Zodiac by Romina RussellMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
☆ ☆
No spoilers and colorful language abound! I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
DNF at 65% because...
Are you thinking about reading this book? Well, let's just get right down to business, shall we?
WARNING this book contains a love triangle.
WARNING this book contains a speshual 16 year old snowflake goddess out to save the GALAXY.
WARNING this book contains scientific NONSENSE.
WARNING this book is every YA book you've ever hated, but wrapped up in a pretty new facade.
I've always found astrology really interesting, it's something I've read a lot about, I don't believe it holds any water but it's entertaining as hell. Out of all the books I got at BEA this was one of the few I was most excited about, because duh. I put this book down about two weeks ago, and have had zero desire to pick it up since. You know why? Because I know how it's going to end, and I just can't fucking do it. I know who she is going to pick in the love triangle disaster, and I can't stand. I know how this is going to end, and I don't give a crap.
Here is an idea, how about you YA authors stop peddling the same fucking garbage story, and come up with something new. How about instead of the blonde, controlling, "I will always save you" guy getting the girl, maybe she picks the one who ENCOURAGES HER TO BE HERSELF, the one who challenges her, the one who makes her think, the one who makes her feel invigorated and alive for fucking once? I know it's a pipe dream but every time I pick up one of these books I think this might be the one, the one who says "fuck you" to the YA standards and writes a protagonist with some self worth.
Not this time.
The world building is pretty fantastic, most of the time. It's far and away the best part of this book, and it almost makes up for lack of an actually interesting plot. So once upon who-knows-when Earth died out. Then there were the 12 immortal guides of the Zodiac or something... and they abandoned their immortality to created/inhabit their own... planet/s/moons/thing... and somehow the people of this planet embody the attributes of their astrological sign. Honestly, it was a bunch of nonsense, but because the author doesn't spend too much time establishing this, it's easy to gloss over, sort of. I mean, the simple trick here would have to disassociated these people of this galaxy from Earth as we know it, just make a new universe and all of this stuff would have made a heap more sense. I tried really hard to put it all together in my mind and decided that I didn't actually care anymore, and stopped.
The author hits her stride creating these worlds, first we meet Cancer and her moons, then Gemini, then Virgo, and so on. It's detailed, it's beautifully written, it's complex, it's the golden heart of this book. I'd even go so far as to say, if this kind of YA plot doesn't irk you, it's possible you might love this.
Although they are all human, as we might understand, they are in fact each a unique race of people with it's own science, social structure, and values, it's completely fascinating. If I were to ever pick up this book again, it would be to see the rest of this incredible universe the author created.
I cannot read this story anymore, and by this story, I mean the same thing YA authors have been peddling since the dawn of time. It needs to stop.
Love the Xmas gif!! I totally agree with most YA authors needing to stop pandering to the masses for money's sake. Oh my, did I just say that? Why on Earth would they continue to churn out these extruded storylines? One prime example is Talon, and I am afraid the the remarks I made about the book around the blogosphere, and in my Goodreads mini-review, have driven a stake between me and my feature co-host blogging buddy, more than anything I have ever said about her beloved Twilight. Anyway, I have never read any of Julie Kawaga's other books, and I know a lot of her fans had a problem with this book, but it is plain and simply a word vomit to make money. First of all it was sold to her Fantasy fans as a Fantasy story, but all it is is a Contemporary, with two characters who can change into dragons if they were allowed. The pivotal word is "allowed" because they might as well be just normal human teens because they are never allowed to change form. What makes me angry is she paints American teens as vacant, greedy ,and basically useless. Ugh, how many times can a MC roll their eyes, tilt their head, and say some guy is "really cute"? Some of the younger bloggers say I want too much from YA books because I am older, but I say that YA authors should feel some responsibility to write stories with substance. I just got in an argument with one new YA author on Twitter because she said she wasn't going to write anymore YA books because she doesn't make enough money!! Yeah, can you believe that? I am tired of crap books being spotlighted, "BLASTED" and "BLITZED", and my biggest gripe, street team hyped, when the bloggers haven't even read the book yet; causing a book buying frenzy for junk YA, while fabulous YA sits around until the author doesn't get picked up for their next book.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that gif just GOLD? Eeeeep - I was beyond excited about Talon, Julie is one of the most down to earth authors that I've had the pleasure of meeting, and DRAGONS (which are sort of my thing)… but then I saw some of the reviews coming in and held off… I'm sorry to see you and your co-blogger disagree BUT isn't that a unique blog concept? YA hater vs YA lover? Dueling POV's with two reviews per book! It could be an interesting take to see what you both like and dislike - and publish both. Friendly banter and such can be very fun to read!
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