name is or where I'm from or where I'll be tomorrow. It lets me exist as I am.”

It was an absolute treat to experience Neil's character development and reading how the Foxes learned to live and play together. Immediately checked if I could order these in paperback, but The Netherlands disappointingly doesn't have them at the moment and I don't trust international shipping enough yet to order them from Amazon.

 “If a bone isn't healing straight, you have no choice but to break it. ”

The writing style and plot development was better in  The Raven King , but I loved the characters in this final instalment too much to rate this anything below four stars. Will reread in the (near) future. No complaints about this being my first 2022-book.

 Neil built his life around Exy after his mother died because he needed something to live for, but Neil wasn't alone anymore. 

Please look up trigger warnings at https://booktriggerwarnings.com/The_Foxhole_Court_by_Nora_Sakavic

“Remember this feeling. This is the moment you stop being the rabbit.”

For a 3,5-star read (that I rated 5 stars because I can), this book had no business being so addicting. The only reason I picked this up is because somehow my search page on Instagram was suddenly full of fan art for AFTG. Not sure, but I'm convinces the Goddess had decided my TBR wasn't long enough yet.
The writing is good, not great, the plot is kind of all over the place and don't expect me to be able to explain in explicit detail what the heck Exy is. Thankfully, the Foxhole Court fandom had my back and without too much extensive desk research, I feel like I can actually understand the game through Sakavic's writing.

“Money greases the wheels of the world easier than blood does, and Riko has access to both.”

Will definitely continue this series. Might get them in paperback so I can reread them at some point. That point might arrive in 2022.

PS: DO NOT search for a lot of info or fan art on Google or you favourite search engine. You will get spoiled.

Same review, but I've re-read this as an audiobook in 2022. It has now been about a year since I first read this series and I'm still absolutely fucking obsessed with.

“So what is it? Are you afraid of your own happiness or do you honestly like being miserable all the time?”

Well, this was fucking heartbreaking. The growth of the author's writing style compared to The Foxhole Court was immense and I enjoyed this even more. Nora Sakavic leaves you wanting more after every word, sentence, paragraph and chapter. You can read this is self-published, but the plot, characters and writing overall were just more on-point.

“I am a bad person trying very hard to be a good person, but I would not be trying at all if not for the outside interventions in my life.”

You see them trying to get their shit together and I was left wanting more and more and more every time I put it away. Immediately started reading The King's Men after I finished this.

“He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.”

I’m hesitating between 2,5 and 3 starts, because holy fuck I have a lot of issues with this book. only the epilogue saved this from being a two-star read.