hchaus21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Bullying
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Confinement
milla_b's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is my first proper adventure into bully romance (The cruel prince was a toe in the water) and parts were a bit tough to swallow. I am curious to see how the relationships play out and how they move on especially after the the events book 1 left off from.
Things I liked:
• the storyline- really want to know more. And there’s a huge world that you’re being introduced to and I can’t help but want to know more about it beyond the Acadamy.
• I like the characters and especially the twins
• I’m on the fence about the Heirs, but not in the way that I don’t want to read about them, because I clearly have a thing for morally questionable characters…..
Things that bugged me (but not enough to put me off):
• some of the writing, past and present tense. Some minor grammar errors and I think American idioms….. idioms are not deal breakers but some are just personally a tad annoying for me.
Overall I enjoyed it and will continue the series. Read it yourself and make up your own mind.
Things I liked:
• the storyline- really want to know more. And there’s a huge world that you’re being introduced to and I can’t help but want to know more about it beyond the Acadamy.
• I like the characters and especially the twins
• I’m on the fence about the Heirs, but not in the way that I don’t want to read about them, because I clearly have a thing for morally questionable characters…..
Things that bugged me (but not enough to put me off):
• some of the writing, past and present tense. Some minor grammar errors and I think American idioms….. idioms are not deal breakers but some are just personally a tad annoying for me.
Overall I enjoyed it and will continue the series. Read it yourself and make up your own mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Cursing and Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Abandonment
nordicat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcohol and Violence
Minor: Incest, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Abandonment
hannahwriightt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Bullying
Moderate: Murder, Sexual content, and Incest
Minor: Body shaming and Car accident
marreadsbooks22's review against another edition
How is this marketed as YA/NA?
The amount of abuse in this crap!!!! W???? T???? F???
Sometimes I think some authors just want to normalize (or make think) Young
people abuse is "normal" in relationships and that they just have to "get used
to it" well.. go fuck yourself because it's not.
This was not Bully romance or "the villain/bad guy" gets the girl, this is
literally let's romanticized abuse and l'm not okay with that.
The amount of abuse in this crap!!!! W???? T???? F???
Sometimes I think some authors just want to normalize (or make think) Young
people abuse is "normal" in relationships and that they just have to "get used
to it" well.. go fuck yourself because it's not.
This was not Bully romance or "the villain/bad guy" gets the girl, this is
literally let's romanticized abuse and l'm not okay with that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexual content, and Stalking
thechaoshour's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I love the general idea of this book but it was executed poorly. The characters were unlikeable and I found the plot slow and boring. It was just a lot of bullying and abuse from the Heirs and not much plot. Plus the writing was not good and it needs some new editing but as I understand it, this book was earlier in their careers. I’m curious enough to keep reading for now in hopes they get better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Bullying
Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder
nickyz's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Oh holy hell, did I ever expect to like this book? No. Did I absolutely fall in love with it? Yes.
Tory and Darcy Vega are twins who haven't had the best of lives - think A Series of Unfortunate Events - but the hits keep coming and they won't stop coming. They managed to flee their abusive foster father and have been stealing and hustling to make ends meet in their hometown of Chicago when suddenly a mysterious man shows up and claims they're the long-lost Fae princesses of a world they've never heard of. And y'all, that's only the first CHAPTER.
I'm going to get what I disliked out of the way first: the formatting of this book is such a hard pill to swallow. Every chapter had a POV from each twin, meaning that chapters feel like they're double the length they actually are because once you finish one twin's POV, you're often thrust back into the other one. They should have cut their losses and split every POV into a new numbered chapter because I genuinely lost where I even was in the book in the middle. Add in some poor editing, the most "we're new to this world and everything is Awful" plotline ever, some truly TERRIBLE actions by the love interests, some very cringe bullying scenes, and you get a nice little cocktail of a miserable reading experience for the first 60% but...
Then you get past that 60% and you suddenly realize why so many people love this.
I'm planning on doing a whole video about this series where I talk about everything in detail - but I'll leave my loves about this book to talking about the fact that it appealed to the tween in me who so deeply craved these kinds of stories. The stories where the characters are just beaten down at every chance and every turn, the stories where you just can't help but feel terrible for the main characters because no one ever gives them a break or throws them a bone, but they never give up. I thought I'd end up disliking both Tory and Darcy for multiple reasons, but instead I found myself absolutely rooting for the two of them every time someone knocked them back a peg and they turned around and kept swinging.
I will say, I think these books will appeal to anyone, like me, who trolled the depths of fanfiction dot net in its heyday. If you sorted by newest fics because you've read all the others before, if you clicked on OC fics because you wanted to experience the character entering this world you loved for the first time again, if you stayed up until 3am reading hundreds of thousands of words and getting lost in the same world, characters, and story just in different fonts and different scenarios - these are for you.
Onto book two.
A comprehensive video covering the entire Zodiac Academy series will be coming soon from me. I'll update the reviews when I have the link for you all.
content warnings: heavy bullying (a very prominent plot point), child abuse, abuse, sexual content (80% in, light graphic scene), age gap love interest, and some general cringe but once you turn your brain off, it's so much fun.
Tory and Darcy Vega are twins who haven't had the best of lives - think A Series of Unfortunate Events - but the hits keep coming and they won't stop coming. They managed to flee their abusive foster father and have been stealing and hustling to make ends meet in their hometown of Chicago when suddenly a mysterious man shows up and claims they're the long-lost Fae princesses of a world they've never heard of. And y'all, that's only the first CHAPTER.
I'm going to get what I disliked out of the way first: the formatting of this book is such a hard pill to swallow. Every chapter had a POV from each twin, meaning that chapters feel like they're double the length they actually are because once you finish one twin's POV, you're often thrust back into the other one. They should have cut their losses and split every POV into a new numbered chapter because I genuinely lost where I even was in the book in the middle. Add in some poor editing, the most "we're new to this world and everything is Awful" plotline ever, some truly TERRIBLE actions by the love interests, some very cringe bullying scenes, and you get a nice little cocktail of a miserable reading experience for the first 60% but...
Then you get past that 60% and you suddenly realize why so many people love this.
I'm planning on doing a whole video about this series where I talk about everything in detail - but I'll leave my loves about this book to talking about the fact that it appealed to the tween in me who so deeply craved these kinds of stories. The stories where the characters are just beaten down at every chance and every turn, the stories where you just can't help but feel terrible for the main characters because no one ever gives them a break or throws them a bone, but they never give up. I thought I'd end up disliking both Tory and Darcy for multiple reasons, but instead I found myself absolutely rooting for the two of them every time someone knocked them back a peg and they turned around and kept swinging.
I will say, I think these books will appeal to anyone, like me, who trolled the depths of fanfiction dot net in its heyday. If you sorted by newest fics because you've read all the others before, if you clicked on OC fics because you wanted to experience the character entering this world you loved for the first time again, if you stayed up until 3am reading hundreds of thousands of words and getting lost in the same world, characters, and story just in different fonts and different scenarios - these are for you.
Onto book two.
A comprehensive video covering the entire Zodiac Academy series will be coming soon from me. I'll update the reviews when I have the link for you all.
content warnings: heavy bullying (a very prominent plot point), child abuse, abuse, sexual content (80% in, light graphic scene), age gap love interest, and some general cringe but once you turn your brain off, it's so much fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Cursing
I tried to tag every content I could remember, but if you're diving into this series, please find a friend who's read them and ask about specific triggers!lestie4short's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Torture
zellapaige's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I totally understand why this series is so popular. Tory and Darcy are super compelling characters and the world-building here is insanely complex yet still comprehensible. Bully romances are really not my thing and all of the magical aspects incorporated into the bullying made the story a bit too intense for my taste. If you're a fan of bully romance though this probably won't bother you.
The story isn't a romance, despite romantic elements (bully romance specifically), the book ends on a cliffhanger with no happy relationships in the book.
There are a ton of consent issues in this book. While none of those issues are around sex, the twins have no bodily autonomy whenever a vampire decides to feed on them and no mental autonomy in terms of the coercion magic, and emotional manipulation from the sirens. These consent issues being brushed off as part of the fae power structure makes sense in the world-building but has the potential to be more triggering than direct violation of sexual consent.
The story isn't a romance, despite romantic elements (bully romance specifically), the book ends on a cliffhanger with no happy relationships in the book.
There are a ton of consent issues in this book. While none of those issues are around sex, the twins have no bodily autonomy whenever a vampire decides to feed on them and no mental autonomy in terms of the coercion magic, and emotional manipulation from the sirens. These consent issues being brushed off as part of the fae power structure makes sense in the world-building but has the potential to be more triggering than direct violation of sexual consent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Body horror, and Bullying