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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Well!
It was a bit too long to tell the truth but it was worth it for that crazy ending. Bring on the next book! Lol
It was a bit too long to tell the truth but it was worth it for that crazy ending. Bring on the next book! Lol
Kindle, KU | This book took me foreverrrr to read. I almost DNF. But I felt committed to the authors and was just dissatisfied. I miss ZA. This book was not gripping, the ending was disappointing, etc. there were moments of great potential but then that plot point would just disappear.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5 stars, really.
I don't know why I saw this author pair and just automatically assumed it was a Why Choose, but did eventually figure that out about 100 pages in.
Anyway...it was lovely and fun writing, just like you'd expect from this duo. The world building was hefty, the character development was hefty, this was a BEAST of a book to get through and maybe probably could have just been two books instead and I would have felt less annoyed. Overall, I liked it, but I didn't love it and the payoff didn't feel worth it for the sheer length and amount of bullshit about Darius' face I had to put up with.
Also....the scene towards the end just broke my heart for both Cassius and Kyra. And then my heart broke even more for Kyra. If that man doesn't grovel for her in the next book I swear....
I don't know why I saw this author pair and just automatically assumed it was a Why Choose, but did eventually figure that out about 100 pages in.
Anyway...it was lovely and fun writing, just like you'd expect from this duo. The world building was hefty, the character development was hefty, this was a BEAST of a book to get through and maybe probably could have just been two books instead and I would have felt less annoyed. Overall, I liked it, but I didn't love it and the payoff didn't feel worth it for the sheer length and amount of bullshit about Darius' face I had to put up with.
Also....the scene towards the end just broke my heart for both Cassius and Kyra. And then my heart broke even more for Kyra. If that man doesn't grovel for her in the next book I swear....
The Twisted Sisters have done it AGAIN. Breaking my heart and total capturing my full attention. BUT WHY DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GO RITE FOR ANYONE
Let me start with I am obsessed with ZA and RB, DP is up next on my TBR. I generally love the sister’s writing style. Also, I never write reviews. I give stars and move on, and it takes a lot for me to give 1 star. I almost DNF, and I have only done that with 2 books ever. It took me 10 days to read. Anyway…
I don’t think this has spoilers, but just in case I’ll mark it that way.
The Aladdin, Drake, is just plain unlikable. He is supposed to be morally gray, but I see no light. I like a good the bad guys gets the girl trope, but Drake absolutely does not do it for me. Stop talking about how hot and good in bed you are. It feels like he is trying too hard. The Abu/Raja side kick is Darius with morals and should be the hero but is given the sister’s painfully tragic story instead. Jasmine, Austyn, is meh. Also the name grates me. It doesn’t fit the world. It’s a 2020 millennial baby name. The Jafar and Genie are the only interesting characters so they get the 1 star.
I don’t think this has spoilers, but just in case I’ll mark it that way.
The Aladdin, Drake, is just plain unlikable. He is supposed to be morally gray, but I see no light. I like a good the bad guys gets the girl trope, but Drake absolutely does not do it for me. Stop talking about how hot and good in bed you are. It feels like he is trying too hard. The Abu/Raja side kick is Darius with morals and should be the hero but is given the sister’s painfully tragic story instead. Jasmine, Austyn, is meh. Also the name grates me. It doesn’t fit the world. It’s a 2020 millennial baby name. The Jafar and Genie are the only interesting characters so they get the 1 star.
This is the first book by the sisters that I didn't love and the lowest rating zivhave given any of their books as everything so far has been 5 stars.
This was a big book and there was too much but too little.
Too much of how much Drake loved himself. Practically every chapter included him mentioning how handsome women & men thought him, how big his 🐓was and how women would fall it his feet.
In a Kingdom of God's & Ruin, Kyra was a feisty badass and willing to sacrifice herself for her sister. In this she was only willing to do anything to stay out of the coin. I still haven't managed to figure out how long she had actually been trapped in the coin since she was last controlled by a "master".
There was not enough of the FMC Austyn, that essentially the whole book is based around. We got very few chapters from her POV. There was also very little interaction between her and Drake.
It was only the last three or four chapters that actually had me hooked throughout the whole book.
I can normally read one of the sisters books in 2-3 days (outside of working). This has taken me 12 days to make myself get through it.
I will read the next book, when it comes out, purely because of the cliffhanger ending we got
This was a big book and there was too much but too little.
Too much of how much Drake loved himself. Practically every chapter included him mentioning how handsome women & men thought him, how big his 🐓was and how women would fall it his feet.
In a Kingdom of God's & Ruin, Kyra was a feisty badass and willing to sacrifice herself for her sister. In this she was only willing to do anything to stay out of the coin. I still haven't managed to figure out how long she had actually been trapped in the coin since she was last controlled by a "master".
There was not enough of the FMC Austyn, that essentially the whole book is based around. We got very few chapters from her POV. There was also very little interaction between her and Drake.
It was only the last three or four chapters that actually had me hooked throughout the whole book.
I can normally read one of the sisters books in 2-3 days (outside of working). This has taken me 12 days to make myself get through it.
I will read the next book, when it comes out, purely because of the cliffhanger ending we got
Annnnd I’m out. And I think I’m done with the twisted sisters (gasp!!!). Their endings are just not worth this level of torture. If you’ve been on the fence about reading this because you’ve endured the psychological warfare of some of their other series…then save yourself. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, take the blue pill and remain blissfully unaware of this book.
Where do I even begin? These characters are excruciatingly awful. This is supposed to be a retelling of Aladdin? Let’s break this down, then….
Princess Jasmine // Princess Austyn
Oh no, another princess lamenting about being trapped in a gilded cage. This girl is so boring. Oh did we mention that she’s A VEILED MAIDEN????? Which brings me to….
Aladdin pt. 1 // Cassius
It’s like they split the character of Aladdin into 2 annoying entities. Cassius (or Casteelius Lazaro Da'Neer as I am referring to him) - who also goes by CAS are you even fucking with me right now - is the royal guard who just won’t quit. His blind allegiance to his empire is completely aggravating and downright campy, especially at the end. I did feel bad for him with that ending (no spoilers). So he’s the “good” side of Aladdin.
Aladdin pt. 2 // Drake
The “street rat” part of Aladdin - this guy is the literal fucking worst piece of shit I have ever tortured my eyeballs with. All of his POV chapters center on his overwhelmingly inflated ego - he’s hot, he has a huge cock, he has a “sex affinity”, he’s the best thief, oh, and he only gives a shit about himself. By his 2nd POV chapter, I was over it. I love a cocky alpha-hole but USUALLY there are maybe 1 or 2 positive moral values for us to hold on to? Not Drake. There’s not one single redeeming quality about him. Please, sir, show yourself to the nearest trash can.
Genie // Kyra
The only mildly interesting character, and it’s because she’s an absolute crackpot who’s been locked up alone for so long she’s lost her grip on reality.
Jafar // Magdor
I dunno, some evil empress who is most definitely the priestess of some ancient goddess of death & destruction, and she’s using her creepy Jafar powers to hold sway & influence over the emperor. She’s such a cliche, I thought I might give myself a brain aneurysm from rolling my eyes so hard.
The big enchanted tiger head in the desert // some dragon
She came out of nowhere but spits prophecies and curses out, so, yeah. She’s the big tiger head.
So yeah, there’s our cast. As other reviews mention, the pacing of this is beyond terrible. Sure, we need to understand the characters, their motivations, do some world-building. But not 60% of the book!!! And it was all so repetitive…I almost quit 93485012384 times just from having to read how much Drake wants to suck his own dick. Honestly, this whole book just felt like a word count competition. NO THANKS.
I have done nothing but try to bleach my fucking brain from the memory of reading this.
Where do I even begin? These characters are excruciatingly awful. This is supposed to be a retelling of Aladdin? Let’s break this down, then….
Princess Jasmine // Princess Austyn
Oh no, another princess lamenting about being trapped in a gilded cage. This girl is so boring. Oh did we mention that she’s A VEILED MAIDEN????? Which brings me to….
Aladdin pt. 1 // Cassius
It’s like they split the character of Aladdin into 2 annoying entities. Cassius (or Casteelius Lazaro Da'Neer as I am referring to him) - who also goes by CAS are you even fucking with me right now - is the royal guard who just won’t quit. His blind allegiance to his empire is completely aggravating and downright campy, especially at the end. I did feel bad for him with that ending (no spoilers). So he’s the “good” side of Aladdin.
Aladdin pt. 2 // Drake
The “street rat” part of Aladdin - this guy is the literal fucking worst piece of shit I have ever tortured my eyeballs with. All of his POV chapters center on his overwhelmingly inflated ego - he’s hot, he has a huge cock, he has a “sex affinity”, he’s the best thief, oh, and he only gives a shit about himself. By his 2nd POV chapter, I was over it. I love a cocky alpha-hole but USUALLY there are maybe 1 or 2 positive moral values for us to hold on to? Not Drake. There’s not one single redeeming quality about him. Please, sir, show yourself to the nearest trash can.
Genie // Kyra
The only mildly interesting character, and it’s because she’s an absolute crackpot who’s been locked up alone for so long she’s lost her grip on reality.
Jafar // Magdor
I dunno, some evil empress who is most definitely the priestess of some ancient goddess of death & destruction, and she’s using her creepy Jafar powers to hold sway & influence over the emperor. She’s such a cliche, I thought I might give myself a brain aneurysm from rolling my eyes so hard.
The big enchanted tiger head in the desert // some dragon
She came out of nowhere but spits prophecies and curses out, so, yeah. She’s the big tiger head.
So yeah, there’s our cast. As other reviews mention, the pacing of this is beyond terrible. Sure, we need to understand the characters, their motivations, do some world-building. But not 60% of the book!!! And it was all so repetitive…I almost quit 93485012384 times just from having to read how much Drake wants to suck his own dick. Honestly, this whole book just felt like a word count competition. NO THANKS.
I have done nothing but try to bleach my fucking brain from the memory of reading this.
With all the mixed reviews surrounding Zodiac Academy, I didn't expect to like ZA, but I did. While I'm not finished with the story, I found it humorous and fun. Not perfect, but something great to read when you just need a pick-up or entertainment - a guilty pleasure. Since ZA is so big and long, I like to take breaks before continuing the next book. I thought it'd be a good idea to do that with another book by Peckham and was excited to try this one. Sadly it is no where near the entertainment/fun story line I expected.
To begin - the characters in this book were a mess and it is sad because the story had so much potential. No chemistry between any of them and all the humor was just mitigated to sex jokes by one character - Drake. The rest of the characters were pretty one-dimensional. The reluctant hero. The clueless damsel. The rebel princess. Evil Step mother/stepson. Beyond there character arcs, they have no redeeming qualities or things that make you understand why they are the way they are.
In terms of plot, I started skimming through this book to be certain it would get better. And it didn't. It was the same thing every single chapter with every single character - again very one dimensional. "You will marry my son", "I want her but can't", "My father is under her spell" "Men are trying to sexually assault one of the characters"
Going through chapter after chapter with the same repetition was tough because the book was already unnecessarily long. Also there was no spice in the book and anything pertaining to sex was very juvenile or immaturely written; it was either written bizarrely or the sex or discussion of sex and genitals was meant to be "funny".
Overall didn't get the vibe that this was an Aladdin retelling except for the genie including who was also a disappointment and was made out to be an airhead despite having been around for years. Will not continue this series but will continue ZA until or if that starts to disappoint too.
To begin - the characters in this book were a mess and it is sad because the story had so much potential. No chemistry between any of them and all the humor was just mitigated to sex jokes by one character - Drake. The rest of the characters were pretty one-dimensional. The reluctant hero. The clueless damsel. The rebel princess. Evil Step mother/stepson. Beyond there character arcs, they have no redeeming qualities or things that make you understand why they are the way they are.
In terms of plot, I started skimming through this book to be certain it would get better. And it didn't. It was the same thing every single chapter with every single character - again very one dimensional. "You will marry my son", "I want her but can't", "My father is under her spell" "Men are trying to sexually assault one of the characters"
Going through chapter after chapter with the same repetition was tough because the book was already unnecessarily long. Also there was no spice in the book and anything pertaining to sex was very juvenile or immaturely written; it was either written bizarrely or the sex or discussion of sex and genitals was meant to be "funny".
Overall didn't get the vibe that this was an Aladdin retelling except for the genie including who was also a disappointment and was made out to be an airhead despite having been around for years. Will not continue this series but will continue ZA until or if that starts to disappoint too.