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Spoiler-Free Blog

Alright, folks. We’ve all seen this fantasy Fae bully romance bouncing around in the online book world. It’s a series that is currently sitting at a whopping 8 books and counting, so the question is: is it worth it?

The answer is…it depends. Let’s dive in.

Premise:

This book follows twins Tory and Darcy, who’ve only just aged out of the foster system. Their world is turned upside down when a man interrupts their routine and announces that they are, in fact, Fae changelings. Not only are they not human, but they’re heirs to a Fae throne.

The man whisks them away from their impoverished life and drops them at Zodiac Academy, a collegiate academy where Fae learn to master their elemental powers.

So begins a journey for Tory and Darcy fending off bullies, discovering their unknown familial past, and establishing their new home while also trying to uncover the truth about some mysterious deaths happening around them (and potentially a threat to their own lives).

I gave it 3 stars.

Let me break it down for you. This book has:

• 1-star writing
• 3-star plot
• 5-star entertainment

What do I mean by 1-star writing?

The honest truth is this book felt like a draft. As if maybe it got a once-over, and that was that.

The writing needs work on two levels:

• On a line-editing level, it needs several proofreads—there were grammatical mistakes (missing commas and sometimes other punctuation), typos and misspellings, and even one reference to Downton Abbey as “Downtown Abbey”
• From a higher level perspective, the awkward and repetitive sentence structure needs to be addressed, as well as the unnecessary exposition

Personally, I preferred Tory’s POV. I found the flow in Darcy’s chapters a little more awkward, whether it was the sentences themselves or something about the way the characters moved or behaved that didn’t quite land for me.

What do I mean by 3-star plot?

There was little in the way of a true story arc, let alone character arcs. This book mainly served as an intro point, learning the world and magic system, with a couple make-out scenes.

Side note: if you’re going into this book for the bully romance, prepare to experience more bullying than romance in book 1. 

I was still engaged and found Tory and Darcy to be interesting characters to follow. Things moved along just fast enough to keep me interested, though I felt I had to just go along with things at times. 

What do I mean by 5-star entertainment?

This book was entertaining in a trashy way and I am not ashamed. I would call it a guilty pleasure, but I am guilty with none of my pleasures.

It probably helped that I went in with low expectations.

The romance scenes were usually titillating, which was a main draw. The worldbuilding was intriguing and the politics were interesting. It was deliciously tropey and full of hot people.

Was is realistic? No. Did I want it to be? Also no.

So, should you read it?

Maybe. If your answer to the following questions is yes, then probably.

• Do you enjoy bully romance?
• Can you overlook poor writing in favor of an interesting story?
• Do you usually read books like this?
• Are you into books with multiple hot male love interests?
• Do you enjoy betrayal and conflict with a little bit of mystery?
• Do you like books with just a tinge of spice that doesn’t overtake the plot?
• Do you like slow-burn, will-they/won’t-they?
• Do you like to support indie authors?

If your answer to any of those questions was no, then I recommend passing on this one.

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This is book 1 in the Zodiac Academy series. Check out my other reviews in the series:

• Book 2: Ruthless Fae
• Book 3: The Reckoning
• Book 4: Shadow Princess

Update 3/6/23: I DNF’d this series in book 4.