Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

66 reviews

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

It was a nice and quick read that I did enjoy. I do think it started a little fast and there wasn’t a ton of buildup to the school. 

The main characters are lovable, but they need to stop being as gullible. That made parts of it hard to get through. Overall, a fun read and the ending murder did surprise me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Classism, Blood, and Abandonment

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Honestly the writing isn’t Shakespeare but man was I invested. Those boys are so infuriating ahhh. I can’t wait to see these girls rise because I can see the fight in them and although I feel bad for what happened I know they’ll kick ass because they’re already badass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Death, Alcohol, Violence, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Murder and Child death

roxyc's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Hate crime, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Car accident

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed the world building very much. I wish it focused more on the fantasy elements outside of just supernatural races. I wouldn't say this book is much of a romance even though it describes itself as a bullymance. Maybe later in the series, but this first one in particular barely has any outside of a little flirting (in between all of the sexual assaults)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Incest, Abandonment, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Slavery, and Infidelity

Mind control is prevalent in this book, meaning sometimes characters are forced to do things they don't want to do.

earlieststar's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

im cringe but im free

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

listen: it is described as bully romance but these girls get absolutely very much abused from beginning to end. it's not schoolyard bullying, those are crimes being committed every other page.

nineinchnails's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.75

the writing style/prose is somewhat juvenile and wattpad-esque (i'm familiar with it from devouring brutal boys of everlake prep in november so it's not too jarring) however every time i was forced to put this down i was itching to pick it back up. it's definitely laced with something. the worldbuilding was super fun and interesting to read despite clearly pulling inspiration from other sources. everything gets revealed at a steady pace so even though it's a lot to juggle with i think they managed to pull it off; there's the magic academy thing (sorted by houses), elemental magic, fae orders, and probably more i'm missing at the moment. the world is super addictive for me but i could be biased because i fell in love with harry potter when i was 7 and that probably permanently altered my brain chemistry. this feels like a fusion of harry potter, the cruel prince, and winx club but adult and it's so captivating. it reminds me a little of the magicians tv show too (haven't read the books yet which is probably a cardinal sin) because it's an academy for adults but it's not quite as dark and satirical in tone imo.

the pacing probably isn't for everyone since the book moves pretty slowly but it focuses on character development and worldbuilding which is definitely my preference in fantasy. it makes me kinda wish we had chapters from the boys' pov but i'm hoping we'll get that in at least one of the later books. the pov being split between both twins might be annoying too since i did struggle remembering where one twin left off in their last chapter occasionally but they're both distinct enough for me to know who's chapter is whose so it could be a lot worse. considering how long this book is i should be pissed that barely any action happens but idk what to say it's like crack and it definitely didn't feel 400+ pages long. i really liked the characterisation of the twins and more importantly their relationship - it didn't ever get ugly between the two of them. despite all the shit they went through and the manipulation they faced they didn't let anything come between the two of them and it was really sweet. it kinda reminded me of my own relationships with my sisters (when we aren't at each others throats over stealing clothes or something) and felt realistic in that the traumatic shit we went through only made us more loyal and protective of each other instead of competitive.

there's probably more to say but it's nearly 1am and my brain is failing me so to conclude: this book is super OTT and you absolutely will get secondhand embarrassment but if you can suspend your disbelief (and have heeded the trigger warnings) you'll probably love it just for the pure entertainment. yes this book is unserious as fuck but i am seated!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Violence, Body shaming, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

attempted murder

, student/teacher relationship, dubcon, noncon

selestre's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Minor: Murder, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

shaykay's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn’t love it. I get why others would, but it wasn’t for me personally. I’m just not a bully romance reader. The lore seems really interesting and the multiple romance partners the could choose is an interesting twist (if it isn’t Tory/Darius and Darcy/Orion in the end though I would be shocked). 

Bully Romance, Magical School, 2 🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, and Cursing

kaiyoung_kop's review against another edition

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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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