All for the Game Series: A Review

 RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

The series is centred around the main character Neil Josten and a fictional sport called Exy, described as a “bastard sport, an evolved sort of lacrosse on a soccer-sized court with the violence of ice hockey”. Neil gets signed on by the Palmetto State University to play Exy, where he meets someone from his old life. And as it turns out, Neil isn’t the only one on the team with a bit of damage. 

 

The All for the Game series is a trilogy by Nora Sakavic that follows the life of Neil Josten as he is recruited for the sport of Exy by Palmetto State University. Neil has spent most of his life on the run as he is the son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. After the death of his mother, Neil has worked hard to keep a low profile but being recruited to play for a major university team, he is putting himself back in the spotlight. Especially since the university’s Exy team, The Foxes, has someone from Neil’s old life as their top player. 

 

The books in the series are:

·      The Foxhole Court

·      The Raven King

·      The King’s Men

The series originally came out in 2013 and 2014 and was very popular on Tumblr. I never read the books when they were first popular, but I saw so much fanart and fanfiction about the characters that I always wanted to read them. I originally had the books on my kindle but never got around to reading them during my teen years on Tumblr.

 

I bought the first book years ago but never bought the rest of the series until last year, during lockdown. Once I started reading the series, I couldn’t put it down! I never thought I would enjoy a series that involves a sport so heavily, but I loved it. The books cover so many different topics and it is really important to check the trigger warnings before reading!

 

I would highly recommend these books to anyone who loves the found family trope. The found family is the series is so perfectly imperfect and the drama is amazing. I read the series so quickly and can guarantee that I will be rereading the series in the future. It brought me right back to the days of Tumblr and it had me scrolling through, looking for fanart again.