Emoji Review by Rebecca Dixon
I just finished reading the first book of the Zodiac Academy series, ‘The Awakening,’ by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti and words CANNOT express my current feelings (although I’ll try to 😜!!!!) SO AMAZING 🙌🏻!
THIS BOOK 🤩🤩🤩!!! OK. First off, if you are not into BULLY ROMANCE … this may not be for you! But!!! Before you stop reading this thinking bully romance is not your jam, just KNOW there can be something super BRILLIANT about a Bully Romance! Especially one done THIS WELL. When the MC (Main Character)… and in the case there are two of them… twins 👯♀️ ! Oh boy 🙌🏻! Or shall I say girl?! 😆 Ok.. so when the MC suffers repeatedly from extreme conditions, harsh realities, brutal treatment, cruel hazing… it just makes us THAT more invested in their impending redemption and vengeance! So that when the tables are FINALLY turned, we are with them EVERY step of the way cheering 🙌🏻, hoo-hawing 🤗, and fist pumping 👊🏻 for their every achievement (no matter how small!) It’s a SERIOUS emotional investment and when done properly, it PAYS OFF!!
So that being said, THIS BOOK IS AMAZING 🤩. Like REALLY AMAZING 🤩🤩🤩. The story is about identical twin girls who grow up in the human world and have a rough go of it all around. They grow up in Foster care and have had to fend for themselves their whole life. Then at 18 years of age, they find out they are Fae changelings (not just any Fae changelings!) and are taken back to the Fae “mirror” world to attend a Hogwartz-like Academy that will help them grow into their powers. But this is no ordinary Academy! It is a doggy-dog world (literally …werewolves 🐺 oh my!) where tough love is the order of the day from the professors and harsh hazing is a never-ending nightmare 😲 from the students!
This plot sounds relatively simple. But I assure you, it is not! There are 4 powerful HOT 🔥🔥🔥🔥 male alphas that are the KINGS of the hazing. We are constantly torn between hating these guys or salivating 🥵 over them!! And they aren’t hazing just to be cruel for the heck of it, they actually have a reason that ties to the overline plotline and is pretty dang intriguing! With each page turned, I was constantly switching out which guy would end up with each girl. I still don’t know who each will end up with 😆! It’s actually one of those rare moments in books where I say… why not both 😁😁😁?! But let me tell you…the romantic angst is HOT🔥! SMOKIN🔥🔥🔥! I mean, I’m a PRN gal and I was eating up the heat throughout this book! One minute I was like OK, LETS DO THIS PEOPLE 💪🏻…. Lets get a ‘Two for One’ going on… BOGO anyone?! 🙌🏻😉😁… and the next minute I HATED the guys and wanted them to go PFF 🌬… RED DUST BABY 😆!!
When a book makes you FEEL this strongly towards the characters and you read over 300 pages in less than 24 hours while working overtime in a full-time job … you know you have struck GOLD. There is no question.. this book is GOLD. This series will probably be in my Best of the Best picks (not just a favorite, but a BOTB!) I am SO EXCITED 🥳🥳🥳 to read the next book in this series! It’s 2:00am in the morning right now and not only did I HAVE to write this review straight away, but I am going to start the next book… NOW!
Oh and hats 🎩 off to these amazing two authors, Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti for making me a die-hard fan with the very first book I’ve read of theirs!!! I think it’s super fitting in this case to quote Theodore Roosevelt on a SUPER job well done and say … “BULLY FOR YOU!” 🙌🏻
