Review of The Fox by M.N.J Butler

The main character Leotychides (Leo) of The Fox by M.N.J. Butler is convinced at the beginning of the book to tell his story, and he decides to write a memoir.

While Leo is writing the memoir, he takes us on a journey through his life and we learn about the first time he discovers that he’s the son of the king and later on that he is a bastard.

When Leo was eight years old, he was asked if he wanted to join the flock, which is a sort of camp that prepares young boys for the war. The fact that Leo said yes to this shows a lot about his character, considering that the son of the king usually doesn’t have to join the flock.

The Fox is a very educational read. Throughout the book you learn about the rules and traditions of Sparta, which are really interesting.

There are some complicated terms in the book, but luckily there is a glossary in the beginning of the book explaining every one of them. There are some really sad things in the book like Leo’s father never visiting him, but then there are also a lot of happy scenes like when Leo makes a new friend in the flock.

I found this to be a very hard/long read, because of all the terms in the book and then there is the fact that a lot of the names sounded the same, which can get confusing. There were also a lot of misplaced quotation marks that really took away from the reading.

What I liked most about the book was how much you can learn out of it. In this book you learn so much about Sparta and the people who live in Sparta. It is very educational, but with an interesting story line.

What I disliked most would probably be that the book starts out really boring, which is bad, because most people won’t continue reading if the first page doesn’t get their attention.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would have rated it a full 4 stars if it weren’t for the misplaced quotation marks, which proves that the book was not professionally edited.

I would most definitely recommend this book to all fans of Sparta and historical fiction. If you don’t like historical fiction then stay clear of this book! Over all it was a good read and after a little more editing it would easily get 4 out of 4 stars.

View my original review here.

I hope you enjoyed this review and if you have any questions, ask away in the comments. Also if you recently read an awesome book and feel that it’s not getting the attention it should, let me know and I’ll do a review of it.