Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Origins Of An Academy Bully

a decent novella and gives a lot more context to darius and orion’s relationship as well as their upbringing. i’m very glad i read it after book 2 cause i think if i read this before book 1 or before book 2 it would have taken a lot of the intrigue out of it for me

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

5.0

"I wanted to choose the kind of man I was going to become and not just blindly follow the path laid out by my father."

Technically a prequel to Zodiac Academy (and set during Ruthless Boys), this short follows Darius at fourteen having his early Awakening, and the fateful night Lance Orion lost his future.

This was TOUGH to read after just finishing seven. I won't lie, it was a little like willingly stabbing myself with multiple swords, but I'm really glad I picked this up. I was already curious about this (because we get details, but not much in the grand scheme of things) from the main series, but I really enjoyed how succinctly it spanned the "true beginning" of the series.

I would highly recommend only reading this after getting through book four/book five! I think it made the reading experience better knowing certain plot points.

Content warnings: Child abuse/physical abuse (on page), Death, Incest (mentioned in arranged marriage), Confinement, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia/abuse of power (brief mention)

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roseschlumpf's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A

5.0

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lotte5322's review

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Well, this kinda explains some things…. On to the guy’s version of The Awakening to garner more insight.

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lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Dragons, werewolves, vampires, and sirens? Count me in. The writing is simple to understand. Plot and story are laid out plainly making it easy to read. The magic system is good. It kept me entertained enough to decide I'll continue reading the series.

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kstrange_'s review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

EVERYONE on booktok has been talking about the Zodiac Academy books, so I was peer pressured into reading them! I’m pleased with the recommendation.

For starters, I will say that I saw a lot of people recommending that you read the novellas last to have a better understanding of character personalities, but I decided to read in the order that they were intended. That’s why I started with “Book 0”. I don’t regret my decision. In fact, the only thing I regret is not buying “Book 1” when I placed my first order because now I have to wait for it to arrive separately. I feel that I am more knowledgeable on the relationship between Darius and Lionel and the reason for revenge, much more than I would be if I read this later in the series.

I liked the storyline of this book because it was unpredictable, and I’m hoping the rest of the series continues along the same trend.

So far, Lance Orion is my favorite character. However, I can’t wait to see the character development of all characters that were present. I’m also ready for the storyline to progress within the actual academy. Since this was a prequel, there wasn’t a lot of storyline involving the academy.

*personal dislike:
-there were no page numbers, so I had to keep track of the page numbers myself (pet peeve)

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kat1105's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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