Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Awakening

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

50 reviews

alexahunterliterary's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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booknerderika's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was recommended this book, and I'm glad I was. I like the overall story,

the dark academia, and the building of enemies to lovers trope. These are pretty toxic guys and I know shouldn't ship the girls with Darius and Orion but I absolutely do. I also believe Diego is evil and working with the nymphs or is a nymph.

This is a series I know I'm going to enjoy getting lost in. I just hope the rest of the series keeps the twins as the main characters and doesn't try to follow new people from different signs.

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_alyssar_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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darkclouds's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.5

Colour me stupid. For I haveth picked up yet another abomination, only this time, I'm a fool who is trapped in its snare.

The appeal this series has on people is what initially piqued my curiosity and if you know me, I love to waste my own time and sate my curios noggin by diving headfirst into books that most likely would strip my braincells rather than add to the tally.

I... didn't know much about this series at all. The hype and fanart was enough to seal the deal and I gratefully thank Kindle Unlimited for providing me access to these hefty books with heftier price tags. I dodged a bullet there. I'm not quite sure where to begin because it's been a few days since reading ZA1 and I'm torn.

It's terrible. Let's set that straight. Absolutely doggone ridiculous.

But reader, I am having the time of my life.

That's right. Sue me. Bind me. Curse me. I actually am a little besotted with this clusterfuck of a series and it's deluded, toxic and twisted vibes. The cringe. The red flags galore and the ever so slow build up of plot. If there is one. Not really sure what it is yet but I suppose we'll get there.

It's a bully romance. I think. And also a forbidden student/teacher romance. I also think. But also slow burn. So nothing is actually happening yet. Nothing actually is happening for a while actually. I'm in awe that these books get thicker and thicker with so many words and yet... it all leads to what? Excessive and elongated scenes that are really unnecessary sometimes and just endless bouts of frustration as the two female leads face severe abuse and humiliation.

And really, I'm here for them. For their revenge era. I think what I grew to appreciate and allow myself to bypass the awkward writing and the ridiculous dialogue, was the detail of Tory and Darcy not having a "light switch moment" where their hidden celestial powers suddenly pulled them out of a ugly situation. You know what I'm talking about? The books where the lead discovers they have hidden powers but no idea how to harness it but miraculously gains the ability when in a pickle? THAT. I'm grateful this wasn't the case here so it felt a little more kosher. The build up of their powers and abilities was the only realistic part of this entire book. They're weak. Ignorant. It was oddly refreshing. So I'm here for their shine a light moment when they finally do get to bite off more than they can chew and have the backbone and strength to get away with it.

I've used ridiculous a lot but I can't really find any other word to describe the circus that is this set up. This world. The characters. The dialogue that sends me to my knees cackling because I can't process it being real.

I'm having a blast though. I'd recommend only for those with ample patience and here to crack jokes at every turn of this disaster. If you like to watch bad movies to tickle your funny bone then dig in.

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Liked this and hated that I liked it because of all the er ethical considerations. And everyone makes me mad

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I’ve been putting off reading this series until closer to the time that the next (and what I thought was the last) book is released, but I finally caved and I’m glad that I did! I really liked the concept and world building and magic system. I was annoyed with all the “you really don’t know anything about this world, do you” followed by cruel acts to emphasize the point, though. Like, how are the twins supposed to learn anything if no one will tell them what they need to know?! Gah! I’m pretty excited to move forward and see what their Orders are and see how badass they become once they can properly wield their powers. The Heirs better watch out, is all I’m saying. Especially after that bullsh*t there at the end. They totes deserve whatever they have coming for them.

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midnacine's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this! The story was interesting and engaging, the world building was pretty intense and unique, and the little bit of spice was enticing.
But goddamn, getting past the poor writing was a struggle. About 100 pages in, the only way for me to continue was to start annotating just so I could edit as I read. I restructured sentences, corrected grammar and spelling, and added punctuation where necessary. It honestly felt like no one but the authors read through the book before sending it out to print. And don't even get me started on the fact that Tory and Darcy- two 18-year-old girls who were supposed to have grown up in the US- used terms like "sports kit" and "postie", which are very British terms.
But again, I enjoyed it. So am I gonna read the rest of the series, no matter how infuriating it is? Absolutely.

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maladaptivedaydreams's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

This is so close to being 4 stars from me but it was missing some stuff for me. I wish we could have dived deeper into the magic system, the sister's training together and a bit more of their lives as mortals compared to now.

I usually don't really like Fae stories but this one was interesting enough. I loved the bond between Darcy and Tory, that no one could come between that. I adore family bonds and I think it benefitted the story more than if their had only been one character. Darcy and Tory actually felt fleshed out with their own flaws and desires, so all their decisions (for good or bad) felt justified.

This was a great introduction to the series and I do actually plan to read the second book. I can't wait until they're able to hold their own against the Heirs for all they've done.

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lifeonasofa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The Awakening Zodiac Academy ♍️ Review

“Tears never did anyone any favours, but sometimes they just needed to fall” 😭 - Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

⭐️⭐️💫 2.75 Stars

It only took me 2 weeks, but I got there. Shout out to @buddy for keeping me going. The hype surrounding this series is pretty intense and I didn’t realise quite how many HUGE books there were already! The first book was sat on my kindle for a while so I thought why not. 🤷🏻‍♀️

First of all, I know I went in blind but I heard NOTHING about the sheer amount of bullying in this book. Wow. The WHOLE plot…bullying. I’ll be honest, a good 65% of this book was slow and painful. Very little happened, also everyone is so GROSS. 🙈

I was/still am intrigued by the school, the world and everything the Vega twins have yet to explore. The whole zodiac thing was pretty cool, but we really didn’t get a whole lot of info tbh. I have more questions than answers. 🤔

I like the twins, they both have likeable personalities, lots of strength. They both however, lost themselves around boys. Said boys (and teachers) are so awful they don’t deserve a paragraph, they will never redeem themselves. 👎🏻

The last 35% was full of friendship, lust and action which I actually read in one sitting. So I don’t know what the authors were playing at with the first 300 pages! The ending made me so uncomfortable, but I’ll hand it to them…I’m intrigued. Darn it! 🙃

Overall, I do not understand the hype. But I do want to read book 2. Please check TWs before reading as this whole bullying thing seems wildly unnecessary to me. 👀

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vinora's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

2.75

Interesting concept, lots of references to another popular school for adolescents with supernatural abilities, but existing in its own capacity.

I enjoyed the concept of this book but the constant bullying made it difficult to get through.

I was told that this series gets better as you move through it and I look forward to more positive development.

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