The Sunshine Court (All for the Game, Band 4)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars The Sunshine Court is the fourth book in the All for the Game series. This book focusses on Jean Moreau, who’s stolen from Edgar Allan University and transfers to California, to be part of the USC Trojans. “You are Jean Moreau. Your place is here with me, with us. I’m your captain. You’re my partner. We’re supposed to be doing this together, aren’t we? Stop leaving me behind. Look at me.” I have fallen in love with this series after first discovering it in 2022! This series has me in a chokehold since and I adore it! Learning a new book was coming made me sooooo excited and of course I had to start it as soon as it was released! I also learned a fifth book is in the making, so I’m just over the moon! Jean isn’t the most prominent character in the first three books, and I love how this book truly focusses on him! I honestly fell in love with Jean and want to give him the WHOLE world, because he deserves it all! The little cameos of the Foxes are fun, and I love how they are small, since they aren’t the main characters this time and their place isn’t the main setting. It truly makes you focus on the story of Jean, that is being told. Jean is such a complex character and so much is going on in his mind. I have to be honest; I hadn’t thought him to be so damaged or so set in his thinking when we saw him in the other books. What truly broke my heart is how much he helped Neil when he was at Edgar Allen and how Neil could survive because Jean took the fall essentially. It shows the deep loyalty Jean has and how, deep down, he knows what happened at Edgar Allen was wrong. Him, slowly starting to realise that throughout the book is everything. Learning all the things done to him, my god I cried multiple times just reading it all! Jeremy is such a big contrast to Jean, which is so cleverly written. Jean is very blunt, brutally honest in his thinking and I love that about him. Jeremy is someone who wants what is best for everyone in his team and hides his own pain behind his bright smile. He is precious and kindhearted in every way. I can’t wait to see the relationship between the two of them continue to grow and them learning to trust each other even more. I love how the main focus of this book is mostly about Jean coming to terms with his trauma and that what happened to him is wrong. Recovery itself is a slow process, so I really appreciate how slowly that curve is for Jean in this book. Learning he initially died in every draft but this one was so hard to learn, but I’m so glad he doesn’t die, since it shows there is hope for his future! Overall, The Sunshine Court was everything I wanted in a new book in this series! It is just as dark and heart-breaking as the others, and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT T_T

Nora said 'hold my coffee' and created something magical. AGAIN. We're truly blessed. It's obvious this series is gonna be different from the foxes. Different story, different points in life, different character-driven persons, and mostly, different objectives and focuses in the plot.

When I found out that a new AFTG book was going to be coming out, I was so intrigued by what Jean’s story would entail, and looking forward to seeing this universe from a new set of eyes. Any expectation I had for this book were blown out of the water for me. I know for many people, Jean being the main protagonist of this new book was a major let-down. I didn’t feel the same, and I think that having Jean as a new protagonist was an amazing decision. While I would love more from the Foxes, I think the original trilogy gives plenty to chew on, and I don’t know if I would’ve enjoyed new content from them after so long the way I did the original books. By having a side character now become the protagonist, we get someone who’s close to the Foxes while at the same time being able to take the story in a new direction and see the feelings of other people in this world, which I feel makes this world feel richer than another Fox book would have. I don’t personally understand the argument that, because Jean and Jeremy were just side characters in the original book there’s nothing interesting to do with these characters, but to each their own on that front I suppose. Jean’s story was absolutely heartwrenching to read, and seeing his slow growth throughout this book was beautiful. His journey is far from over (considering there is at least one more book in this new series, potentially two though I don’t know for sure) so this book was inevitably going to be setting up a lot of things and not a lot of satisfying conclusions. Despite this, I never found myself feeling bored. Nora’s writing is both simple and captivating. She has the ability to drop the most gut wrenching lines in the most mundane of places, and personally I think this is a real strength of her writing. Her more simple wording makes the text easy to speed through, while also being able to have a lot of emotional punch at the same time. Jean’s inner dialogue was written in a different way compared to Neil in the first book, and the way his anxiety/flashbacks/dissociative moments were conveyed was very well executed. The new characters were a wonderful addition. The main trio who bond with Jean are all wonderful and I’m really looking forward to see more of their dynamic in future books, as well as how Jean will eventually fit into this once he allows himself to truly trust and be vulnerable with them. I’m especially excited to see more of Jeremy! This book was truly JEAN’s book but there’s a lot of hints to Jeremy’s backstory throughout this book and I’m very intrigued by him and who he is beneath the mask he puts on as captain of the sunshine court (ha book title!). I also thought the further revelations into the Ravens’ and their psyches was interesting. We’ve learned about the Ravens from both Neil and Kevin previously, but Jean adds another layer to the Nest through the depravity he suffered there, as well as insights from other characters. Seeing what the consequences of their loss to the Foxes in TKM was cool (?) to see. I have small gripes with the ending, as the last chapter happens quite fast and its events feel a tad bit out of place in a book that was so focused on Jean’s internal struggles, but because this is the first book in a series I anticipate my lingering questions from this will be answered going forward and it will make more sense once the series continues. I wish it had been a bit better integrated in the last few chapters, but I’m not going to elaborate more as I don’t want to include spoilers! Just something I feel the new to mention as it did stick out to me and linger in my mind once I finished as something that left me not entirely satisfied. TLDR this book was an incredible addition to the original books that I’m very much looking for to continuing as the series is finished. It’s a beautiful tale of appreciating the small things in the everyday that make life worth surviving, and growing into your own person even through horrible circumstances. I’m glad this is the version of these books where Jean survives, and I hope that people who loved the original books (especially those who were really hoping for andreil content in particular) will still give this book a chance even though it’s not the series extension they originally wanted. I think they will be pleasantly surprised.

Everything is fine and I love it, but "T"... Book is not neatly cropped.

Exactly as described, arrived incredibly quickly and in good condition.