Emoji Review by Rebecca Dixon
I finished reading the fifth book of the Zodiac Academy series, โCursed Fates,โ by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti and whereas with the previous book I needed an emergency heart ๐ transplantโฆ STATโ๏ธ! โฆ THIS BOOK ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉโฆ. mannnnnnnโฆ. forget the transplant! I need a crash ๐ฅ ๐ cart people!!! It was soooooo BRUTAL ๐ญ (but ok still AMAZING ๐คฉ๐)โฆ that I actually had to take 24 hrs to simmer ๐ฅด down before I wrote this review! If you have read it, youโll know what I mean! There are no major spoilers below FYI!
OK. So I have to address one thing first! When you get this bookโฆ your basically getting a BOGO deal ๐ ! This book is SUPER long ๐ and is LOADED with alllll kinds of stuff ๐๐๐ฅฐ๐๐คฉ๐๐๐ค๐๐ค! I actually made a bulleted list as I was reading and I seriously couldnโt believe ๐ฒ when I finished the book HOW MUCH happened!!! Tons of character development! TONS ๐ . The multiple POVs are going STRONG ๐ช๐ป in this book. We learn SO much about so MANY characters! And the humor ๐๐ป! So many really GREAT ๐๐ป , FUNNY ๐ scenes! Most people talk about this book for the ending (and donโt you worry, Iโll get to that and somehow not spoil it at the same time ๐.) But there are actually some really GREAT ๐๐ป , SATISFYING ๐ scenes in this book (I should know, I have a bulleted list ๐!) If you thought A.S.S. was funny ๐, WAIT until you read about a new club that is formed ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ! Or how about a certain lilac reveal that was a long time in the making, but just made your heart so happy ๐ and full ๐๐๐! Or an Orb scene where a certain faeroid induced lady gets whatโs coming to her ๐๐ป ! Or how about a scene that is ALL about NOTHING. Sooooooo gooooood ๐๐ป!!!
Thereโs also some GREAT steam ๐ฅ in this book!! If you were daydreaming ๐ถโ๐ซ๏ธ about a certain possibility (think a certain brand of red wine ๐ท as a clue ๐,) you may be completely stroked (err, I mean STOKED ๐๐) to find out dreams โจ may just be reality ๐๐ป! And there are some super tender ๐ and YESSSSS ๐๐ป moments where the ending of Book 4 isnโt quite so bad anymore! Like now that Iโve read about morning jogs ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ , coffee โ๏ธ , and chocolate ๐ซ โฆ Iโm almost happy about choices made in Book 4!!! Thereโs some courting going on that is super sweet and if things had turned out the way WE ALL WANTED THEM TO in Book 4 (cough cough looking ๐ at you Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti ๐!,) we wouldnโt have these SUPER LOVEABLE ๐ฅฐ moments in Book 5! But perhaps the BEST moment in this book was when certain characters were honestโฆ FINALLYโฆ and admitted to the possibility of FOREVER ๐๐๐. Considering their track record, this was a pretty monumental moment!! ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
So there were some really, REALLY great scenes in this book! Lots of awesome stuff to enjoy ๐๐ป! But whatโs that sayingโฆ do you want the good news first or the bad ๐คญ?! Welp! I made the executive decision to give you the good stuff first to soften the blow of the COMPLETE AGONY ๐ฉ of this book! And Iโd LOVE to tell you itโs JUST ONE of our girls ๐ธ that has a pretty BRUTAL ๐ฉ turn of events happen to her! But Iโd be fibbing ๐ฌ to you if I did! Ok WAIT โ๐ป, sometimes denial is the best defense, so letโs just pretend and deny-away, shall we ๐? I actually posted my preference for Book 5โs ending (as just a silly ๐คช funny and well, as a way to SURVIVE ๐ช๐ป the HEARTACHE ๐!) But mannnnnnn, itโs ROUGH ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ. Our poor characters sure do get a beating ๐๐ป! But you know what I always say about a bully romance??? When done WELLโฆ. the bullying may be BRUTAL ๐ญโฆ but when the tables turn, IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!! And thatโs how I feel about this book! Is it brutal? YES ๐๐ป . Is it fair? NO ๐๐ป. Is it agony? YES ๐๐ป. Do you want to punch ๐ค๐ป some bad ๐ฟ guys in the face and hope they fall in a manhole? YES ๐๐ป YES ๐๐ป YES ๐๐ป ๐. But just as itโs heartbreaking ๐ , itโs also HOPEFUL ๐. The final chapter is PERFECT. Where there is darkness, there is light ๐. And to see certain charactersโฆ FINALLYโฆ get the big picture TOGETHERโฆ itโs just feels like it was written in the stars โจ.
So another big SHOUT OUT to Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti for another great book! And with that, Iโll end with a super fitting quote by Theodore Roosevelt and say to these two authors who have now become a part of my all time favs โฆ โBULLY FOR YOU!โ