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Reviews tagging 'War'
Zodiac Academy 9: Restless Stars by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham
12 reviews
condls27's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Look, no one reads ZA expecting a masterpiece but good god this was a slog. I skimmed it and it still took me a week to get through. It was fine, I liked the final battle but it could’ve been 500 pages shorter.
My biggest complaint was how all over the place the plot was. We’re introduced to a new bad guy who seems unbeatable but literally does jack shit. Same with the Lyra character. Y’all gave us a POV making it seem like she’s going to have a bigger part of the plot and then we never see her again. There was barely any threading of storylines. Either plot points were completely abandoned or a brand new thing that breaks all of the established rules is introduced with no explanation.
Speaking of introducing a new thing out of the blue, what the hell are Moon Mates?! Why can’t you just let them be regular mates like everyone else? I hated that, it felt cheap. Here, be this thing we’ve never mentioned in the prior 8 books and dropped in out of no where even though we already have an established mate system in place. As the only gay couple in the series, it just gave me major side-eye. Why can’t they just be Elysian mates like everyone else? I get that Seth has the whole thing with the moon but still. And while we’re on the subject, why the hell didn’t they make Max and Gerry mates? That poor guy barely had a storyline the least they could’ve done is given him some silver rings.
All of the extra POVs were annoying too. I love Gerry but I can’t take full chapters of her. Same with Washer. The bit gets old and I end up completely skipping their chapters.
I was happy with the epilogues but I just don’t see Tory and Darius as parents to that many kids. That felt out of character to me. They seem like one and done type parents. Also, how the heck does line of succession work? Do Tory’s twins rule next since they were born first or is it Tory’s twins AND Darcy’s oldest? I mean, it’s ZA I’m not sure why I’m expecting plot continuity but here we’re are.
All that said, I’m glad it’s over. The ZA universe was an experience I don’t regret- I’ve never been sucked into a series like that before. I mean I blinked, two weeks of my life had gone by and I had finished the first 7 books. I knew objectively they were bad books but they just had that kind of addictive magic that wouldn’t let me put them down despite being terribly written. The last couple of books just did not have that same magic but at least we got an HEA so I can walk away satisfied.
Speaking of introducing a new thing out of the blue, what the hell are Moon Mates?! Why can’t you just let them be regular mates like everyone else? I hated that, it felt cheap. Here, be this thing we’ve never mentioned in the prior 8 books and dropped in out of no where even though we already have an established mate system in place. As the only gay couple in the series, it just gave me major side-eye. Why can’t they just be Elysian mates like everyone else? I get that Seth has the whole thing with the moon but still. And while we’re on the subject, why the hell didn’t they make Max and Gerry mates? That poor guy barely had a storyline the least they could’ve done is given him some silver rings.
All of the extra POVs were annoying too. I love Gerry but I can’t take full chapters of her. Same with Washer. The bit gets old and I end up completely skipping their chapters.
I was happy with the epilogues but I just don’t see Tory and Darius as parents to that many kids. That felt out of character to me. They seem like one and done type parents. Also, how the heck does line of succession work? Do Tory’s twins rule next since they were born first or is it Tory’s twins AND Darcy’s oldest? I mean, it’s ZA I’m not sure why I’m expecting plot continuity but here we’re are.
All that said, I’m glad it’s over. The ZA universe was an experience I don’t regret- I’ve never been sucked into a series like that before. I mean I blinked, two weeks of my life had gone by and I had finished the first 7 books. I knew objectively they were bad books but they just had that kind of addictive magic that wouldn’t let me put them down despite being terribly written. The last couple of books just did not have that same magic but at least we got an HEA so I can walk away satisfied.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and War
mels_reading_log's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book wraps up the Zodiac Academy Series. I love the characters in this series and the amount of depth and growth you see in them over the series. This book, being the last one, goes through the war with the False King, there is death and destruction, as you would expect. But there is also love, so much love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Genocide, War, Death of parent, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Emotional abuse, Classism, and Torture
Minor: Pregnancy
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