I bought this book because of a teaser I saw the author post on Threads that made me think this was going to be a really twisted dark romance with dub con (MY FAVORITE). It wasn't quite that, but I loved it anyway. SONG OF THE DEMON COURT ended up being an examination of personal faith, an enemies to lovers romance with high stakes, and a pretty interesting character portrait of two flawed and damaged people slowly learning to trust each other-- all with a Jareth-coded hero framed within an erotic pied piper retelling. WHAT.
Annika lives in what I believe is medieval Bavaria. The children in town are dying of a plague and the council have called upon a mythic race (kind of like demon elves?) called the pipers to cure the children with enchanted song. However, they cannot afford to pay the price and they know it. But because The Men(TM) are stupid and stubborn, they go ahead with the plan anyway, and the pipers decide to take the children away as punishment.
Annika alone goes to the kingdom of Laute to get the children back. Instead of forking them over, Loic, the son of the king, agrees that she can look them over as a sort of nanny in exchange for being his plaything. Disgusted, Annika agrees, and is then surprised when he proceeds to mostly not touch her. She came to this kingdom playing a game of her own, but it seems like Loic is playing one, too. And the stakes have never been higher.
So this was a really fun read. I loved that Annika was a single mom and her body wasn't perfect. She was brave but made stupid decisions, which, don't we all. I never disagreed with or failed to understand anything that she did, though. Loic on the other hand is a true morally grey character. He reminds me a lot of some of Anne Stuart's heroes, particularly the one in PRINCE OF MAGIC. Towards the end, he did a lot of things that were hard to like, since he wasn't truly a villain character, but you know what they say: hurt people hurt people. He was basically the fantasy equivalent of that. AND OH MY GOD, the author makes him suffer. This is a man who is put through hell for his cruelty, and has to really grovel to get his HEA. I actually felt so sorry for him by the end.
The world building was SO detailed and creative and I thought the writing was beautiful. I was surprised by the heavy religious themes. I'm not religious at all but I thought they added to the medieval setting in a really rich and authentic way. THE LAST HOUR OF GANN was similar, especially in how the hero's faith was tested and challenged, and I loved that book as well. I think it's thematically relevant to a lot of people. But the way the heroine is judged and internalizes some of her teachings to her own detriment might be hard to read for people who have experienced religious abuse/trauma.
ALSO I loved how sign language was so casually and cleverly integrated into the plot. That rep is unusual and shouldn't be, so it was especially great to see here.
Apparently there's a sequel coming out and I will definitely be first in line for it!
FOLLOW ME TO THE YEW TREE is a short, sweet, and surprisingly spicy story about soulmates who are forced to fight for each other against the looming specter of death. I don't want to say too much more, but there's a little bit of death and the maiden, a little bit of a supernatural element, and a little bit of a fairytale twist. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone who read TUCK, EVERLASTING and thought that the heroine made the wrong choice. Eireann is a bad-ass bitch.
Also, side note: the hero of this book has pancolitis, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the colon and appears to result in gastrointestinal distress, bloating, and diarrhea. I saw some reviewers who thought this was gross but I loved seeing it. For years, an undiagnosed food sensitivity caused me to randomly vomit and, yes, shit. A couple times I almost shat my pants. This is something that is frequently played for comedy in movies, but until you have experienced bathroom anxiety and the terror of not knowing when you'll have another flare up, you'll never fully understand how satisfying it is to see someone who gets it.
So I really enjoyed this book and it sold me on the insta-love trope, which isn't usually something I enjoy (most authors can't pull it off, imo). So FOLLOW ME TO THE YEW TREE now joins Shiloh Sloane's LIKE NEON MORNINGS on the very short list of books that have me believing that people can fall in love after only one day.
I'm still slowly working my way through the last two Stuff Your Kindle cycles. THE FAE'S BRIDE is a cute, low-stakes palate cleanser of a book that's set in a fantasy version of Italy called Zamerra. It's a little like Little Women meets Princess Bride meets ACOTAR. I think this is a romance for adults but it's very low spice, so I think it would be fine for young adults, too. I liked Alessia just fine and even though I wasn't a fan of Massimo's name, it was refreshing to read about a romantic lead who was kind of introverted, enjoying cats, coffee, and solitude.
The only reason this isn't getting a higher rating is because it fell a little flat. I would have liked more chemistry between the leads, and I wish that everything had been fleshed out a little more than it was. It's a very charming universe that the author has created and I'm excited to read the next book in the series the next time I read something heavy and want to take a break with something that's pure fluffy goodness.
MAGIC UNDER GLASS was on a list of Jane Eyre retellings, which I was a little skeptical about at first because when I read the summary, it didn't sound very Jane Eyre-y.
This is the story of a girl named Nimira, who comes from a Pan Asian-inspired country that mostly seems to be Indian-inspired but has flavors from some other countries, too. She is a dancer, and even though dancing is well respected where she comes from, it's considered pretty base and deplorable in the England-inspired asshole country where she resides now.
One day, a man steals her away from her low-paying job with the offer of a more private performance. He has an automaton that his previous dancing girls thought was haunted and wants a living human girl to perform alongside it at parties. In exchange, she also gets room and board. It seems like a pretty sweet deal and obviously she takes it, because the boss that she has now is a total creep.
But as soon as she gets to the house, she starts noticing weird stuff. The servant girls are oddly frightened, and there's strange rumors about her new employer, Hollin's, dead wife. And the automaton that she's supposed to dance with seems like it might be alive after all... and in desperate need of help.
Reviews for this book are mixed, which both surprises me and not. The original cover for this book made it seem like this was going to be a very light romantasy for girls, when actually, this book has a lot of really dark themes like colonialism, orientalism, racism, political corruption, and capitalist greed. Most of these themes are actually handled pretty well, including the orientalism + racism, although I am guessing that maybe some readers looking for lighter fare got pissed that the subjects got so heavy.
This also really isn't a romance in the usual sense. Nimira is very strong but all the men around her are very weak: morally, in their convictions, or physically. She is the savior, and even the nicest love interest (who is very cinnamon roll-like) isn't able to protect her or court her in the usual way. Nimira plays the active role that is normally reserved for the hero, and people looking for traditional fantasy gender roles in their romances with "strong, swoonworthy heroes" probably wouldn't like this.
As for me, I like it when a story takes risks. This is more Jane Eyre-inspired than it is a direct retelling, but the gothic adjacent vibes are definitely there, and I liked that, too. I'd recommend this to readers of Gail Carson Levine and Diana Wynne Jones (the book comped itself to Libba Bray and Charlotte Bronte, but I think that was another mistake-- it's not really like either).
Whoa. Even though this was 200 pages shorter than ELFLAND, it felt twice as long. I think part of that beefiness is because ELFLAND is a more accessible story: beneath all the fantasy trappings and trimmings, it's a story of family drama, and an enemies-to-lovers story spun out over decades. MIDSUMMER NIGHT has some of that, too, but it's more bitter in terms of execution, and I feel like the author was reaching more, to make her concepts bigger, and larger-than-life.
In this book, we're again met with a pretty large cast of characters. Gill is a half-Indian/half-English woman who used to be a champion runner until she suffered an injury that left her with chronic, debilitating pain. She ends up going to an artist's commune for secret reasons, which is run by a woman named Dame Juliana, who makes these impressive, mythical mixed-media sculptures that are eerie and seem to be alive. A lot of other artists live with her and worship at her feet, including the mysterious Peta, who makes masks that are similarly alarming-looking.
The plot-- what little there is-- kicks off when Gill discovers a secret path into a township that shouldn't exist. A man she meets there escapes from it and ends up at the commune, causing a stir because he looks like a man who disappeared long ago. His appearance kicks up all this old dust about family secrets and feuds, the governing of magic, and-- of course-- the question as to whether the man desperately and ruthlessly searching for him is his concerned brother... or an ancient evil.
I liked MIDSUMMER NIGHT a lot but I think it's harder to like because it doesn't have the romance of the first book. There is romance in this book but it's few and far between and isn't always satisfying, so people seeking that out are going to be bitterly disappointed. I also feel like this book didn't always feel like it knew where it was going or what it wanted to be, hence why the pacing felt so off. Warrington is unquestionably a brilliant storyteller, though, and she especially likes to use colors to set or convey a scene, which works especially well in a book like this, where one of the motifs is expression of art.
I'm not sure whether I loved or hated some of the characters in here; all I know is I'll be picking this one out of my teeth for a while. It's definitely a book that stays with you, and causes a little bit of discomfort and anguish even after you have the satisfaction of finishing it in its entirety.
I just know this is going to end up as one of my favorite books of 2024. It is fantastic. I felt lukewarm about her earlier book, HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROW, but SMALL FAVORS takes everything I did like about that book and heightens it: strong and flawed heroine, culty and claustrophobic small town, folk horror, fairytale retellings, feminism, and the seductive lure of evil and danger.
In the town of Amity Falls, people live like frontier men and women, harvesting based on the season and going by wagon when they need bulk supplies. But something in the surrounding woods has changed. Animals come out and they don't look right. And there are whispers of creatures with silvery eyes.
Ellerie, our narrator, stands at the forefront of this tale. And when tragedy strikes, she finds herself forced not just as protector for her siblings but possibly bearing the burden of saving the entire town. If they even want to be saved, that is.
Evil is, after all, a most seductive mistress.
I am just blown away by how good this was. It's easy, I think, as an author to feel the need to handhold your younger audience when you write YA. But this book doesn't do that. I'm glad it wasn't an adult story because it was so intense that I think it would have actually been too much if it were more graphic. Craig deftly handles serious and disturbing themes that are probably, unfortunately, relatable to some members of her young audience: sexism, emotional abuse, religious abuse, gaslighting, hard choices regarding right vs. wrong, and the perils of first love. Ellerie is allowed to be selfish and flawed but it's clear from the get-go that she's a good person. I loved her so much and her growth over the book is as much as a coming of age tale as it is a hero's journey.
My only qualm is that I wish there had been an epilogue or something because the ending felt the teensiest bit abrupt and I was curious what ended up happening with the parents/baby.
After reading THE DUKE'S WAGER by this author, I definitely wanted to check out more of her work. I actually just finished reading Susan Krinard's Fane series, which is a historical romance about immortal beings. When I found out that BRIDE ENCHANTED was also a historical romance about immortal beings, I was excited. There aren't a ton of older fantasy romances out there, and this one hadn't been on any of the lists I usually look at.
BRIDE ENCHANTED starts out super slow and the purple prose makes it so cheesy, but it ends up almost having these gothic Bluebeard vibes. The heroine, Eve, is plain and kind of looked over. So she's shocked when a handsome noble named Aubrey comes to town and appears to be in love with her at first sight. Given her low self-esteem about her looks, Eve is suspicious of this, and puts him off until she reluctantly admits to herself that maybe one oughtn't look a handsome husband in the mouth.
But then things get weirder. Like, he's a little too excited about children and a little too secretive about his past. He's cagey about his family and doesn't want her anywhere near his sister, who leers at Eve like she knows something she doesn't. Eventually, Eve gets super suspicious and goes to the sister, and she learns some really weird stuff about her husband, like that he was married before and didn't choose her for love.
I don't want to say too much more about this book but I did like it. This is pretty wallpaper historical as far as fantasy romances go, but I did like how it followed the typical narrative arc of late-90s/early-2000s paranormal romances. One of the reviewers for this book said it was like Twilight, and I think that's a great comparison. Aubrey is patriarchal and overbearing in his "kindness" to the heroine. I wish there had been more action but it wasn't bad. It's too bad she didn't write anymore paranormals. I kind of wish there were more books set in this world.
I've been working my way through Susan Krinard's Fane series, and I think it's safe to say that I'm obsessed. You know you're on to something amazing when you find yourself thinking that this is a world you never want to leave. I was honestly kind of disappointed that Cordelia and Donal didn't make an appearance in this book, as I was hoping that maybe this would be about their son or daughter, but hey, I'm down to read about Arion, former king of the unicorns, and his human lover.
This book is very strange and definitely has a sort of LAST UNICORN vibe. Mariah is married to a hunter named Donnington but he abandoned her on their wedding night, leaving it unconsummated. Everyone in town thinks that this is sus on a bus, especially his nosy and cold-hearted mother, Vivian, and his would be lover, Lady Westlake. While exploring the estate one day, Mariah goes into her husband's folly (basically a structure built for amusement/decor), and finds to her horror that there is a man trapped inside in a cage who looks like the photo negative version of her husband.
The cover shows a man with dark hair, but the book repeatedly says that his hair is silver. So obviously I was picturing him as Astarion from Baldur's Gate (he even sort of has a similar name, I mean-- Arion, Astarion... it fits). Anyway, she ends up naming the man Ash and befriending him, while enlisting her brother in law's help to save him from imprisonment. What ensues is really strange. They end up in Prince Albert's circle, staying with him and his set while they party nightly and indulge in some casual adultery. All the while, rumors fly about Mariah's own infidelities and the supposed madness she might have inherited from her asylum-confined mother, as she tries to discover the horrific reason for why her husband would confine another man and then leave him in a cage, half-starved.
I loved the beginning of the book. I thought it had major Bluebeard vibes. The ending left much to be desired, though. I thought LORD OF THE FOREST had a bit of a rushed ending but this one was honestly frankly ridiculous. I ended up leaving the book with even more questions than I had before. I was originally thinking I was going to give this four stars, rounded up from 3.5, but as I'm writing all of this out, I'm realizing how unsatisfied I felt by this book. Also, the sex scenes were... disappointing. Way too much gushing from both parties. I'm not a fan.
This book broke my heart and then put it back together about fifty times over the course of my reading this book. LORD OF THE BEASTS is the sequel to THE FOREST LORD, and the hero of this book, Donal, is the son of the hero of the previous book. That doesn't always work, but here it's done magnificently. Donal is half-fae and has the ability to speak to animals. He's kind of like a faerie Dr. Dolittle, and indeed, tells people that he's a veterinarian.
When he meets the heroine, he saves her and her cousin from a rampaging elephant that's escaped from the zoo. Then she goes to his estate, which is basically a farm filled with animals, and realizes that he's also the guardian of the girl who almost robbed her loathsome fiance-to-be, Viscount Inglesham. And seeing his prowess with animals, she ends up having him come to her estate to examine the desolate animals in her menagerie, all of which have been rescued from poachers, in addition to offering a permanent home for his ward, Ivy.
I liked the first book in this series a lot, but it had some notable flaws: uneven pacing, an unbelievable villain, a wishy-washy hero, and a climax that felt a little too, well, pile-on. This book, by contrast, was EVERYTHING I wanted. Donal actually reminded me a lot of Julian Sinclair from DUKE OF SHADOWS: he's noble but so, so lonely, and feels like an outcast from society because of his mixed heritage. He's soft-spoken and soft-hearted, but man, you do not want to fuck with this man or anyone he cares about, because he will END you. That's the stuff of dreams, srsly.
And the heroine in this book, Cordelia Hardcastle, was wonderful. A lot of authors write heroines who are strong and independent, but I liked how Cordelia wouldn't let anyone in and was afraid to let herself feel dependent on anyone. She had such a sad backstory and I loved her so much. I also liked how some of her kindness was selfish, even though it was coming from a good place, and how the author talked about how sometimes we think we're doing good, even though we're really serving ourselves best. There was just so much nuance to her character and she was absolutely perfect for Donal.
There's so much I want to say about this book. Like, how Donal had a teenage ward who was crushing on him and it wasn't creepy at all (seriously the bar is on the floor at this point, but everything about their relationship was handled so deftly). Or how the love for animals in this book was just so wholesome and believable (although there are some animal deaths in here, and talks about animal cruelty). In terms of the environmental messages, there's an almost Ferngully feel to this book at times, but it's done so well that it doesn't feel heavy-handed at all. And sometimes secondary characters take up too much page-time but I loved Ivy and Tod's stories just as much as Donal's and Cordelia's.
Oh, and the VILLAINS. The villains in this book were so good. Especially since the author made them just human enough that you can sort of see where they're coming from (terrifying).
I could ramble on and on but I won't. Just know that this is now a Susan Krinard fan account and I'm probably going to be reading a whole bunch of her other books in the very near future.
One of my friends went to a book con and gave me a bag of all the books she'd bought/gotten that she didn't want anymore. THE CURSED CROWN was one of these, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't have read it if I hadn't gotten it for free, because despite that beautiful cover, the blurb and the art just scream "I LOVE SJM."
***WARNING: SPOILERS***
And in some ways, THE CURSED CROWN does kind of feel like it was inspired by ACOTAR. The hero's name is Rydeker and he's a black-haired, purple-eyed fae who is in a love-hate-lust relationship with the woman who he would have as his unwilling bride: Serissa, a half-fae, half-nightmare creature with wings who commands plants and lives in the woods all by herself because she hates everyone.*
*Same
This book is pure brain candy. I'm not entirely sure it makes sense because the climax was blink-and-you'll-miss-it fast and then it literally goes from them having sex for the first time to cradling their newborn in an epilogue. This ends up making the book feel pretty front-heavy because there's SO much build-up with Rissa talking about how she wants to stab Rye in the face, and then there's something sinister happening with the courts and attempted poisonings and more wandering and oh, dear god help me, why did this take me so long to read when it was so fucking SHORT?
Theoretically, I didn't like this book. But it was exactly what sad depressed little me needed. I was feeling sad and wanted to read some decently written faerie trash. I got what I wanted. Also, this author wrote two other series about vampires and sex demons that sound far up my alley and I'm not sure I would have found this author if not through this book so maybe that warrants a half-star round-up?
Ever since she was a child, Tamara Lynn has been regarded as a freak: her drunk father surrounded his house with traps for creatures that nobody but him could see and her only friend in town mysteriously disappeared. Now an adult, she works at a bookstore with her attractive coworker, dreaming of a life better than the one she has now. But dreams can be dangerous... especially when they come at the cost of your mind, body, and soul....more
Thanks to the lovely Ro for buddy-reading this with me. Unfortunately, neither of us really got into it. I was excited to read THE DARK KING because it seemed to be being pitched as NEON GODS meets A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES meets FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, which, if you were a cynical reader, might make you feel even more cynical. But I'm not a cynical person and convinced myself that this was going to be awesome: fated mates, marriage of inconvenience, kinky fun times? I was totally on board. Plus, I've kind of been on a faerie kick lately thanks to Zodiac Academy.
I liked the beginning of the book where Caiden is kicking this corrupt manager's butt for demeaning sex workers and disrespecting him. There's a lot of tell-and-not-show when it comes to how big and bad the big and bad is, so it was nice to actually see an on-page demo. I even politely looked the other way when Caiden kept winking at the audience (aka, me) to tell me how hardcore he was. Boy, I know. You just whaled on this dude, literal claws out. Go at it, already.
Things started to get shaky when Bryn, the heroine, walks on stage. She was kind of aggressively bland, in the same way that Anastasia Steel and Bella Swan were. Her only personality trait is sassing Caiden and lusting after him. The descriptions of the Vegas Strip were interesting, I guess, and to be honest, I kind of liked the idea of a bunch of excommunicated fae jadedly starting their own clubbing empire. It felt very True Blood, but, like, in a good way. The problem is that the heroine doesn't really have any personality or hobbies, and the author forges an instant connection with them that has no emotional basis, which makes it really hard to care about or even root for them as a couple.
Also, my boy Caiden, aka side-of-the-road-Rhysand, clearly sees himself as a feminist, but every time Bryn misbehaves, he threatens her with a spanking. What is this, the 1950s? Okay, actually maybe it is for this dude since he's immortal and the 1950s probably feel modern to him, but STILL. I didn't like that. I'm okay with kinky stuff but the way it was broached in this book was super weird and kind of uncomfy for me. I'm okay with good guy love interests and bad guy love interests, but don't try to sell me on a guy as a good guy love interest but then make him act like one of those pick-up artists from the 2000s who dressed like a leather daddy wizard and called himself "Enigma."
I think for people who like quick, smutty reads, this will be a fun escapist read-- and there's nothing wrong with that. But if you're going into this expecting world-building and emotional connections and strong characters, you'll be disappointed. Props to the author for actually trying to inject some real faerie lore into this book-- I liked that a lot and wish she'd done it more-- but everything else about this was a sort of miss for me.
Geraldine, like horseradish and '90s Eurodance music, is one of those things that is better in small doses. That said, after the devastation of CURSED FATES, obviously I needed some fluffy flounders in my life, and where better to get that than with some Geraldine/Max action. Which the book totally delivered on by the way.
This book starts with Gerry and Max hooking up during the lunar eclipse and ends with a surprise birthday party for Tory and Darcy. Definitely don't read this until after book five because it contains spoilers for books 3-5 (major ones). The sex is honestly pretty bad with Geraldine narrating but it's interesting to know that she's a dominant. Seeing her tussle with Maxy and his barracuda was pretty entertaining and it's sweet how into her weirdness he is.
Not sure what else to say about this book, tbh. It's short but still delivers on fun bonus content and is a nice reprieve from the angstfest that was CURSED FATES. Geraldine is still the best but man, thank goodness the authors deal her out in small doses.
I wasn't expecting the Zodiac Academy series to be so addictive. Seriously, I mostly just picked it up hoping to laugh at it and maybe enjoy it a little bit. Cut to me sinking hundreds of hours reading thousands of pages of these books like a total sucker. Irony, I don't know her. But seriously, these books are pure crack. They have all the fun escapism of the Harry Potter series, only without the TERF guilt. It reminds me of this time I was on a luxe cruise ship pregaming with my friends and drank five glasses of champagne (don't judge me). It felt good going down until it didn't and suddenly, BOOM. Hungover and seasick, leaving in the middle of a surf n' turf dinner to worship at the altar of ultimate regret. The moral here is that bingeing five things in a row probably isn't a good idea, especially if they might be more intense than you fully realize. Case in point: these books.
This book continues where the last one leaves off, with heartbreak and betrayal. The last book ended on such an emotionally wrenching note that I needed a bit of a breather before diving into this one. In this book, CURSED FATES, we learn the full effects of what it means to be Star Crossed, which was kind of foreshadowed in one of the earlier books. Which makes this 800+ page tome a veritable BRICK of angst, where we watch our ill-fated couple bite their nails and fight back lust over their inability to be together. Hard to watch? I THINK SO. (Alexa, play Bishop Briggs's "Never Tear Us Apart.")
I actually think this book is a lot better than the previous one. There's still way too many unnecessary POVs (which I hear gets worse in later books), but I loved the development between the Vega twins and the Heirs. Someone told me that this is when they finally start to work together for the greater good of the kingdom and yeah, I see it. The transition from hatred to wary alliance was really well done, and I liked it. I also liked that we got more insight for Tory's behavior in this book. She's not an easy character to like but I don't hate her as much as other readers do because I think if you read between the lines it's easy to see how circumstances have made her distrustful and leery, and how much she's hurting. There's also a totally hot threesome in this book which I'm normally not into, but it's kind of been foreshadowed/hinted at in previous books and I thought the authors did a good job with it.
Some other random thoughts: Washer is still gross but I think I might hate Professor Highspell even more. It was so satisfying to see Kylie finally get her comeuppance even if it was late in coming, but that's okay because I have Mildred to hate instead. I KNEW the Orion/Darcy ship was getting too cozy and I'm not even surprised that the authors decided to fuck with it to cause me pain. Darkmore prison seems even worse than Azkaban and I'm super excited to read the spin-off series set there. There's some more world-building and twists in this book that were shocking AF, especially that ending. Holy FUCK. Just when I think the book can't hurt me anymore, it finds a new way to twist my arm. Also, Lionel is so gross and needs to DIE. It's been a while since I wished death for a character so badly. Loved the plot twist with Gabriel though, although I swear, that dude is allergic to shirts.
Romantic angst is the primary conflict in this book but I'm excited for the new stakes being delivered to the kingdom of Solaria and how the boys and the girls will band together to stop the threat. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to be nursing this glass of port while moping to Smile Empty Soul (I think I might have just given my age away with that music reference, whoops).
I've been bingeing this series over the last week or so because it's just that addictive. The last time I read something that was this cheesy but emotionally wrenching was during my college manga phase. You think anime is all fun and games until you decide to read the entire Hana Yori Dango series in one summer and find yourself drinking wine by the glass and clawing out your hair in chunks. Then you know pain.
SHADOW PRINCESS is book four in the Zodiac Academy series. Book three, THE RECKONING, was my absolute favorite book in the series so far-- it was action-packed, dramatic, emotional, and stunning, with character development and the answers to questions that had been steadily building over the previous books. SHADOW PRINCESS, on the other hand, is... the weakest? Ah, don't hate me!
But, like, seriously. I've been Tory's staunch defender for the last couple books. I know she has real emotional pain and boy, does this book prove it. And even though she has some of the best lines in these books, she is also such a stubborn fool. Her sleeping around doesn't bother me, but her emotional pigheadedness does, as does her constant need to be a jerk and never change. Darcy has changed a lot over the four books. You can tell that she's on the verge of becoming the powerful woman she'll one day be: she doesn't take any shit, she's nuturing, and there's an emotional maturity to her that Tory really lacks. It makes it really, really hard to like Tory, who doesn't change. She just remains a self-centered asshole who insults everyone to cover up the pain inside.
And don't even get me started on Darius, who is literally the exact same way. They're both Sad Dracos in Leather Pants, I swear to God. Every time I find myself warming to the guy, he does something stupid. Maybe I just don't like him because I was shipping Tory and Caleb and this feels like a reprise of the Rhysand/Tamlin situation that put me off the ACOTAR books. I don't like it when one ship kind of feels like end game, only for the author(s) to play a big switcheroo. That said, the ending legitimately made me tear up and scream, NOOOOOOO. I would hate to be a reader picking these up as they were coming out and wondering what was going to happen next. I mean, really.
So why three stars instead of four? This book started to feel really dialed in. There were too many POVs. I didn't need to see Max mooning over Geraldine. I don't really care about Max. I also don't really care about Seth. In fact, I hate Seth and this book just made me hate him more. I actually preferred it when the books were mostly just in Tory and Darcy's POVs. It was more fun for me when you could only guess at what was going on in the guys' heads. Subtlety is an underappreciated art form. I found myself skimming chunks of these books and noticing a lot of repetition. The word "growl" and its various iterations are used 175 times and smirk was used 121 times, just to give you a taste. I was pressed to look it up when I noticed the words "I smirked" TWICE on the same page.
Also, Washer doesn't need that many cameos. He's gross. I don't want it. Stahp.
ALSO, why do they celebrate Christmas? Is there a Faerie Jesus?
One thing I keep in mind while reading books like these is that most of them are meant to appeal to teenagers and people in their twenties, and I am neither of those things. This almost vibes like one of those old school fantasy anime shows, like, the ideas are a little half-baked but the heroine is so whoopass and the premise is so interesting that people can be baited into looking the other way.
For what it's worth, I don't think this is a bad book. The not-like-other-girls stuff grated, yes, and I'm like 99% sure that "Brexley" is not an Eastern-European name, but the world-building was a little interesting and I thought the author created a believably gloomy world. I just wanted more from it, and from the heroine, who felt a little too one-dimensional for my liking.
Silly old me picking up this novella thinking it would be a cute piece of fluff about the boys when they were still high school students. WRONG. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. This book, ORIGINS OF AN ACADEMY BULLY, is told in dual POV by Darius Acrux and Lance Orion. Darius is 14 and I think Lance is in his very early 20s. We see Darius learn his affinities and explore the school he'll be going to in four years as part of an orientation sort of thing, which is actually quite cute. But then the book gets dark, fast.
I love the Zodiac Academy series so much. I'm afraid that I've been pretty annoying in my love about it, spamming people with multiple status updates because people have been unfriending me for it. I'm SORRY, okay. I've had to watch people posting updates for ACOTAR for years, to the point where it's literally the only thing in my feed whenever a new book comes out, so I feel like it's my turn to stan something. I'm sorry I'm a thirty-something with trash taste in books. But also-- it's not like I hid it or anything LOL.
FWIW, this series is aggressively addictive. Like, here I am, scampering around for the bonus materials for just another hit. Like it's blood magic or something (WINK). But I just can't help it, you know? Even though the writing is soap opera-y and, yes, objectively trashy reading, the story-telling and world-building are so good that I just HAVE to know more. In this novella, we learn about what really happened to Clara Orion and how Darius and Lance became bonded in a guardian relationship. Both scenes are brutal and chilling and are honestly probably going to give me nightmares. Which makes me feel like maybe this almost should have been a full-length book. I feel like the progression from lalala privileged rich kid heir frolicking in his soon-to-be-new-school to complete and utter despair happened so quickly it gave me whiplash.
Also, poor Lance. All of his dreams-- crushed. My poor little vampire. And the pressure on Darius and Xavier is just truly heartbreaking. You can see why Darius hates Tory and Darcy so much, especially with his father wanting his son to be King Gary Stu. All that training and effort, only to see two totally inexperienced people who are completely more powerful than you without any effort? It went a long way towards explaining his resentment and hatred. I think it also really explained the bond that Darius and Lance have, which I actually really liked. It's rare to see such intense intimacy between male friends in a dark romance book, and I really liked that. It's clear they care a lot about each other, which makes what happens to them that much more devastating.
I think this adds a lot to the series and it packs a surprisingly emotional punch, but it doesn't really feel like a ~complete~ narrative arc either, so for that I'm giving it a three.
If a man was stranded for a full week in the desert with no food or water, he still wouldn't be as thirsty as these boys. This was hornier than Love Island. THE AWAKENING AS TOLD BY THE BOYS is exactly what it promises to be: it's a retelling of the first book in the Zodiac Academy series retold from the POVs of the four Heirs plus Orion. I guess because that book was exclusively told from Darcy and Tory's POV and in later books, the authors started cramming the other POVs in whether we wanted them or not (hi Seth).
After the events of book four, I was not emotionally ready to continue onward in the series, so I thought it would behoove me to remember how this all began. And to the authors' credits, there were certain scenes I did really enjoy. Finding out the Orion basically scored Darcy a free top-shelf drink (my mans <3), his instant lust for a certain twin's blood while he's hauling their asses into the school, the moment he claims her as a Source, Gabriel arranging things so that he can save Darcy and come to her sister's rescue for big man brownie points. Oh whoops, look, all my favorite moments were about Orion. HOW ABOUT THAT.
That isn't to say that there weren't other scenes I liked. It was fun seeing the Heirs reacting to the Vega twins that first time, and I liked the beginning scene when Darius and Orion are hunting nymphs. I think this book also shows Darius's pain a little more and the protective feelings he has for both Xavier and Orion. I really hated him in the first two books, but then all those feelings transferred to Seth, who can fuck right off any time he wants. I'll even be there to make sure his tail gets slammed in the door on his way out. But seriously, Seth is the worst. :) The only redeeming value he has is that he sort of has a thing going on with Caleb and I like them together. Seth is literally only good when he's with his friends.
Did this book NEED to be written? No. Most of the book is about the guys wandering around with erections while shaking a fist at the sky and shouting VEGAS the way Timmy's dad shouts DINKLEBERG in Fairly Odd Parents. I knew going in that it was probably going to be a lot of thirsting and pining, but I was literally not prepared. This book is pure fan service. I probably would have liked it if it were a bit more subtle and had more scenes that didn't involve 'roid rage-fueled lust, but I know I'm not most people. But it was way too long and reading this just made me realize how much I prefer reading things from the girls' POVs instead of the boys'.
If you heard a loud YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS echoing in the distance, that was me. Best book in the series so far? I THINK SO. But I knew it would be, because the title shares the name of one of my favorite songs by Halestorm. #foreshadowing
I began Zodiac Academy on a whim a couple days ago, only to get sucked in. It has everything I love in a story: magic, danger, action, romance, strong heroines, dangerous men, and well-placed humor. Picture Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield fighting their way through Vampire Academy against Hana Yori Dango's Elite Four while using Harry Potter spells, and that's basically the whole premise in a nutshell. Darcy and Tory Vega are the long-lost princesses of the fae kingdom and they're enrolled in school to prove their worth before they can claim their inheritance and their throne. But the four elemental heirs who grasped power in the void aren't willing to give up their legacy. If they can't rule, no one can.
One of the things that makes this so much richer than other bully romances is because of how the sisters fight back. Their acts of revenge are truly brilliant and some of them wreak pretty devastating results on the boys. When one of the boys in this book finds out who was responsible, he FLIPS THE FUCK OUT, and boy is it satisfying to watch. It isn't often that you get to see a female character commit that kind of betrayal, so I loved that. And the Heirs deserve it.
Some of the stand-outs about this book were the introduction of Hell Week: a week of hazing before the students go through The Reckoning, a series of Goblet of Fire-esque challenges to test the mettle of the students and see if they're worthy of enrollment. Also, one of my ships FINALLY banged, and that was royally satisfying on so many levels and didn't disappoint. There's actually a lot of smut in this book, to the point where I might have to start calling it Smut Academy. I know some people don't like Tory for being more promiscuous than Darcy but YOU KNOW??? She should get some, if that's what she wants. The vampire sex games she plays with Caleb were hot. And Darcy and Orion are the MVPs.
Some other random thoughts: Professor Washer and his sex toys literally scarred me for life. Seeing the fae getting all horned up during the lunar eclipse was hilarious. I will never not laugh when Caleb gets mad at people for thinking he has a pegasus fetish. Geraldine and Sofia are the BEST and I love them. Xavier must be protected at all costs. I want to go to a Fairy Fair. AND AND AND we finally get to find out what Darcy and Tory's Order is... and it is PERFECT. Look at me being all good and not spoilering you the way I DESPERATELY, DESPERATELY want to. I'm being good for your sake. So you'll read these books too and be as awed and astounded as I am.
But God. That cliffhanger. Everything has changed now.
So I started this series expecting not to like it and lo and behold, I finished THE AWAKENING in one day like a total clown, only to immediately dive-bomb into book two. The writing is not the best-- it's not badly written but it does feel "indie" in the sense that the grammar can be sloppy and it's often repetitive in description. If I never see the words "stupidly attractive" or "bulging muscles" again, I'll be happy. But despite its flaws, this series is stupidly charming. It's like a cross between Vampire Academy and Harry Potter, only with more smut than either of those books ever had, and I love how self-indulgently written it is. Reading it makes me feel like I'm a teen on Quizilla again.
RUTHLESS FAE starts where the last book left off. Tory and Darcy have been freshly humiliated and are contemplating leaving the school, but they end up settling for revenge. In between various other things being lobbed at them in this book, the bulk of the plot is about them planning really messed-up things to do to the Heirs-- and honestly?? The punishments are brutal. It's quite satisfying seeing female characters being given the agency to punish men who do them wrong, even when those men are the love interests. Like, yass queen. ACCOUNTABILITY.
The relationships between the characters develop beautifully in this book. I love the friendship between Darcy and Tory and Geraldine and Sofia. You get to meet Geraldine's dad in this book and he is ADORBS. You can totally see where she gets it from. Caleb remains my favorite of the four younger boys and Orion definitely becomes more of a forbidden love interest a la Dimitri from Vampire Academy in this book, not that I'm mad about that. I think my absolute favorite parts of this book were the clusterfuck of a dinner at Casa Acrux and the rumor mill deciding that Caleb likes to fuck winged horses. When the inflatable unicorn sex toy appeared, I spat out my coffee. It was so good. I also like that the authors aren't afraid to send their main characters to some pretty dark places. Even though they are kind of Mary Sue-ish, it's tolerable because they still reap the consequences of their failures and nothing's too easy for them. In fact, usually it's the opposite. I love that.
The ending of this book really comes to a fever-pitch, with allyships being forged and tested. There's a beautifully done fight scene, an intense sports match, and a sort of cliffhanger ending that absolutely means that I need to start the third book immediately. I'm dying to know how the relationships between these characters are going to develop and what Tory and Darcy's order will be. Also, I feel like there's a lot of behind-the-scenes court intrigue stuff happening too, and I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING.
Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨
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