Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham
104 reviews
kittyinatophat's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
As a pre-review disclaimer, I want to say that everyone is entitled to enjoy whatever books they want and I also have plenty of things I love that are very off putting to others so...my word is not absolute.
I described this book to one of my friends as “it’s like eating flour”. It’s becomes very unpleasant very quickly and might poison you.
Let me tell you folks something: I am a seasoned fanfiction reader and author, who loves to go looking for the weirdest content tags. Crack fics, filler plot, poor character development and general YA cringe doesn’t phase me. I consider myself to be someone who thrives on the most ridiculous, poorly written and at times barely coherent material, the worse the better.
But this book? It humbled me. What I believed was a high tolerance for poor writing was actually just barely scratching the surface.
I admit the mistake is mostly on me: I did 0 research going into this series and I had no idea of the overall feelings of it. I just got sucked in by the cover and the fact that I’m an astrology girlie ™️.
If (keeping with the flour analogy) this book is supposed to be a cake, there’s a reason why it isn’t cake and is instead literally just flour: we are missing a lot of other key ingredients to make a cake. I’ll highlight a few:
- Set in a “dog eat dog” world where it’s “everyone for themselves”. Frequent reoccurring s*xual harassment, groping, murder, really edgy stuff. Except…the both internal and external dialogue is heavily written in a YA style. This book can truly not decide if it wants to be raw, real and uncensored or a “freshly-turned-18-Mary-Sue-adventure”.
- Switching between grammar and spellings of words? i.e. Favorite vs Favourite??? Where is the editor? It seems like there are two people involved with writing and no editor.
- We spend the majority of the book without a plot. We get it, everyone is an antagonist, this is a harsh world, but what’s the overall plot? It sometimes reads like every chapter is a clean slate and we have to reestablish the entire narrative
- There’s way, way too many characters and none of them are well written or good people so they truly have no redeeming quality.
This book is literally missing everything else to be a complete story. The eggs, butter, sugar, everything.
My biggest issue is who this is supposed to be aimed at though. Because I found myself thinking as I read “Maybe I would like this more if I was reading this 15 years ago, when I was 15”. But with the non-con and detailed sexual descriptions this shouldn’t be in the YA category at all imo. If you’re writing adults for adults, please write adult dialogue.
The only thing that changed this book’s trajectory into my DNF pile was when one of my good writing friends jumped into the hellfire with me and it shifted from “reading for literature” to “reading for trash”. I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book with someone so you have another human to process the awfulness of it with.
Once I made that switch though the book got much better to the point where I will probably continue with the series at some point, if not strictly to see what the hell becomes of this world plot that doesn’t exist and all the loose ends. But I need a deep brain cleanse first.
P.S. Everyone knows the most dramatic ass people have blue hair (from someone who has had blue hair multiple times)
I described this book to one of my friends as “it’s like eating flour”. It’s becomes very unpleasant very quickly and might poison you.
Let me tell you folks something: I am a seasoned fanfiction reader and author, who loves to go looking for the weirdest content tags. Crack fics, filler plot, poor character development and general YA cringe doesn’t phase me. I consider myself to be someone who thrives on the most ridiculous, poorly written and at times barely coherent material, the worse the better.
But this book? It humbled me. What I believed was a high tolerance for poor writing was actually just barely scratching the surface.
I admit the mistake is mostly on me: I did 0 research going into this series and I had no idea of the overall feelings of it. I just got sucked in by the cover and the fact that I’m an astrology girlie ™️.
If (keeping with the flour analogy) this book is supposed to be a cake, there’s a reason why it isn’t cake and is instead literally just flour: we are missing a lot of other key ingredients to make a cake. I’ll highlight a few:
- Set in a “dog eat dog” world where it’s “everyone for themselves”. Frequent reoccurring s*xual harassment, groping, murder, really edgy stuff. Except…the both internal and external dialogue is heavily written in a YA style. This book can truly not decide if it wants to be raw, real and uncensored or a “freshly-turned-18-Mary-Sue-adventure”.
- Switching between grammar and spellings of words? i.e. Favorite vs Favourite??? Where is the editor? It seems like there are two people involved with writing and no editor.
- We spend the majority of the book without a plot. We get it, everyone is an antagonist, this is a harsh world, but what’s the overall plot? It sometimes reads like every chapter is a clean slate and we have to reestablish the entire narrative
- There’s way, way too many characters and none of them are well written or good people so they truly have no redeeming quality.
This book is literally missing everything else to be a complete story. The eggs, butter, sugar, everything.
My biggest issue is who this is supposed to be aimed at though. Because I found myself thinking as I read “Maybe I would like this more if I was reading this 15 years ago, when I was 15”. But with the non-con and detailed sexual descriptions this shouldn’t be in the YA category at all imo. If you’re writing adults for adults, please write adult dialogue.
The only thing that changed this book’s trajectory into my DNF pile was when one of my good writing friends jumped into the hellfire with me and it shifted from “reading for literature” to “reading for trash”. I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book with someone so you have another human to process the awfulness of it with.
Once I made that switch though the book got much better to the point where I will probably continue with the series at some point, if not strictly to see what the hell becomes of this world plot that doesn’t exist and all the loose ends. But I need a deep brain cleanse first.
P.S. Everyone knows the most dramatic ass people have blue hair (from someone who has had blue hair multiple times)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: War
kpopstan8's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Zodiac academy is like if every overused book trope had a baby - and I kinda love it for that
Dead parents ✅
Twins that are very different ✅
Secret heiresses ✅
New world ✅
It was… an experience,
It was like everything in a bad YA novel in a NA scene.
But I was here for it.
I devoured this trash up.
Like it was bad in a good way?
(I know, my standards are so low they are on the floor)
At around half way through the book, I was like, wow Seth is such a golden retriever
Well uhhh… we know how that worked out…
*sighs saltily*
The book condones abuse (?) as in the main characters accept that they are going to be physically, emotionally (and even sexually) abused until they get stronger?
The ‘love interests’ were so fucking creepy.
Eg; Seth (love interest) was licking and sniffing one of the fmc when they first met?
Smh
Also the alpha wolf thing?
*dies in cringe*
At most points, it felt like bad fan-fiction
But in the best way possible
It’s absolute garbage for me, but I love it.
It’s one of those books where you have to recognise it as bad to be able to enjoy it.
It’s just an easy, fun read.
I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with standards
But if you want a quick, bad, fun read to help you escape a reading slump, I would recommend it.
Dead parents ✅
Twins that are very different ✅
Secret heiresses ✅
New world ✅
It was… an experience,
It was like everything in a bad YA novel in a NA scene.
But I was here for it.
I devoured this trash up.
Like it was bad in a good way?
(I know, my standards are so low they are on the floor)
At around half way through the book, I was like, wow Seth is such a golden retriever
Well uhhh… we know how that worked out…
*sighs saltily*
The book condones abuse (?) as in the main characters accept that they are going to be physically, emotionally (and even sexually) abused until they get stronger?
The ‘love interests’ were so fucking creepy.
Eg; Seth (love interest) was licking and sniffing one of the fmc when they first met?
Smh
Also the alpha wolf thing?
*dies in cringe*
At most points, it felt like bad fan-fiction
But in the best way possible
It’s absolute garbage for me, but I love it.
It’s one of those books where you have to recognise it as bad to be able to enjoy it.
It’s just an easy, fun read.
I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with standards
But if you want a quick, bad, fun read to help you escape a reading slump, I would recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Pedophilia, Cursing, Bullying, Alcohol, Abandonment, Car accident, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Death
bunnybird22's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, and Sexual content
walskishere's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The writing was atrocious. I'm not sure if it's lack of editing or maybe the author's first language isn't English, but the grammar is terrible. Also, it reads like Tory and Darcy are in middle school, but they are definitely in high school. If this book was intended to be middle grade, that would make sense. However, with this book's themes and scenes, there's no way this is middle grade.
I might pick up the rest of the series, or at least the next book, because it was entertaining, if terribly written and utterly unbelievable.
I might pick up the rest of the series, or at least the next book, because it was entertaining, if terribly written and utterly unbelievable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
cheriepie's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
Let it be said that I went in with an open mind. I heard mixed reviews on this book, and I was like, "hey, it might be trashy, but I like trashy sometimes! maybe it'll be fun!" and I was wrong. I am not this book's target audience. I'm a pretentious little queer who generally doesn't read this kind of book. In short: it's poorly written, not edited, and I have read wattpad fanfictions with more care and depth than this.
Listen, when the map at the front of the book has JPEG compression, I can't be surprised when it is a poorly written shitshow, littered with spelling and grammar errors, worldbuilding that leaves much to be desired, characters that are indistinguishable from one another, and all build up and no payoff.
Listen, when the map at the front of the book has JPEG compression, I can't be surprised when it is a poorly written shitshow, littered with spelling and grammar errors, worldbuilding that leaves much to be desired, characters that are indistinguishable from one another, and all build up and no payoff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment
dragondragondragon's review
dark
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.75
BOOOOOOOOOO!
This is one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I made myself finish it with the thought that maybe the 16 y/o me that binged twilight would enjoy this book. But, alas. The rapey subtexts drown out the mildy interesting (if not predicatable) plot line. The emotional and physical abuse the main charcters endure by the hands of their classmates and TEACHERS is very triggering. The 'alpha asshole' plot line was taken way too far, the molestations not contributing to character development or plot. I found myself deeply uncomfortable almost the entire time.
Don't let your younger readers tackle this monstrosity, it normalizs and romanticizes (!!!) abusive and disgusting misogynistic behavior. When I tell you someone (always female) was suffering from a rapey or demeaning experience EVERY CHAPTER, I'm not kidding. The main lesson to be taught here is 'the strong (men) take whatever they want from whoever they want (women)' The sexual attraction the main characters develop for their (SEVERAL) abusers is simply disgusting. Seriously, if you're into that, you could save 12 dollars and do a deep dive on pornhub that would get you flagged by the FBI.
You could easily fit the grand canyon in the plot holes and the writing reminds me of fan fiction I wrote when I was 13. In fact, 13 year old me could have written more convincing 18 year olds. When I wasn't fighting the urge to vommit, I was cringing at the attempt by the authors to sound like college students. But those were hardly my biggest complaints.
This is one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I made myself finish it with the thought that maybe the 16 y/o me that binged twilight would enjoy this book. But, alas. The rapey subtexts drown out the mildy interesting (if not predicatable) plot line. The emotional and physical abuse the main charcters endure by the hands of their classmates and TEACHERS is very triggering. The 'alpha asshole' plot line was taken way too far, the molestations not contributing to character development or plot. I found myself deeply uncomfortable almost the entire time.
Don't let your younger readers tackle this monstrosity, it normalizs and romanticizes (!!!) abusive and disgusting misogynistic behavior. When I tell you someone (always female) was suffering from a rapey or demeaning experience EVERY CHAPTER, I'm not kidding. The main lesson to be taught here is 'the strong (men) take whatever they want from whoever they want (women)' The sexual attraction the main characters develop for their (SEVERAL) abusers is simply disgusting. Seriously, if you're into that, you could save 12 dollars and do a deep dive on pornhub that would get you flagged by the FBI.
You could easily fit the grand canyon in the plot holes and the writing reminds me of fan fiction I wrote when I was 13. In fact, 13 year old me could have written more convincing 18 year olds. When I wasn't fighting the urge to vommit, I was cringing at the attempt by the authors to sound like college students. But those were hardly my biggest complaints.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
hailstorm4's review against another edition
I’m not usually into bully romances, but after seeing this so many times I decided to take a chance on it. Unfortunately, it was not for me and the “bully” part of bulky romance went way beyond bully and into sexual harassment and even assault with lots of non censer moments, and that’s a big no-coming-back-from-this thing for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Toxic relationship
srredd5's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and Bullying
jaded_kitty's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual harassment
thestrugglingmillennial92's review
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? It's complicated
3.75
This book is like the magical version of Pretty Little Liars and a small touch of Harry Potter if they were freshman in college. I say that because even though it’s marketed as NA it reads a little younger. The writing isn’t the best, the bullying is intense.it doesn’t bother me as I guess because we watch shows where the hero will go through so many aggressive trials and tribulations and that is their “canon” event and they grow.However, You will still be upset with the treatment of the twins. Keep your expectations low and you will enjoy it.
Cons:
🌟 the bullying can be intense
🌟the writing is cringy at times, especially how they describe the characters at times.
🌟the love interests? Was a bit confusing at times
🌟the twins decide to do no research at all in that big ass library.
🌟the way that the heirs are just sooooo hot like we get it!!!!
🌟🚨🚨🚨Orion and Darcy naw idc if she is 18 no sir
Pros:
🌟it’s not a high fantasy heavy read it’s like junk food
🌟 I love a good mystery to solve
🌟as an anime fan, I hope this bullying causes the girls to boss up and get revenge.
🌟 I like that even though the girls are powerfil, they didn’t automatically make them seem extremely overly strong. They have to learn.
Cons:
🌟 the bullying can be intense
🌟the writing is cringy at times, especially how they describe the characters at times.
🌟the love interests? Was a bit confusing at times
🌟the twins decide to do no research at all in that big ass library.
🌟the way that the heirs are just sooooo hot like we get it!!!!
🌟🚨🚨🚨Orion and Darcy naw idc if she is 18 no sir
Pros:
🌟it’s not a high fantasy heavy read it’s like junk food
🌟 I love a good mystery to solve
🌟as an anime fan, I hope this bullying causes the girls to boss up and get revenge.
🌟 I like that even though the girls are powerfil, they didn’t automatically make them seem extremely overly strong. They have to learn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Sexual harassment