It’s been a long time since I’ve read this much! I had a lot of catching up to do on my annotated books orders, so I read 10 books. Unfortunately, I’m still behind, but I’ve made some serious progress! Here are my thoughts on these books and a preview of what my August will look like.
July reading wrap-up
Cursed Fates by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is the fifth book in the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book review
Rating: 2.68/5 stars
The trial was the most entertaining thing in the whole series. I wasn’t fond of the rest: clowns aching for each other, having the same conversation for 650 pages, predictability, and victims turning into bullies.
Fated Throne by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
This is the sixth book in the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book review
Rating: 2.86/5 stars
I really struggled with this installment: a 100-page-long jealousy fit, cartoonish villains, no progress, and a seer who predicts everything just to kill any tension.
Heartless Sky by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is the seventh book in the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book review
Rating: 2.18/5 stars
Constant smut and sex jokes, same conversations over and over again resulting in a book still not having started at the 300-page mark. They are so chill you’d never think there’s an actual war going on. And once the plot finally begins, it’s recycling events with different characters. They are really fun to be around, though.
Sorrow and Starlight by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is the eighth book in the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book Review
Rating: 2.36/5 stars
Way too many pointless POVs that don't even last a page, lots of filler to keep the action at the end, and backpedaling more than ever. On the other hand, I did like the use of the media, Seth's humor, which steals the show once again and the expanding world-building.
Restless Stars by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
This is the ninth book in the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book Review
Rating: 3/5 stars
This series shouldn't have had more than six books. This finale drags on and is highly predictable, just like the rest of the books. We’re led to believe there are immense stakes, a war that will determine the fate of the world and all but for 400 pages, nothing happens except people having sex and bonding. All the secondary characters willingly sacrifice themselves, and the Heirs have no trouble giving up the roles they’ve spent their entire lives preparing for, as if that’s realistic. Tharix is the only interesting character if you forget he’s basically Sebastian from The Mortal Instruments.
Of course, there are moving scenes and memorable moments, since that’s the only thing the authors seem interested in. They’re right, since the relationships between the characters are well-developed, but the story itself isn’t original and has been done better elsewhere.
The Big A.S.S Party by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is a novella set between book 5 and book 6 of the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book Review
Rating: 2.95/5 stars
A missed opportunity to really develop Geraldine and Max’s romance aside from sex in my opinion.Beyond the Veil by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Beyond The Veil by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is a novella set between book 8 and book 9 of the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book Review
Rating: 2/5 stars
It was great to learn more about the afterlife in this world, although I found the flashbacks uninteresting and thought it was pointless to have scenes from the books told from the perspective of deceased characters who can’t change anything.
Live and Let Lionel by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Synopsis
This is a novella set between book 8 and book 9 of the Zodiac Academy series.
Get your annotated books of the Zodiac Academy series here
Book Review
Rating: 3/5 stars
The only interesting stories, in my opinion, were the ones about the parents and Seth on the moon. As for the rest, they’re just alternate POVs of memorable scenes. I didn’t think the change in POV added anything, since we got that character’s perspective a few chapters later in the books anyway. We already knew how they felt. To me, it was just redundant. I did, however, really like Lionel’s larger-than-life narration.
Tough Guy by Rachel Reid
Synopsis
This is book 3 in the Game Changers series, including the bestseller Heated Rivalry.
Ryan Price, a hockey enforcer struggling with anxiety, moves to Toronto's LGBTQ+ Village for a fresh start and unexpectedly reunites with Fabian Salah, a hockey-hating musician he almost kissed in high school.
Get your annotated books of the Game Changers series here
Book Review
Rating: 3.30/5 stars
It’s a romance as cute as it's harmless. I loved that there wasn’t too much unnecessary drama, the focus instead being on Ryan and his struggles. His character is actually very well written, with a good portrayal of anxiety and overthinking. Many aspects of their relationship, including Fabian’s personality, help him move forward, a dynamic reinforced by the fact they have known each other since they were teenagers. This is why I would have liked to see a flashback from that time, rather than just being told how they felt about each other back then.
They’re a healthy couple with good communication, and it’s refreshing not to have smut right on the first page. Especially since intimacy was part of the plot itself, as was the fact that Ryan isn’t a hockey star, which makes a nice change from having a main character who’s good at everything for once.
The third act, however, left me a little disappointed. The conflict lasts only a few pages and is resolved by Ilya’s cameo, which is laughable. The reason for the breakup was understandable but not very good, and it gave me the impression the author had them break up just to stick to the romance novel formula.
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Synopsis
This is the second book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
After a summer of battling Greek gods, Percy Jackson hopes for a normal school year, but trouble finds him again when Camp Half-Blood's magical borders are poisoned and his best friend Grover is captured by a Cyclops. Percy and his friends must brave the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece and save the camp before it's destroyed.
Get your annotated books of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series here
Book Review
Rating: 3/5 stars
It’s still easy to read and humorous, although I found the quest to be less meaningful and interesting than the one in the first book. It remains predictable and not very subtle, but that adds to the humor (and means I'm not a child anymore). Finally, the cliffhanger suggests that the real action is just beginning, and I can’t wait!
My fault by Mercedes Ron
Synopsis
My Fault is the first book in Mercedes Ron's Culpable trilogy.
When her mother's cruise marriage to a billionaire uproots Noah from everything she knows, she finds herself thrust into a dangerous L.A. world of street races and lavish parties. There, the biggest threat to her turns out to be her new stepbrother Nick.
Get your annotated books of the Culpables series here
Book Review
Rating: 2/5 stars
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book as Wattpad-esque as this one.
Nick is your typical bad boy stereotype, and Noah swings between being a badass and being infantilized depending on the situation. One day they hate each other, and the next they think they’re soulmates, making out every time they’re alone, which gets pretty repetitive. Just like the fact that he spends his time coming out of nowhere to save her every other day. Very modern. Not to mention the countless times he boasts about her youth and loves to remind everyone just how innocent, pure, and a virgin HIS STEPSISTER is (for reference, she’s 17 and he’s 22.)
There’s nothing very original here, aside from the numerous dramas, each more ridiculous than the last, with extremely quick resolutions. Nick is incredibly toxic and destroys this poor girl’s life while having the audacity to pass it off as love. It’s lust, along with a taste for the forbidden, that drives all his choices, but not much else.Since it’s a romance novel, the author obviously wasn’t going to break up any of the couples, but I would have appreciated that risk and that sense of realism, since it’s obviously a utopian fantasy to think they’re all meant to be together forever.
To quickly compare it to the adaptations made by Amazon Prime, the Spanish version, Culpa Mia, is the closest to the book but, in my opinion, the least effective. My Fault London, on the other hand, corrects many of the flaws, in my opinion. It’s less toxic, and they really seem to care for each other beyond physical attraction.
August TBR
Since I still have some catching up to do on my annotated books, this month is likely to be similar to July in terms of quantity. Here’s what’s on the schedule:
The Into Darkness series by Navessa Allen
Trauma nurse Aly's darkest fantasy becomes reality when a masked stranger, Josh Hammond, shows up in her bedroom after she sends one drunken text, turning their thrilling game of hunter and hunted into obsession. But when a far more sinister figure sets his sights on Aly, Josh must decide just how far he'll go to protect the woman he's fallen for.
Books in Into Darkness series:
- Lights Out
- Caught Up
- Game On
Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Poppy is a chosen Maiden: sheltered, forbidden from all earthly pleasures, and destined to Ascend for the sake of her kingdom. Her carefully controlled life is shattered when a guard named Hawke awakens desires she was never meant to feel as a rising darkness threatens everything around them.
Books in the Blood and Ash series:
- From Blood and Ash
- A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
- The Crown of Gilded Bones
- The War of Two Queens
- A Soul of Ash and Blood
- The Primal of Blood and Bone
The Web of Silence Duet by Leigh Rivers
This is a dark romance duology consisting of the books Little Stranger and Little Liar.
Malachi Vize becomes obsessed with his foster sister Olivia the moment he sees her, but after she sends him to prison, he returns with a desire for revenge.
Happy reading month!
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