Reviews tagging 'Stalking'
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham
17 reviews
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"The Awakening" follows twin sisters: Tory and Darcy. Tory and Darcy have been in the foster care system since they were orphaned as babies. Now, 18, and kicked out of the system, they are just trying to make enough money to cover rent. But all of those worries seem inconsequential when they find out they are actually the daughters of the Savage King, and they are the rightful descendants of the fae crown. Now they must go through Zodiac Academy to learn about their true home and fight for their birthright.
This book was very fine. There is a lot of violence, nonconsensual acts, and ALOT of bullying, which I had a pretty good idea about before I started reading this. I found the hazing that the other students put Tory and Darcy through to be really off-putting, and the fact that none of the teachers did anything to remotely stop it was disheartening.
This book is definitely HEAVILY influenced by other popular stories, which is fine, but it made the book feel unoriginal.
I do not know if I will continue in this series, but I can now appreciate why everyone seems so enamored with this series.
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content
monica0309's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
Minor: Abandonment and Stalking
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Car accident, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Torture, Stalking, Incest, and Vomit
marreadsbooks22's review against another edition
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.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexual content, and Stalking
unicornofthesea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Bullying, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence
_alyssar_'s review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Murder, Pedophilia, and Infidelity
lemonysnicket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
- It's certainly dark but too dark for my taste.
- Most of the actions are bordering on r*pe if not full on r*pe
- Felt defeating as hell to read. Since this is a first person pov, by the time I was halfway through the book my self confidence was nonexistent. The first book seems to be all about the girls getting their ass handed to them.
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Not for the fainthearted.midnacine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
But goddamn, getting past the poor writing was a struggle. About 100 pages in, the only way for me to continue was to start annotating just so I could edit as I read. I restructured sentences, corrected grammar and spelling, and added punctuation where necessary. It honestly felt like no one but the authors read through the book before sending it out to print. And don't even get me started on the fact that Tory and Darcy- two 18-year-old girls who were supposed to have grown up in the US- used terms like "sports kit" and "postie", which are very British terms.
But again, I enjoyed it. So am I gonna read the rest of the series, no matter how infuriating it is? Absolutely.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, Incest, Vomit, and Medical content
vinora's review against another edition
2.75
I enjoyed the concept of this book but the constant bullying made it difficult to get through.
I was told that this series gets better as you move through it and I look forward to more positive development.
Graphic: Bullying and Stalking
Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Addiction
hannalizzy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
First, the amount of grammatical errors and typos is astronomical. I don’t think the authors hired an editor at all, honestly. I was constantly cringing at how awkwardly phased everything was and how unnatural the story progression felt.
Second, the main girls are young, and they are being constantly sexually harassed, in public AND BY TEACHERS, and NO ONE AROUND THEM CARES? They’re just told that “that’s how things are in Solaria” and they better get used to it. Consent? Never heard of her.
The worst part about reading this book (besides actually finishing it) was the overwhelming feeling of profound disappointment I felt at such a cool story idea being mishandled beyond belief. I’m interested in the concept of Solaria, but that is it. The characters were shallow and completely stupid. The whole thing felt like a wattpad fantasy.
To the person who told me this book would be like adult Harry Potter, I’m never forgiving you.
Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship