I've given up on the idea of NY's resolutions, per se, because setting rigid goals inevitably leads to disappointment. But I have a loose collection of things I want to work toward, and one of those is keeping better track of the books I'm reading. I could use Goodreads for that, but, well, I'm not a fan. So I'm going to do it on the blog instead. I'll post them in the order in which I finish them. I don't do stars or ratings of any kind. I have very eclectic taste and will read just about anything so long as I feel I can connect with an author's voice and characters. I'll only be posting about books that I've finished and truly enjoyed - I don't do bad reviews, fair warning.
Book 1 of 2022 is The Foxhole Court, by Nora Sakavic
I've seen this series make the Twitter and Tumblr rounds for years, and it was mentioned alongside enough books that I've enjoyed that it piqued my interest. Looking for something contemporary to read between heavy historicals, I finally picked it up last week.
"It's not the world that's cruel," Neil said. "It's the people in it."
The story follows Neil Josten, who we immediately learn is running from something, and as the novel unfolds, we learn just how nasty that something is. (I won't spoil it for you) He's invited (read - demanded) to join the Palmetto State University Exy team, and spends his time trying to hide his secrets, survive his volatile teammates, and improve his game, in that order. It's the perils of young adulthood meets sports story, meets mafia drama, and if that sounds like a wild mashup, trust me, it is. It's the first of a trilogy and ends on a sequence of shockers that meant I immediately downloaded book two at my Kindle's prompting.
The opening scene - Neil smoking a cig on his high school court's bleachers, about to get the surprise of his life in the form of a familiar face - instantly grabs. This is a kid with something heavy lying across his shoulders. No easing in, no setting the stage; it's like a crisp, black-and-white snapshot, and you immediately know things are going to get complicated. Sakavic's prose is direct and no frills; not overly descriptive, but very precise in the portrait it paints. She picks out the most necessary detail of a character, and, in that way, brings them to life in a way that makes them seem a little over the top...and I mean that in the best way. The characterization echoes the blunt, visceral impacts and dodges of a contact sport.
Which brings us to Exy - a fictional sport created for the purposes of this trilogy. While I didn't always follow the action as I would have had it been a real and familiar sport, I like Sakavic's use of one we don't know. We have to follow the characters and rely on them for information; we don't come to the story with our own ideas about the way someone should or shouldn't play or train. And it has the added bonus of allowing the author to use the NCAA and ESPN, and familiar sports landmarks without having to work around real NCAA schools. It's pretty brilliant, actually.
My favorite thing about this book was the way it reminded me, turn after turn, of a sports anime. I love sports anime and manga. The drama on and off the field/court/rink, etc. The ways sport becomes a metaphor for learning to trust and lean on one another. The explosive, larger-than-life characters. The tension that makes you want to ship pairings even though it's not a romance. Only, tone down some of the bonding and throw in some dramatic crime family plotlines.
I don't know where the next two books will take us - if Neil learns to trust or even like Andrew and Kevin, if the Palmetto Foxes become the comeback kids of college Exy...or if someone's getting their fingernails pulled for information. Who knows! This is definitely not YA, but a darker look at a college sports drama with some underage drinking, drug use, vicious teammates, and mafia action on the side. I really liked it: American Haikyu!! meets Banana Fish, if you're into that.
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