Monday 23 January 2017

The Foxhole Court



Book Title: The Foxhole Court
Author: Nora Sakavic
Series: All for the Game #1
Date Started: January 5th 2017
Date Completed: January 23rd 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four stars
Review:

What drew me to The Foxhole Court was not its premise - I'll be honest, the whole American college experience doesn't interest me in the slightest - but the hype promising that this book was far more than meets the eye. It's somewhat underground cult status intrigued me and from a few positive reactions from people I trust I thought I might as well give it a try for 99p. Best 99p I've maybe ever spent.

I don't feel like I can really give this book more than four stars because it definitely has its weaknesses, but I'm calling it now that this trilogy is going to be five stars by the end of it. The main thing that was stopping me this time - and I'm sure is the reason these books are self-published - is that it's mainly told through information dumping. Strangely enough, I didn't actually mind once I got the swing of it because everything else is so well done, and Sakavic is building such a complex and solid world with it. But it has to be said that until the end we're being told extensive exposition in big chunks in order to appreciate the gravity of the rest of the book - which we do, but it's not structured in the best way it could be. But damn, it's still so good, and the heart of this book far outweighs its weaknesses.

The Foxhole Court is, essentially, about a team of violently troubled misfits that are as much at odds with each other as they are with the outside world. Looking back, there aren't many happy times in this book, it's all conflict. But there's a sort of community in that conflict between the teammates, even if things get out of hand, and that's the whole point of this story. Their distrust of each other is, honestly, completely valid, but they know when there are bigger threats to them on the outside of their group that trumps their dislike for each other.
Speaking of which, what really impressed me was the balance between the typical high school/college sport contemporary and a very dark gangster culture, without it feeling silly. It's a hard balance to pull off because it can so easily fall into the trap of melodrama and pushes the boundaries of what your readers can take seriously. Sakavic dedicates enough time into her world building and character development that we feel the gravity of these two worlds pressing onto our protagonists. I'm still not entirely sold on the sporting sequences (I have no idea what half the drills they put Neil through are), but I was invested enough in the people to find plenty to engage with.

Unanimously, I think it's agreed that the shining strength of these books are the characters. Gangs of misfits have always been my chosen protagonists, and Sakavic did not disappoint; in fact she insisted on going one up and providing arguably twelve protagonists which, amazingly, I was able to keep up with. And they were each good characters too. Varied, developed characters that clearly had their own backstories laid out in Sakavic's head even if they weren't written on the page. Even the arseholes of the group were well developed and believable.
Watching their interactions with each other was what drove me through this book, especially with the adults. Yes, I felt the tension between Neil and Kevin, and I wanted to punch Andrew as much as Matt did, but seeing the respect and true aggression between the team and Coach Wymack was so interesting for me, and I think most telling about all of them. Aside from the fact I love Abby and Wymack the most, they were so powerful in the story even if not directly involved. Adults can often be overlooked in Young Adult fiction, so seeing their inclusion was refreshing, and the power dynamic added yet more weight to what was happening. 

Despite the contemporary genre not being my thing Sakavic's merging with the crime thriller (even if very sparingly) pulled me into this book, but it was the characters that wouldn't let me back out again. I've been walking around today after finishing the book thinking about them and where this story has to go. It has its weaknesses, but it's a debut and I've read far, far worse books from big publishers, so I'm happy to see The Foxhole Court getting the cult status it deserves.

Wednesday 4 January 2017

Playing with Fire



Book Title: Playing with Fire
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #2
Date Started: December 29th 2016
Date Completed: December 31st 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Thriller, Action
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Star
Final Rating: Five stars
Review:

I wasn't feeling up for starting a whole new book in the few days before the end of the year, so instead I snuck in a reread of another Skulduggery book. Playing with Fire was my absolute favourite book when I was younger - probably until Death Bringer came out - and like with the first book, I was a bit apprehensive as to whether to would stand up to what I remembered it as. And, again, I needn't have worried. It's funny looking back so early in the series though, because as much as I love it, the game hasn't even begun yet. Playing with Fire is pretty much the definition of 'the good old days'.

I'm starting to understand why - past the sheer awesomeness - I love these books so much. The brilliant female characters and politics definitely have something to do with it, not to mention the action scenes and magic system. But for me personally, what I noticed while rereading Playing with Fire was how these stories run like a film. There's this perfect, succinct imagery that presents what's happening so exactly in your head that you can anticipate and feel the tone with just a few words. And Derek does it without having to fuel it all with cliches - I'm reading these events run off like the most smoothly edited and staged scene in a film and it's utterly brilliant. Derek has a history in screenwriting, and it definitely comes through. But for me as a film student hoping to be a director, how could I not love a something that gives me a crystal clear film in my head?

Oh, this series. Oh the action, oh the plot, oh the one-liners, oh the characters, oh everything. Oh, Derek. Stop it. This guy can spin off a story about a teenage girl and a skeleton detective solving crimes and make it about so much more. He can have a rich magical world and let us focus on the excitement and wonder of it, but have a complex political power play going on in the background. He can give you characters that are diverse and varied, and ones that are utterly evil, but you love them because they feel so real. He can make each book its own story, enjoyable in its own right, and weave it into a much bigger arc without losing the integrity of each individual novel. If we're talking specifically about Playing with Fire he can write several little crime stories in one, a few dozen awesome action scenes, countless points of character development, and make it into a story about saving the world that you haven't seen before. Yes, I am completely biased in everything I say about this series, but I'm biased because it's persuaded me to love it so much.
You can tell Derek's a schemer when you go back and read the early books. There are little hints to what happens later in the story scattered literally everywhere, and it's a shame it's not really something you can appreciate on your first read when you have no idea where things lead. But catching the foreshadowing and ironic little turns (intentional or not) makes rereading it so much more engaging, even when you know what's happening like the back of your hand. I don't often reread books in general - oo many books, so little time and all - but I don't even hesitate with Derek, because I know I'll have just as much fun as the first time, and probably find new stuff that I never noticed before while I'm at it.

Seeing all the characters at this early point in the story makes me respect them even more. The development from now to the end of the series is staggering, but we still start with solid characters at the beginning. Something I've been thinking about with this series is the way in which it portrays different kinds of intelligence and how that really isn't something you see that much. You tend to get stories that have the 'book smart' person but that ends up being pretty much the only form of intelligence around. In Skulduggery, there are definitely people who are book smart, but Bliss has strategic intelligence, Tanith is people smart, Valkyrie learns on her feet so fast, and Skulduggery... let's not fuel his ego.
Valkyrie, especially, is such a brilliant character, and for more than seeing a female protagonist with intelligence and physical strength. While I hesitate to call this a children's series (especially towards the end), I did read these books when I was a lot younger, and while rereading Playing with Fire it struck me who grateful I am for a character like Val. Because Valkyrie is uncertain and scared in this book. She's the protagonist, she's brave at times, and she's kick ass and awesome. But she's a thirteen year old kid who doesn't know entirely what she's doing; she hasn't mastered her magic yet and she's being put into a lot of really dangerous situations in which she's always surrounded by adults. She gets hurt, and she gets scared in a realistic way that you would in those situations. But she carries on anyway and deals with the fallout as she goes. I respect Derek so much for taking his time to build her up as a person over this huge series because it's so valuable for such a young protagonist to honestly be scared and inexperienced in a story, but improve as they grow up. Like myself, a lot of kids have and do read this series, and I don't think I've seen a character grow and develop and become stronger just through growing up like I have with Valkyrie, and that's such a great thing to show younger people.

While I can't say it's my favourite book in the series anymore, rereading Playing with Fire properly (I'm skim read all of the books about twenty times each) was almost a different experience to when it first came out. It really reminds you how far everyone has come and how dark things really get. But, at the same time, this book isn't trivial. Yeah, it's not the gritty, edgy finale that we end up at, but it's still complex and clever and awesome. This series has something in it for everyone, and even now I'm finding new aspects I hadn't noticed before. Reading Skulduggery Pleasant feels like coming home.