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nineinchnails's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
2.75
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Incest and Death of parent
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
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)
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
Minor: Incest and Pedophilia
hannahwriightt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Confinement, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail
briochebun's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
2.75 out of 5 ☆’s.
”To me, chaos was more beautiful than calm.”
ੈ✩‧₊˚
I’ve seen sooo many individuals ranting and raving about this series, so I decided to give it a shot! :)
ੈ✩‧₊˚
Given the fact that this is a prequel novella, I admit that I didn’t expect too much from it.
While I am glad that “Origins of an Academy Bully” gave me a lot of insight into the pasts of Darius and Orion — and how their lives intersect — I wasn’t a big fan of the numerous comments regarding Mildred’s appearance in chapter six.
I understand that the series is categorized as a bully romance — so I expect the characters to act unseemly at times — however, the plethora of remarks that were made about her unpleasant appearance were a bit of an overkill in my opinion…
Why did her “ugliness” have to be mentioned about seventeen times within eight pages?
☆ Spoilers Below ☆
➩ ”Looking upon her face had almost shocked me into choking to death. I quickly looked away from the hideous girl and grabbed a glass of wine to wash away the offending lump of bread.”
➩ ”The stern look in his eye surprised me; it was as though he was giving me a warning about something but all I’d done was half kill myself over a lump of bread and an ugly girl.”
➩ ”Congratulations,” I muttered, not subjecting myself to looking at her face for a second time.”
➩ ”This was a meal to celebrate the Awakening of the four Heirs to the Celestial Council. Seth, Max, Caleb and I were the future rulers of our kingdom, so why the hell was this troll-faced girl even here?”
➩ ”I’m fifteen,” Mildred said, her voice low enough to be mistaken for a man’s.”
➩ ”No Dragon was going to marry a Sphynx or a Griffin unless they were foolish enough to fall in love with one and risk the ire of their entire family for muddying the bloodline. Though as I glanced at Mildred from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a bit of Minotaur in her because her face and broad shoulders certainly shared qualities with a half bull.”
➩ ”Caleb caught my eye from further down the table and less than subtly mimed puking into his soup as he looked at her. I fought against a laugh, biting my lip in amusement.”
➩ ”I was pushing him and I knew it, but how the hell did he expect me to just sit here while he married me off to this walking dog turd beside me?”
➩ “He couldn’t force me into a life of misery married to an ogre just because she had Dragon blood.”
➩ ”I looked to Mother. Beautiful, vain, perfectly put together Mother whose only interest was appearances. Surely she wouldn’t want to see her handsome son tethered to this wretched creature?”
➩ ”Perhaps another option will present itself before you’re wed,” she said slowly, her lips pursing with distaste as she looked upon the troll who might be the mother of her grandchildren if Father got his way.”
➩ ”I looked at Mildred, hoping that she might share a little of my displeasure at this suggestion. Sure, she wasn’t being pushed towards an ugly asshole, but did she really want to marry a total stranger?”
➩ ”She looked back at me with her misshapen eyes, but I didn’t find the horror I hoped for there. Her mouth was shut but those huge teeth which filled her lower jaw still protruded through her fleshy lips. The idea of kissing that mouth was more than horrendous. I wouldn't do it. Never.”
➩ ”But what would I get from this union? A pig ugly wife and gremlin children.”
➩ ”For years I’d endured the misery of being a part of this family and I wouldn’t bind myself to some woman I could never even look upon with desire let alone love.”
➩ ”I was checking on my friend who'd just been forced into an arranged marriage with his goddamn cousin. Who may or may not have looked like the wrong end of a rhino.”
➩ ”But just in case you do, I'm not available as a godfather to your goblin kids.”
I understand that her appearance is unpleasant because of her lineage — but nothing else could be said about her?
ੈ✩‧₊˚
While I did have some qualms with this novella, I am looking forward to reading “The Awakening” and meeting other characters! ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Incest
crinkledmochi's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
to start with the negatives;
i wasn’t really a fan of it the scene where orion bites darius and there’s like a sensual moment between them cause darius is literally 14 at the time,,, like we get that vampire bites can get a little risqué but that easily could’ve been left out in my opinion
another thing that frustrated me about this prequel was that we learned so much yet so very little. most of what i read towards the end was a big question mark.
on to the positives:
this was way more refreshing i guess since there wasn’t a huge romance focus and a bit more lore/backstory so i really appreciate that
the stakes in this felt high even thou you know the characters are gonna be fine, i wish book one read more like this as it felt more of a large info dump
another thing that frustrated me about this prequel was that we learned so much yet so very little. most of what i read towards the end was a big question mark.
on to the positives:
this was way more refreshing i guess since there wasn’t a huge romance focus and a bit more lore/backstory so i really appreciate that
the stakes in this felt high even thou you know the characters are gonna be fine, i wish book one read more like this as it felt more of a large info dump
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Misogyny, and Classism
Minor: Pedophilia