Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Awakening

What I struggle with when writing this review is I hate almost everything that happens to Tori and Darcy in this book. I find 99% of the characters irredeemable and their actions entirely inexcusable- but this book is GRIPPING! I am dying to see the Vega twins rule the kingdom.

I really enjoy the absurdist / farcical elements of this series. I know people say it’s not “high quality writing” and I understand why they say that. However, I think the Twisted Sister knew exactly which elements they wanted to emphasize the stupidity of- and the exaggerated features are there to entertain, which they do so successfully.

I also really love Geraldine who is just someone I wish I had in my life. I love the Vega twins- I think their rise from the ashes is going to tell an amazing story. I love that the series uses elemental magic and I love how easy and quick it was to read.

However, I knew from the first interaction that Tori and Darius will get together but it’s difficult to reconcile who Darius is now and who I know he will be

because burning her clothes and forcing her to expose her body against her will

lost all romantic credibility in my eyes.

I also hate passively abusive people like Caleb.

Oh- I can’t “harm” you because it’s against the vampire code. Well inaction is an action and it helps the oppressor. At least he feels guilty about it but wtf.

Don’t even get me started on Lance and the other teachers.

Lance dragged them to ZA against their will and then treats them like shit- and Darcy has a crush on him?

Talk about abusive.

I know it’s a bully romance and I know this world has a different understanding of what’s “normal” or accepted but it’s genuinely so aggravating. Yet I can’t stop reading. This is such a binge worthy series and while much of the world building makes my blood boil, an awful lot of the dialogue makes me laugh.

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rmesquirrel's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

These books are supposed to be very spicy? It was a 450 page book and there was a 3 page vague description of heavy petting.

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shaykay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

You can only hear about this series on TikTok or in the book world. Zodiac Academy was everywhere, especially last year. It has calmed down a bit this year but is still a super popular series. When a series is super hyped, they really intimidate me. Plus, I just haven't been into anything supernatural, and everything I used to pick up has been very contemporary/traditionally published, so Zodiac Academy was nowhere near my TBR. But this year, I've been picking up some crazy random books and decided to dive deep into this series. Now, I went in as blind as I could, but at the same time, I knew a lot about this series because it's been all over the place, and I honestly really liked this book. I felt confused about who was who because the book switches between Darcy and Tori's POVs, and since they are twins and the book keeps going between their POVs, I struggled to figure out who was who. But overall, I get the hype and really like what the story is starting to set up. I hope to get to the point where I can tell the twins apart. Everyone struggles with that, but it does get better in later books.

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autumnruth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

This was book kept me entertained and annoyed at the same time. I loved the magical aspects to it, and I liked discovering this new world along with the twins. What I didn’t like was that the main girls in this book kept lusting after the men who tormented them. People described this book as a bully/romance, but really they’re extremely abusive and it shouldn’t be romanticized.

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obiterocelot's review

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dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Read if you love: enemies to lovers, bullies, cheesy fantasy-romances, will they won’t theys, slow burns, dark and dangerous men, vampires, warewolves, Fae, good dialogues, high school setting but it’s actually more like a university and legal, the forbidden professor student interest.

Avoid if you don’t love: trauma bonding, unlikeable characters, anything to do with zodiac signs, frustrating tension, death, occasional C grade writing, Harry Potter but make it hotter.

———

Seth Capella can burn in every circle of hell imaginable but if it’ll lead to more Orion/Darcy scenes please don’t stop Dog Boy

And despite my usual taste being more Tory/Darius I just can’t bring myself to caring about Tory. But Darcy, the sweet summer child she is, must be protected at all costs

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faith99's review

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funny lighthearted slow-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

1.0

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kaiyoung_kop's review against another edition

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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.

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