Tag: Young Adult Fairy Tales

The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy #3) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on October 21, 2024 by - Book Review

Well, this was the one that broke the camel’s back. I’m done with this series taking up any more of my time, and I have no earthly idea why this series got popular.

I was really hoping, by book three, that some sort of writing improvement might have started to develop. No dice. Ms. Peckham and Ms. Valenti could really benefit from having an editor look at their work. Books one, two, and three could have been a single novel with some moderately decent pacing instead of clones of one another. All of this shit and each book covers the span of about a week each?!?!

I know that the intention is to make Tory and Darcy seem like progressive strong young women, but there is far too much willing subjugation for that to hold any water. The flingy flip-flopping over the Heirs is just so incredibly cringe. These aren’t much more than re-hashings of the Gor books.

I’ve been told that the later books “get better,” but I wonder what the bar is. I won’t be finding out because I’ve already wasted far too much time on this drivel.

Such promise squandered on shitty writing, shitty character development, and a total lack of pacing. I’m sure the fan-fic is far superior to the source material.

Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy #2) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on October 18, 2024 by - Book Review

My god, why do I keep reading these books. I was really hoping for a bit of an improvement from the first book, but that just didn’t happen. If anything, the ridiculous extremes from the first book magnified here. The heirs are still dicks, only now they are just that much more dickish! The poor Vega twins are still rattled and confused and slide right into their victim roles despite showing slight sign of the toughness and independence they claim they are based in.

I think what bugs me the most about this series is the pacing. I churn through loads of pages, but barely any time passes, and nothing really goes on. Half of this book could have ended up on the editor’s floor (I’m making a bold assumption that there was an editor at all), and the story would have been unaffected.

Ahh, but this book does have something that the first doesn’t: more violence against women, more role manipulation, more racism, and more inappropriate posturing.

I honestly don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it through this entire series. If it wasn’t for the other books that I’m reading concurrently, I would have already abandoned this folly. At this point, I guess all I have to look forward to is seeing if it’s the Vegas or heirs who crack first, and to see who dies (someone better die).

The Awakening (Zodiac Academy #1) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

Posted on September 25, 2024 by - Book Review

I am reading this series because a very dear friend of mine suggested I check them out. She warned me that they would probably make me angry — she was correct — but I’m going to get through this drivel if it kills me.

Darcy and Tory Vega are twins who were apparently swapped with human children by their royal Fae family as babies to protect them. Now that they have been found by the Fae, they return to that realm to learn to tame their fantastic powers at the Zodiac Academy. The thing is, though, there are four ruling houses headed up by “The Heirs” who will take control of the realm since the ruling family was gone. The twins’ return threatens that. Broody hilarity ensues.

I guess I should start out with what I find wrong right off the bat. First, off, the girls have their Fae names of Gwendalina and Roxanya. Nobody ever questioned which one was which, and that drives me bonkers.

Second, “The Heirs” are total jerks, but Tory and Darcy go between loathing and loving them. This books rife with situations where one of the twins is being literally tortured, but oohing and aahing over their torturer’s chiseled abs or plump lips. It’s maddening to me.

There is some intrigue that I find interesting. Yes, the twins are overpowered and, per the formula, don’t have control of their powers. In fact, they don’t even know what “Order” of Fae they might be. I imagine that will pop up in an important passage in a later book. I also did appreciate that Ms. Peckham and Ms. Valenti set these characters as a tad older than this typical fare from other authors. It made some of the situations and experiences a tad more plausible.

The one thing that bugged me the most was how rapey everything surrounding “The Heirs” is. I mean these guys are on a serious power trip, and it always seems to go threateningly sexual. Can’t they just be mean?

Yes, I’m in for the long haul with this series just because there has to be some sort of redemption arc somewhere in there. If not, I’ll roast more of them.

Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Posted on June 10, 2021 by - Book Review

I feel like I was well into my adult years before truly appreciating the warmth and familiarity of fables, fairy tales and folklore. I find this funny because in my life and studies as a young man, I was very much entrenched in several very rich cultural traditions of story telling and lore.

Regardless, the genres now hold a very dear place in my heart and Ms. Poston really scratches that itch with Among the Beasts & Briars.

This is the tale of the Kingdom of Aloriya: a place of perfect wonder with no drought or disease, and a happy population looked over by a magical royal bloodline to prevent the horrors of the woods from overtaking them.

Our protagonist, Cerys, is the daughter of the Royal Gardener and best friends with the soon to be queen: Princess Arwen. Cerys also hides a very special gift that should only be able to be wielded by the royal family: she can do magic.

As Arwen stands ready to be coronated Queen, things get really interesting as the monsters and magicks of the woods attack. Escaping with barely her wits and the magical crown of Aloriya, Cerys runs into the woods to attempt to find the hidden city of Voryn and possible help from the magical Lady of the Wilds.

This story has some incredibly tense moments. There are some major themes of trust and bravery, along with what I read into a xenophobia. With a storyline that relies heavily on the impending doom of Cerys — and her traveling companions — being overtaken by the horrors in the woods, the story gets a little stress-y, but in that “I’m just going to keep flipping pages” way.

The thing that makes Among the Beasts & Briars so great to me is the consistency with which the story and settings develop and unfold. I love a good book with a map in the front because that tells me that the author has thought about the bigger aspects of their created world, and possibly considered what the ramifications of their storytelling might wreak on the bigger picture.

Most importantly, and it really takes a good portion of the novel to get there, Among the Beasts & Briars is a story about redemption and trust. Yes, there is some predictability in how the story unfolds, but that, for me, is a comforting aspect in a fairy tale. The dawn after the harrowing night is the reward.

I really do hope Ms. Poston has some more stories hidden in the depths of Vaiyl. I feel there is so much more potential.