My Rating: Solid 4 star series with some 5 star moments but you will have to WORK for them!
๐ฃSpoilers ahead of who the couples are โ no plot spoilers, but proceed at your own risk.๐ฃ
โ๏ธTotal of 6,626 pages
๐ง207.5 combined hours on audio
โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐,โ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ . โ๐ณ๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.โ
First thingโs first, my absolute favorite couple, by far, were Lance and Darcy. Lance Orion is now one of my favorite MMCโs ever written. No notes! Even when I hated him, I loved him. I loved their entire love story, how they got together. The professor/ student vibes. The forbidden love. How sweet their love story was in the beginning. It was chefโs kiss perfection. ๐ค๐ผ
They were closely followed by Seth and Caleb. Where I despised Seth at the beginning of the series, my heart melted for him by the end.
My third fave was Tory and Darius and they are probably tied with Geraldine and Max who were freaking hilarious and adorable. Tory and Darius took too freaking long and I honestly kinda lost interest. Donโt get me wrong, she had every right to hold out on himโฆ I donโt know that I wouldโve forgiven him for all the crap he put her through in the beginning.
I hated the bully trope in the first three books. I am not a fan of that trope whatsoever. And this is not bully-lite. These guys do some pretty terrible things to our heroines. I do not forgive easily, if at all. If you are not a fan of the trope either, know that it does go away after the first three books.
Books 4 โ 7 were the best of the series for me. When it shifts to more found family and all of them against a greater evil. At that point, I could TOTALLY see the appeal of this series. It really has something for everyone. Itโs got M/F, M/M, MMFโฆ youโve got vampires, where wolves, fae, Pegasus, shadow monsters.
Review continued in the comments. โฌ๏ธ
๐ท๏ธ #zodiacacademy #zodiacacademyseries #fantasyreads #darkfantasyromance #bookstacks
a month agoericabingesbooks
You do have to work for them. I enjoy these a lot but the series is too long
5 months agothe_space_network
oooh iโm starting ZA in june for my summer series ๐๐ผ itโll be my first time reading it!
6 months agobets2familyandfriends
Some pro about RB is the roots of DP begin there. Is it necessary to read RB no ? It just adds depth.
6 months agocoffee.and.books.kim
I love lance and Darcy. I stopped at like halfway through. Will I finish one day? Yea, maybe. Did I google and have people tell em what happened? Also yes๐
6 months agocheetahreader91
Gahhh!!!! Lance + Darcy FOREVER!! God tier couple for sure. ๐๐ฅน๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
6 months agovanessabookedup
๐ท๏ธ #bookobsessed #fantasyromance #solaria #restlessstars #carolinepeckham #susannevalenti #booktok #romantasybooks #bookstagrammer #bibliophile
6 months agovanessabookedup
But LORDI did this sh!t drag. The last two books of this series couldโve been shortened by at least 300 pages each and that is conservatively speaking. Way too long and too many POVs spent on the bad stuff and then the epilogues and happy parts at the end โ while great โ seemed rushed. The Steam โ Progresses as the series progresses. Where the first book or two are at 0.5 ๐ถ๏ธ , it builds up to fully open door and ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ. It fit the story and I was good with it! Few stats: โข Start to finish, it took me right at two months to read this entire series โ I did pause about halfway through to read I think 4 ARCs, but read/listened straight through otherwise. โข I did probably 95% of it on audio, a little here and there in my physical copies. โข I did not read any of the novellas, not even 8.5. Once you read book 8 โ Sorrow and Starlight โ itโll become pretty clear what 8.5 is about. I was fine with proceeding without and by that time, the fatigue had set in, so I am glad I skipped it. โข I also did not read the prequel series โ Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac โ and felt like I was fine with that decision too. It is the series of a significant secondary character in ZA, Gabriel Knox. I actually donโt know that I will read it. I am not burning to, TBH. โข After book 5 โ Cursed Fates โ there are no graphic/dramatized audios available until later this year and it was a huge adjustment! โข I will probably read the Darkmore Penitentiary series next as I am soooooo curious about that world! ๐ค
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