breaklikeafish's Book Journey

I originally read this series a year ago and never wrote a review. I’ve come to regret that—but today it occurred to me that I don’t actually have to wait until I finish my reread to post something. I can just do it now. Most of this review has taken shape in my brain while running, which feels very Neil Josten of me.

I cannot overstate how much these silly little books mean to me. They’ve taken over my life in the best possible way. I made playlists, bingo boards, and arts-and-crafts projects. They strengthened my relationship with two very close friends. They even pushed me to pick up several hobbies I had abandoned due to Life and Adulting and My Brain Not Braining. This is the biggest real-life impact a book series has had on me since I was a teenager.

So, why?

It’s difficult to explain. At its core, it’s a story about finding a home after losing everything, and fighting for your own happiness.

The protagonist, Neil Josten, is one of a kind. He has spent the past nine years on the run with his mother. His father is a serial killer who is actively hunting him, yet that doesn’t stop Neil from putting his face on national TV to play his favorite sport after his mother dies. He joins a team that has the additonal requirement that every player needs to have a tragic backstory, lead by a coach with seemingly no psychological or didactical background. It’s also the worst team in the league, but it does have: the only female captain in the league; a prodigy who broke his playing hand; a wannabe bodyguard on experimental medication that should not be legal; a former drug addict; another former drug addict; another former drug addict; a rich girl who’d rather play ball than be rich; a guy who’s really only here to babysit his (grown but dyfunctional) cousins; a bad person trying very hard to be a good person; and, of course, a lying liar who lies (Neil Josten isn’t even his real name).

The series is weird, messy, and unfiltered in a way that only self-publishing can achieve. It’s absolutely not for everyone. I have friends I’ve explicitly told: “Yes, it’s my favorite book of all time. No, do not read it.“ And yet, despite (or because of) its flaws, it resonated with me so deeply that I can’t get it out of my head. Or my heart. The series gets better with each book. The exposition in the first two can be a bit clunky at times, but apart from that, I genuinely have very little to complain about in terms of the writing.

I’ve read many reviews from people who didn’t know what they were getting into, so here’s a list to help you decide whether or not you should give it a shot. If you’ve read the books, feel free to add to this in the comments!

❌ Don’t read this if

• you are sensitive to any of the content mentioned in this post. (Shoutout to @superllaine who linked the CWs in the forum of the first book in the trilogy. There are some additonal warnings for book 4 and book 5. I’m serious, these books are not for the faint of heart. Some events are graphic and horrifying, closer to horror novels than contemporary fiction. Drug addiction and alcoholism are not only present but also handled poorly (in the first trilogy). If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me.
• you’re reading primarily for the romance. All For The Game contains one of my favorite love stories ever, but romance is not the focus. It sometimes takes readers two entire books to identify the love interest. The burn is slow, and the relationship is unconventional. Don’t expect traditional romance beats.
• you dislike suspending disbelief. The sport is made up. The drugs are made up. You will frequently wonder why no one is being arrested. If you approach this like a fantasy world rather than strict realism, you’ll enjoy it more. The worldbuilding is internally consistent, it simply operates by its own logic.
• you don’t want morally gray protagonists. Characters you’re meant to love will do bad things. Not all of those actions are condemned by the narrative. Neil has a very skewed understanding of “normal” and “forgivable.” There are moments when I wish the characters communicated more openly, but it would be wildly out of character for Neil to sit down and talk about his feelings.

✅ Do read this if

• you’ve ever had a teacher gently ask whether you were okay after reading one of your creative writing assignments.
• you spent your formative years on tumblr/ao3/… and refuse to call that cringe.
• you don’t care about sports (trust me, it’s not a requirement).
• you love stories about deeply dysfunctional found family.
• you have a history of becoming intensely obsessed with whatever media you consume.

This isn’t even a proper review, it’s more of a disclaimer for me to link whenever I recommend this to people lol. I don’t know. Read it or don’t—but don’t tell me you weren’t warned.

I originally read this series a year ago and never wrote a review. I’ve come to regret that—but today it occurred to me that I don’t actually have to wait until I finish my reread to post something. I can just do it now. Most of this review has taken shape in my brain while running, which feels very Neil Josten of me.

I cannot overstate how much these silly little books mean to me. They’ve taken over my life in the best possible way. I made playlists, bingo boards, and arts-and-crafts projects. They strengthened my relationship with two very close friends. They even pushed me to pick up several hobbies I had abandoned due to Life and Adulting and My Brain Not Braining. This is the biggest real-life impact a book series has had on me since I was a teenager.

So, why?

It’s difficult to explain. At its core, it’s a story about finding a home after losing everything, and fighting for your own happiness.

The protagonist, Neil Josten, is one of a kind. He has spent the past nine years on the run with his mother. His father is a serial killer who is actively hunting him, yet that doesn’t stop Neil from putting his face on national TV to play his favorite sport after his mother dies. He joins a team that has the additonal requirement that every player needs to have a tragic backstory, lead by a coach with seemingly no psychological or didactical background. It’s also the worst team in the league, but it does have: the only female captain in the league; a prodigy who broke his playing hand; a wannabe bodyguard on experimental medication that should not be legal; a former drug addict; another former drug addict; another former drug addict; a rich girl who’d rather play ball than be rich; a guy who’s really only here to babysit his (grown but dyfunctional) cousins; a bad person trying very hard to be a good person; and, of course, a lying liar who lies (Neil Josten isn’t even his real name).

The series is weird, messy, and unfiltered in a way that only self-publishing can achieve. It’s absolutely not for everyone. I have friends I’ve explicitly told: “Yes, it’s my favorite book of all time. No, do not read it.“ And yet, despite (or because of) its flaws, it resonated with me so deeply that I can’t get it out of my head. Or my heart. The series gets better with each book. The exposition in the first two can be a bit clunky at times, but apart from that, I genuinely have very little to complain about in terms of the writing.

I’ve read many reviews from people who didn’t know what they were getting into, so here’s a list to help you decide whether or not you should give it a shot. If you’ve read the books, feel free to add to this in the comments!

❌ Don’t read this if

• you are sensitive to any of the content mentioned in this post. (Shoutout to @superllaine who linked the CWs in the forum of the first book in the trilogy. There are some additonal warnings for book 4 and book 5. I’m serious, these books are not for the faint of heart. Some events are graphic and horrifying, closer to horror novels than contemporary fiction. Drug addiction and alcoholism are not only present but also handled poorly (in the first trilogy). If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me.
• you’re reading primarily for the romance. All For The Game contains one of my favorite love stories ever, but romance is not the focus. It sometimes takes readers two entire books to identify the love interest. The burn is slow, and the relationship is unconventional. Don’t expect traditional romance beats.
• you dislike suspending disbelief. The sport is made up. The drugs are made up. You will frequently wonder why no one is being arrested. If you approach this like a fantasy world rather than strict realism, you’ll enjoy it more. The worldbuilding is internally consistent, it simply operates by its own logic.
• you don’t want morally gray protagonists. Characters you’re meant to love will do bad things. Not all of those actions are condemned by the narrative. Neil has a very skewed understanding of “normal” and “forgivable.” There are moments when I wish the characters communicated more openly, but it would be wildly out of character for Neil to sit down and talk about his feelings.

✅ Do read this if

• you’ve ever had a teacher gently ask whether you were okay after reading one of your creative writing assignments.
• you spent your formative years on tumblr/ao3/… and refuse to call that cringe.
• you don’t care about sports (trust me, it’s not a requirement).
• you love stories about deeply dysfunctional found family.
• you have a history of becoming intensely obsessed with whatever media you consume.

This isn’t even a proper review, it’s more of a disclaimer for me to link whenever I recommend this to people lol. I don’t know. Read it or don’t—but don’t tell me you weren’t warned.

This first book has great characters, a found family (in its own way 😂), drama, mystery, and a compelling premise that hooked me from the very start: a group of troubled teens brought together by a violent sport. My experience reading this first book was very intense at first—I really dove headfirst into the world—but then there came a point where reading it didn’t motivate me as much. It wasn’t bad, but more like I was interested, yet it wouldn’t have bothered me if I’d decided to stop halfway through a chapter, especially halfway through the book. The beginning knows how to hook you, the middle is interesting, but after the intensity of the start, I expected more, and the ending left me speechless—I didn’t see what happened coming at all. Overall, I really liked it; it’s just that, since it’s an introduction to a new universe, I usually have a hard time getting into it, connecting with the characters, etc., but that’s not the book’s fault, and I think this series is going to become one of my favorites because it has everything I like 🥹💖.

This is pure crack cocaine. It hits you so hard and fast, gets you 100% addicted and is over quickly lol.

But seriously, even if it is a pretty short book it’s a hell of an introduction. You get attached to the MC Neil Josten sooo fast (as does everyone else on the team actually). And really all you want is for this whole dysfunctional family unit they have or start building to work out for everyone.

This first book is really about getting to know all the characters on the team and figuring out their dynamics with each other. There are hints here and there about the more fucked up stuff that happened to some of them but nothing goes too deep yet. And I think that’s the other part of what keeps you hooked. You want to find out more about the characters and you want them to open up to each other and trust and just learn that they have a place they can go and be okay.

Truly found family at its finest (even if we’re not quite there yet vis a vis trust lol)

Anyway there are definitely technically better written books but it honestly doesn’t matter when the story and characters are so good.

It really is like that fanfic that you just get obsessed with and read until 3 am even though you have school/work in the morning..

I can’t wait to keep reading the series.