Clara’s Verdict
The All for the Game trilogy is not, on paper, the sort of thing I would have sought out. A fictional sport called exy, a cast of damaged teenagers at a fictional American university, a romance conducted almost entirely in silences and violence – it sounds like the sort of premise that gets laughed out of commissioning meetings. And yet. The King’s Men is Book 3 of a trilogy that has generated the sort of devotion I associate with genuinely important work. Not important in a Nobel-committee sense – important in the sense of mattering enormously to the people it reaches. I finished it in something approaching a daze. Alexander Cendese’s narration is a significant part of why.
About the Audiobook
Neil Josten is out of time. He has known since arriving at Palmetto State University that he wouldn’t survive the year – his past has too many people in it who want him dead, and the truth he’s been running from all his life is closing in. But the Foxes have become something he didn’t plan for, and Andrew Minyard – damaged, dangerous, ferociously loyal in his own particular way – is someone Neil finds he cannot simply walk away from.
Nora Sakavic delivers the payoff that two books of groundwork have been building towards: secrets surfacing, alliances shifting, the championship match that the Foxes were never supposed to reach, and a confrontation with Neil’s past that leaves very little standing. What distinguishes this series from the young adult thriller category it superficially resembles is its handling of trauma, consent, and recovery. Andrew’s arc in particular – slow, careful, deeply humane – is one of the more thoughtful treatments of the aftermath of abuse I’ve encountered in genre fiction. Sakavic earns her ending, which is more than most writers manage.
The Narration
Alexander Cendese has been with this material since Book 1, and by The King’s Men the familiarity shows in the best possible way. He understands these characters – their speech rhythms, their silences, the way Andrew communicates as much by what he doesn’t say as by what he does. The action sequences in the exy matches have genuine urgency, and the quieter emotional moments land with appropriate weight. At 12 hours and 33 minutes, this is the trilogy’s longest volume, and Cendese makes the length feel like a gift rather than a test of endurance.
What Readers Say
A 4.8-star rating from 11 Audible UK listeners – and passionate ones at that. “I am a broken woman,” begins one review from Steph, who describes the trilogy as carving “themselves a little space in my black heart.” Mac calls it “by far the best of the series,” praising the depth of character development and the resolution of major plot lines. Julia, reviewing from Australia, calls the series “so brilliantly done” and asks, with genuine frustration, why exy isn’t a real sport. The emotional intensity of reader responses is itself evidence of how effectively this trilogy does what fiction is supposed to do.
Who Should Listen?
New Adult and adult readers who enjoy found-family narratives, morally complex characters, and slow-burn romance that earns its resolution. Essential for fans of dark contemporary fiction with sports settings – think Raven Cycle energy applied to American university athletics. Start with Book 1, The Foxhole Court, and expect to cancel plans for the weekend. Content advisory: the series deals directly with trauma, abuse, and violence; not suitable for younger readers.
Complete the trilogy on Audible UK: Listen to The King’s Men on Audible UK.
