ZODIAC ACADEMY IS BAD

[@cidevant002]

... Solaria is the name of one of the kingdoms of the Winx universe, the one Stella, one of the protagonists, is a princess of. Winx is a show about a teenage girl who discover she is a fairy and goes to a fairy academy on a magical dimension. She was raised by human parents too. This is literally Winx fanfiction.

[@carolkoski4875]

with a hint of Victorious apparently, since the protagonist is literally named Tory Vega

[@teodorapetkovic]

OH MY GOD... I gasped out loud, that's literally what it is.

[@cymbelinesgf]

AND ZENITH TOO which is Tecna's home planet, the fact it's so blatant is just embarrassing

[@katarina7520]

also vampire academy, vampires can control one of 5 elements and the main vampire can do all

[@KamenRiderFeline]

OMFG I totally forgot that Winx exists so I thought about High Guardian Spice first this makes so much more sense

[@esmeybe5727]

Wait so one of the twins is named Tori…. and their last name is Vega…. make it shine ig

[@megarakadmea]

So I guess the other one is automatically Trina. I would have expected her to be the one stealing motorcycles.

[@angies8717]

And solaria... that gives me hardcore winx vibes. 😅

[@amesstarline5482]

It really is Early 2010s Nickelodeon the story.

[@SarahAbramova]

Yup

[@SarahAbramova]

@@angies8717 jeez, 2 of my childhood fav shows.

[@chelonianmobile]

Bully romance is just so weird to me - who, when reaching college age, still behaves like this?

[@nierzh620]

unfortunately the dorm across from mine had a bunch of girls who still very much acted like high school bully caricatures... girl code and everything.

[@Sai0912]

Same, never get the hype

[@Jasmine270]

Are you telling me we have a character called "Tori Vega" in this book and we're still expected to take this seriously

[@charlesintune]

I stopped listening after realizing her name was Tori Vega

[@WhitneyDahlin]

I think WE'RE ALL talented

[@sadgirlhours4088]

@@charlesintune I'm so confused. Why is tori Vega so stand out as a name?

[@charlesintune]

@@sadgirlhours4088 the kids TV show "Victorious"

[@inmyopinionithink]

@@sadgirlhours4088It’s the name of the main character in Victorious

[@irinakermong1217]

The funniest thing about people recommending these books is that they all go "I promise it gets better by book 4 or 5!" When all the books are 600 pages at the very least.

[@platedlizard]

If it’s not good by page ten I’m returning the book and crossing the author off my list lmao

[@Emmatriaaa]

A whole new meaning to “I ain’t reading all that.”

[@rose_and_thorns]

Kinda wish the Zodiac Academy was called that because it was run by the Zodiac Killer and then this would be a standalone because everyone would be dead at the end

[@ReadswithRachel]

Damn, I wish

[@Travelling_with_my_dog]

LOL

[@platedlizard]

That sounds like a much better book

[@HoneyBun44]

Ooo! Imma write that down!

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

okay, i need this book. lol.

[@skyblade7438]

Y'know, the cliche elemental powers is made even worse when you consider they could have had powers based on the Zodiac. And the girls are twins, meaing they could have powers related to Gemini.

[@ReadswithRachel]

ITS DUCH A WASTE WTF

[@Banuna]

It would have been cool if they did something where they both had different elements but due to their twin connection or whatever, they’re able to access each other’s elements as well when they’re nearby or something… would have been wayyyyy better than just making them Mary sues and calling it a day

[@katharineeavan9705]

Honestly I think restricted and well-themed powers are a much more interesting dynamic than "the one person who can do everything". Even the Avatars have a base element they learned first or grew up in the culture of, and which usually defines some kind of conflict with learning the opposite element. Just giving a protagonist ALL THE POWERS completely unearned is lazy and boring. I'd restrict them to air (Gemini is an air sign) and then maybe play with the twin thing by giving them two opposite characteristics of air magic that build and reflect their characters as individuals, and maybe cause some kind of conflict or angst. Give one more physical powers and the other more intangible ones, have one twin be better at it than the other, be stronger or have more control, or really lean into a "hurricane vs summer breeze" dynamic, or have their powers linked in such a way that only one twin at a time can use their full potential, but they can use all of it if they cast together in perfect sync. Literally ANYTHING that might actually help drive some character development or plot here... Could also be something in there evoking the myth of the Gemini. Give one or both St Elmos fire as a signature power. Have the twins they were swapped with reappear and play the Idas and Lynceus to their Castor and Pollux and have the other twins be enraged at being told they aren't the real princesses and so aren't heirs or even fairies themselves despite having been raised as such. Have the human twins be engaged to two of the four heirs for political marriages since they were kids or something, and the four heirs thing is the two engaged ones deciding whether to back their existing fiances and deny the fairy twins' identites to try to keep their advantage or to try to get new engagements with the real princesses, while the other two heirs who had been set to lose out due to the OG engagements scramble to get an arrangement or agreement with the real princesses. Meanwhile other forces choose which twins to back, and the human twins, who have no powers but were actually raised in fairy politics, do everything they can to keep their standing and undermine the fairy twins. There. You have a plot that is thematically based around the actual Zodiac, mythological twins, and the politics and power of claiming and defining your identity. A story that could easily work with a bully romance as well as be broken down into standalone mini-arcs for separate books, while not messing with pretty much any of the bare bones from the book as Rachel described except for the universal magic thing.

[@hanzquejano7112]

If you aren't familiar yet, Lucy from Fairy Tail has zodiac powers. She literally summons the zodiacs and a few minor constellations.

[@Pandachu123]

I had this exact thought!! You'd think that a book with the title of the Zodiac Academy, it would have something to do with the ACTUAL ZODIAC. Like Fruits Basket!

[@hunniedpeaches]

Honestly at this point when booktok recommends a fantasy book I avoid it at all costs 😂

[@ReadswithRachel]

Wise choice

[@chelsey8737]

I avoid nearly every book booktok recommends. I've only read Red, White and Royal Blue and I loved it but thats where it ends.

[@upsetstudios1819]

I hadn't read anything since my Wattpad phase when I found booktok, but I gotta say: I loved ACOTAR. It's trash, but it's the cheesy, sexy kind of trash a woman can enjoy on a Saturday night

[@herewegoagain4033]

I liked the ruby dixon sires. Still read her books

[@psychott6]

@@upsetstudios1819 same honestly, but i found ACOTAR before booktok

[@kerriecarsey288]

Teacher here. "Who cares if he's her teacher? They're in love!" Excuse me? NO. And the entire premise of the non-con abuse is "fae will be fae. Someday you'll learn to fight back." Excusemeagain? NOagain.

[@sarahbevc2434]

"Each book in a series should stand on its own" Yeeessssss, yes, a thousand times yes. Don't treat your readers to such obvious marketing ploys. Your first book isn't good, I won't read the next one.

[@ReadswithRachel]

exactly

[@eleanordecker2810]

Honestly. Like hello, I'm not here to be strung along, I'm here to READ A STORY. And if I happen to like it, then I will willingly read it's counterparts.

[@StealingSunsets]

I understand the point of “each book should stand on its own”, but all of the fans acknowledge that the first book sucks. So if you WANT to give the series a shot, you simply have to read the second book. Otherwise you’re just looking to hate on it for the sake of hating on it bc again, the first book is universally hated by everyone.

[@jessv797]

The one comment about this book that stuck with me was, “if you read the first three it gets better after” excuse me? It shouldn’t take that long till it’s good

[@JHyde-tv3if]

I tried to read Twilight in middle school, I was so bored at 19 pages. Someone said "It get's good after like chapter four" Sorry that's TOO LONG. It should grip me from the first few pages.

[@argyle5906]

I'm a Homestuck fan. Most fans, when recommending Homestuck suggest to skip the first five acts and I'm just like. "No, the first five acts are actually pretty good, you can't just skip to the trolls because you like the trolls shut up."

[@y9khvad]

in my opinion, every writer’s imagination and efforts for writing the story is valid but without criticism there is no way to success, ”nooo your are bullying the author!!” ”it is a good book!!” then put a whole ass 5 star on books like this and the pawn and the puppet.

[@OKDL]

So, I'm writing an actual overly extensive Harry Potter fanfiction right now because I'm bored and, frankly, have no life. I sit in my bed for HOURS wracking my brain over making sure I keep things consistent, that I never drop anything I won't pick back up again later, having jokes that make sense, ect ect ect. And these real authors... Real, published authors... Put less care into their own work. Oh my gods. I'm genuinely amazed.

[@BitchlessWitch]

Maybe hire Rachel at the end as a proofreader :)

[@h4nnalolz]

How's the fanfic going?

[@grandmabecky7984]

Drop the fic plzz

[@26349]

So her name is Tori Vega, just like the main character of the show Victorious, and the planet is called Solaria, just like in a Winx Club cartoon, the planet where the Sun fairy Stella is from and a princess of??? The author of the book had no imagination and was too lazy to even change names a bit. Boring.

[@Nagataeatscorn]

Dont forget Darci lol

[@valerieysabel123]

Love how Solaria is probably stolen from Winx as well😂

[@EllieVader8]

The whole concept reminds me of winx 😂

[@JulianGreystoke]

100%

[@CaffeineWords]

“Poor rendition of Winx with twins” sounds more apt than a HP comparison.

[@salmaa.6363]

I swear I thought about that! 🤣 I have not read the book, but I was like: "Isn’t it the name of Stella’s kingdom in Winx Club?"

[@paradoxal-chaos2678]

I came here to the comments to see if anyone else pointed that out too 💀

[@Darkthestral1]

Personally watching Twitches for the 30th time is a better option for a fix of "magic twins sent to our world from a magical world find out their princesses with vaugly celestial themed powers"

[@ReadswithRachel]

I LOVE TWITCHES!!!

[@chelscara]

My mom still remembers Twitches, it was just too good

[@Teajay21]

Did you ever read the Twitches books?

[@Darkthestral1]

@Teajay21 I had no idea there were books! Are they good?

[@anacecilia1387]

The rainbow "thanks I hate it" animation is a nice touch, considering we just started pride month.

[@ReadswithRachel]

I’m Pansexual 365 days a year but I really turn up the volume every June.

[@emackenzie]

"I don't read 1-4 and then rate them" THANK YOU. I'm so tired of people acting like you have to read an entire series to even judge the first book. A book review is a _book_ review, not a _series_ review. Thinking a book can't be judged without the rest of the series to back it up really shows how strong (read: weak) that person thinks the book is.

[@dragonfire7965]

As funny as the concept of a Professor Pyro who teaches fire magic is… I am someone named Mars who’s planning to be an Astronomy/astrophysics professor someday so-

[@kit922]

You won the "name came first" challenge.

[@alisaurus4224]

That’s called an aptonym!

[@Weirdanimalboy]

I’ve met veterinarians named Dr. Wolf and Dr. Barker 🧍🏾‍♂️

[@sleepy.timaeus.arts.]

your parents named you mars? neat :D

[@lauriex8832]

If people are naming their children after planets of the Solar System, I send my condolences to the kid who was unfortunate enough to be named “Uranus”.

[@kasey1471]

I love watching someone bash a book that I also hated lol The only reason I tried this book was because of a TikTok video that the author posted advertising this as ‘Spicy Harry Potter’…. After the first book, I wasn’t feeling the writing (word repetition really sticks in my brain and the word ‘massive’ was used to describe almost everything). So I actually wrote a comment on the authors TikTok asking about the spice and the romance because I couldn’t see it and they were like ‘oh it just gets better and better as the books go’. Ok but why advertise the FIRST book as spicy Harry Potter if I have to read the entire series to actually get that? I read 3 books before tapping out. Every single scene in this book is drawn out and feels never ending EXCEPT the spice. The 3, maybe 4? spice scenes from the first 3 books were like they were on fast forward. Like the authors didn’t actually want to write them, but knew everyone wanted them. I’m glad I read them on kindle unlimited otherwise I would have been pissed to waste my money.

[@ReadswithRachel]

If I had spent money on this I would’ve cried. I went through that with red Queen.

[@colors4vana293]

unfortunately I did spend money on these, I usually have a high tolerance for not so great books 🤦🏾‍♀... I got to book 4 before I had to tap out. Each book just got worse.

[@megarakadmea]

Solaria… Another fairy world… Darcy… elemental powers… lost heirs to a fairy kingdom lost on Earth… fairy magic school. Ok. So on top of the Victorious shout-out we are very heavily recycling Winx Club. This should have been more fun.

[@annerumain7711]

I'm now upset because I independently thought of a concept for a zodiac themed magic school, and now find out someone not only beat me to the punch, but did it poorly...

[@bekichan91]

As long as yours isn't winx fanfic, you should be alright - just take time to do what this story didn't (have a plot, good alpha/beta readers, and editors). There's many books with similar themes, it's not a bad thing if something else exists with a similarity - you can create something that has similar themes and that is still new, because you're the one telling the story.

[@annerumain7711]

@@bekichan91 Thank you and fair!

[@EmilyPage04041]

hear me out.... please write yours.

[@rubeuspotter719]

@@annerumain7711give us something than this piece of trash

[@soobindoll9561]

You can create your own but please make it good 😭

[@lovefromwonderland]

do people on booktok not know that there is no possible way for one to improve as an author (or as literally anything) if you do not receive any form of criticism whatsoever 🚶🏾‍♀

[@Aro_dynamic46]

I had a period as a kid where I would read a shit ton of Zodiac stories on Wattpad and this book is giving me some major flashbacks

[@TheresesNook]

What in the cruel prince… i actually don’t know which came first 😂💀 Tiktok is to smutty books is what tumblr was to John Green - but at least John Green actually planned out his books and had an editor and beta readers that loved him 💀

[@ReadswithRachel]

This is SCARY ACCURATE

[@AnimeOjou]

Not one of the MCs being named Tori Vega I- somebody call Nickelodeon rn

[@ReadswithRachel]

call whoever replaced dan schneider asap

[@haydenrhys44]

the *chefs kiss* of this video is the ‘thanks i hate it’ animation. i always love seeing this or one of your other little pictures/animations, it’s the best

[@ReadswithRachel]

love u!

[@padawanduck]

man when they mentioned most people have 2 powers but they have all 4, what if instead each twin has access to 2 powers but once they get better at magic (or strengthen their relationship if you have it be fraught in the beginning and have relationship and character development lmao) they figure out how to access all 4 by twin gemini magic shenanigans

[@irregularstuff5290]

Book described as "sexy Harry Potter" starts with fatphobia? Yeah, that checks.

[@Thatdumbgremlin]

One’s name is literally Tori Vega. Way to be original, authors.

[@lizastls]

what do you mean?

[@aeneasvanillo7100]

@@lizastls Tori Vega is the name of the main character of the Nickelodeon show Victorious lmao

[@artemis1796]

I just want to clarify i didn't read all the books (my friend did and she told me everything) but believe me in the later books, it gets like a million times worse (darcy has a romance with the teacher, darius and tori are ✨soulmates✨ and the s*x scenes are just atrocious)

[@lesleykruijt8580]

Whenever teachers having a name related to their subjects is called unbelievable, I have to think back to my biology teacher, Mr. Green, and my PE teacher, who's name translated from Dutch to English would be like "Mrs. Figets/Wiggles". Some teachers were just born to teaching a certain subject 😂

[@alitaniak7404]

Belated reply, but one of the guys we got in our crop of residents a few years back (teaching hospital) is literally Dr. Doctor. He tried *so hard* to get everyone to call him Dr. Ben, but inevitably every time he was paged it'd be "Dr. Doctor to exam room 3 please" 😂 So that's where my mind goes when characters have conveniently thematic names in fiction lol. Obvs my resident was just meant to be a doctor!

[@lavendermothboy]

super late but i had an english teacher named mrs. story

[@lesleykruijt8580]

@@lavendermothboy I love that!

[@zi2651]

This is late, but I had an English teacher in middle school who got married and her name became Mrs. Grammar lol

[@nicky5669]

currently reading this book to annotate it as a birthday present for my best friend (they asked for it, not my idea) and I'M SUFFERING thank you for this video. i feel less alone now xD

[@awesomyth]

Oh my god that is such an amazing idea though. Your best friend is a genius. 😂

[@neecey1249]

Bookseller here. Thank you for your brain work. Around fae Spain my kids asked me what was so funny 🤣🤷‍♀️

[@ReadswithRachel]

Hahaha I love this

[@blueowl3474]

Booktok continues to terrify me

[@binnedfin]

I read until that one guy burned the main character's clothes off in front of everyone and was like, no thanks chief. My coworkers loooove this book, so I'm glad to find people who hate it as much as I do.

[@augustalavenderblue7353]

This is making me wonder if I should publish some of my Winx Club fan fiction. I'd only have to change like 60% of the names and apparently it’ll get mega popular on TikTok.

[@Jessica-sh1js]

I straight up DNFed this book by like chapter 4 or 5. My husband's friend gave it such high praise and was like "of all the books on my shelves, read this one" I opened it and saw the writing and instantly knew I could never trust this person's recommendations again. It was such a slog to read through that, even if the plot were good, the writing itself was such a challenge to even look at, much less read.

[@randyzochoa6358]

Isn't this also the book that had a disclaimer on the copyright page that said if you borrowed it from a friend or got it from a library, that you're doing something illegal?

[@ReadswithRachel]

Not that I’m aware of but it wouldn’t surprise me

[@chapterandclawstudio]

Yes. Yes it is. 😂

[@kbird6208]

🤨

[@Teajay21]

Omg what 😂

[@linottesparkles1294]

If the princesses were in that much danger, wouldn’t they have guards or something?

[@phoenixkeeper19]

As someone who hate read this whole series, don’t. But also as someone who loved hearing you rip apart this series, please read the rest and tear them apart too 😂

[@NewGuy2534]

Didi miss the memo that said, “Abuse is now sexy and totally ok?” I thought we all agreed that was a bad thing.

[@EmilyPage04041]

Nah we all still collectively agree.

[@faith8488]

I realize this video was made quite a while ago, but I only just found this channel. I've watched a lot of book reviews, and I can hands down say, this was the best one I've ever seen. Freaking hilarious. I remember trying to read this book a few years ago when I kept seeing people talk about it in a FB group I'm in. I think I got to chapter 3 and just couldn't do any more. I'm really glad I didn't try to stick with it.

[@Just-Being-Amy]

This book kind of felt like a Winx Club fanfic. But not the good Winx Club, the terrible live action one.

[@k.g.7591]

“It’s like coming home from abroad only I’ve never been abroad or had a home” is like “it’s a lot like playing the saxophone only I don’t know how to play the saxophone so what the hell am I talking about?”

[@TheBookishMom]

Not the princess Sophia song 🤣🤣🤣 I already knew I had no desire to read this but now even more so

[@hasanmir]

"It doesn't make sense even as a fever dream". Brutal, but hilarious! I love your videos!

[@Kat-ge7nn]

I read the first two books and I want my $40 back. I've never said that about a book before. Genuinely the worst books I've ever read.

[@cass913]

I have a friend who loves these and I had them on my list when I found you, Thank you from the depths of my heart for saving my time! Life's too short to read bad fic!

[@tiffaninichole5729]

I made it to chapter 3 and just absolutely could not finish it. It was awful. Booktok seems obsessed with Caroline Peckham and none of her books are good. Her writing style gives me “I just learned how to make sentences (kind of), but haven’t figured out editing” vibes.

[@jessicariggs2352]

So I know this is an old video and you probably won't see this comment but I suffered through a lot of this series and I'm pretty sure we didn't even find out what their mortal last name was until book 5 and I think it was like Gomez or something like that and that drove me absolutely crazy because they are always crying and complaining and fighting against the name Vega but never actually voice what their last name is 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@ReadswithRachel]

This is so depressing lmao I don’t understand the hype around this series

[@winter8843]

Very off topic comment but the Sofia the First intro being played caught me way off guard lmao

[@ReadswithRachel]

My evil plot, come to fruition

[@Jeetaruey]

When you said the main character was named Tori and had a sister, I was joking to myself that it was Tori from Victorious, but then you said her last name is Vega and I'm dying. XD Tori Vega IS the main character from Victorious!

[@kategrand]

Everyone is freaking out because book EIGHT was just released? I have questions. Whyyyyy? They seem to be being tortured while reading. Why are they called “the twisted sisters”? People seem to be afraid to say they don’t like it. That is the bullying to me.

[@aud7593]

this many books, and they didn't even think to name each of them after a zodiac?

[@Nockgun]

Because forced suffering. they would really snap

[@gracesofstate]

As someone who read the three first books out of pure spite, the fact that no one seemed to listen to them saying that they did not want or care about the throne made me so mad. And in the end all the bullying was what actually lead them to be like “actually now we do want it”. Like this could’ve been resolved in one book. Also the slut shaming and pick me vibes? I genuinely thought these were written in the early 2010s because those are the vibes, but no they first one was like released in 2018? They release like 3 a year and each has 800 pages of no plot, just vibes. It’s horrible and I hate these books so much

[@HelloAwesome94]

You cannot tell me this isn’t Winx Club? Come on. Solaria? 👀

[@simrandang515]

Another thing that annoyed me about this book was that the twins go from zero to one-hundred within like five chapters??? They gain all four elemental powers within the span of practically ten minutes. IMO it would've been MUCH cooler if there were "trials" for each power or something? And the heirs had to compete too? So that's how they decide who rules Solaria and somehow the nymphs or the celestial heirs try to sabotage the girls? IDK but just SOMETHING that's substantial and not pure, unpleasant bullying.

[@stardoogalaxie9314]

“Quiet as Air”???? Barring the fact that its the clunkiest syntax ever, Air is like, the least quiet thing. air is droning and blowing and constantly moving. It’s very much not quiet.

[@princessjoy007]

This is so accurate… to me the series is very immature. I try to reason with myself saying the characters are young adults and this is a young adult book. But even I wasn’t acting like this at 18. I expected more since these girls allegedly grew up very humble.

[@kiarradeeb6797]

this books sounds like a bad mixture of the winx show, vampire academy, and the cruel prince,. also you mean to tell me the one of the girls is called tori vega?

[@nikkihall7994]

"I watch Riverdale...I can be entertained by bad writing!" 😂

[@Follownodobdy]

I literally DNF this one as soon as they entered their college/university/ school and they saw those four guys.. 😩

[@NC-dw1ir]

you are exactly right, books should just start good. they shouldn't have to get good

[@mindymulligan2397]

I would like to ask the question; if the parents were worried about the twins being in danger...why was their solution to switch their kids out with other kids? I know that changelings are a real thing in fairy lore, but there isn't a reason to raise two random human kids as fake princesses and have the "real" princesses in the human world where they learn nothing about the fairy world? It just seems like a short-sighted plan from the king and queen, since even though they have royal blood, they have no knowledge to rule and in the end don't even want to (it seems like).

[@asheshurricane391]

totally off topic but mad props sophia the first for being a kids show that has a healthy depiction of a blended family

[@KerriB]

You wouldn't believe how many indie authors aren't hiring editors because other indie authors have convinced them they don't need one. As an editor and fellow indie author, it really makes me sad. No matter how awesome you think your book is, you need someone who can point out your grammar mistakes and clunky sentences! Believe it or not, some of us are even budget friendly and are more than happy to work out payment plans.

[@ermreading]

Is this not... The Cruel Prince meets House of Night??? I'm hearing nothing original about this book 😅😅

[@ReadswithRachel]

It had cruel prince vibes but nothing concrete. At least Jude had the ability to ask questions and make a plan because holy ***k these mcs were just plastic bags drifting wherever the wind blew

[@LaineMann]

Nah it’s more Supernatural Academy meets Winx Club.

[@neverneverland5836]

Wait so their inheritance covers their tuition but... They'll get a stipend from the school? I must be missing something but that seems like it cancels out lmao

[@karahecker]

One of my biggest annoyances was that the authors, who are British, made the twins American from Chicago, but they spout British lingo constantly or use analogies/colloquialisms that I've never even heard of. What was the point? I don't remember if it's this book or a later one, but Tori ends up being forced to join the the cheer squad, is unnaturally good at doing every single move and flip with no prior knowledge or practice to show up a love rival (eye roll). She claims it's because she got to do gymnastics in high school PE. Listen, ma'am, as someone who went to high school in Illinois for four years, I can assure you, that is definitely not an option for those of us who had to go to public school, but foreign language does have a 2 year requirement. Why don't they know basic Spanish???

[@blancabastos2450]

ok so I've read up to book 6 and I can say with complete certainty that no, these books don't get better, if anything they get worse. With each new book the page count increases but the story itself does not evolve. I don't understand the booktok people

[@prettyjaded5171]

I'm at 2:52 in your video and i'm so glad you mentioned the writing because I just started the series and the writing is so baadddd like ughh who proof read this and agreed to all this secondary school writing style? It honestly reads like a first book for a very young author... Now I'm wondering if it's worth the read😕

[@Ekiwixo]

I just got kindle unlimited and randomly decided to try this book. About a 150 pages in and I’m done. It’s so awful I had to find someone ranting about it to know I’m not alone!

[@karlihayden]

When I saw you posted this, I got so hype! I literally got ZA the other day bc of all the hype but could not even get through the first chapter it was so bad

[@shaylenwayne9284]

Air isn't even that quiet. Have they witnessed a particularly windy day ever?

[@nayabtariq6205]

Just found this video; you're my new favorite booktuber. Thank you for being honest!! Will now binge all your reviews 🫡🥰

[@YesHelloHiGoodbye]

“booktok smash hit” and it’s the worst piece of prose ever produced

[@JELLY676]

I've seen, what, 2 or 3 reviews of this book/series? And it has cemented that 'People reading and reviewing bad books' has got to be one of my favorite youtube video genres🤣 This was a really fun review! Some of my thoughts: I keep seeing comments abt how 'oh, this is answered in future books' and 'they actually bring this up again in the next book to explain it' which is valid. In a book series not all questions would or should be answered in one book. Heck, that doesn't even happen on most standalones! But from what I've noticed by watching these reviews is that these questions are really baseline? Like, they are literally the most basic foundations of the plot and the authors just?? Don't bother explaining them at all??? Even if you're going to answer something in the next book, you should lay some, idk, foreshadowing? Instead of putting it once or twice and completely forgetting abt it 'til the next book Even if we put this aside, these books are badly written Also, as a native Spanish speaker, just hearing some of Diego's lines was almost enough to send me into carrdiac arrest For better books, I'd recommend 'Iron Widow' by Xiran Jay Zhao and 'Gods of Jade and Shadow' by Silvia Moreno-García which are not bully romances, but objectively offer better romance than... whatever THIS is

[@JHyde-tv3if]

"I don't care what you think. I'm just here to do my job" Low key, I am loving his vibe

[@tatanabaudisova1056]

i'm not sure if i'm not just biased, having just finished the folk of air series and reeling over it, but this sounds sooo much like The Cruel Prince rip-off, i mean - twins whisked away to fae land, bully romance, royal-themed plot? is it just me or what?

[@jojol.2630]

When the “adrenaline and gasoline” part came up I thought she was street racing lol

[@scepticalhyenas5750]

The protagonists care about as much about the world the book takes place in as the authors do

[@meganfulton3563]

The most unbelievable part of this book is that the country would bring back the monarchy especially to two girls who have no clue about the politics of this fairy world

[@sofiashabura7749]

What do they even teach there?

[@ReadswithRachel]

Great question thank you for asking I have legitimately have no idea

[@akihayakawaliker]

I noticed that on the cover, every zodiac sign is there except Sagittarius which is a great thing to see as a Sag

[@ReadswithRachel]

I never even noticed that!

[@trishantoni8180]

I started this because of book tok. Then I started hating reading to the end tounderstand the point. In the end I had to DNF right before the last book because mentally I was exhausted.

[@dracaramel2]

(years late and binging many of your rant reviews) as soon as you said '4 heirs' and 'bully romance' i wondered if drew inspo from the kdrama Boys Over Flowers. i haven't watched it bc it sounds awful to me, nor have I read this book but at this point i'm considering hate reading tbh

[@Nalliea]

Just finished it, I thought it was trash too. I couldn't stand how they were bullied but so powerful and they couldnt do shit about it 🙄 then to have the dance scenes with said bullies, are you fing serious?! 🤦🏾‍♀️ Also read the whole thing and not finding out what order they belong to smh I was hoping it would at least come out in the pool scene but nope. I just wanted them all dead by them end of the book. And i completely agree with "each book should be a stand alone" umm yes!!! Especially the 1st book in a series!! Not to mention the map was ugly. I will not be reading the rest as well. Thank you for your awesome review, I'm glad I'm not the only one 😂

[@cervanera2228]

Wait, wait, wait... The place is named Solaria?! She... She plagiarized the Winx! I don't know about other versions, but in the Italian (and original) version this is the name of Stella's kingdom! Is it an accident or...? Anyway, hilarious🤣

[@ReadswithRachel]

I’m not person in the know about the wind saga but this isn’t the first time someone’s brought up to me that it seems the authors ripped off some elements of that in creating this book. Which honestly, adds up. They couldn’t write a story with originality even if they hired someone else to jump start it for them.

[@AnitaSleap1080z]

I listen to these and I'm so frustrated because these books get such book deals while REAL writers who WORK HARD ON THE CRAFT get a fraction of attention. It's so UNFAIR

[@gluchie]

You literally just summarized my every single thought about this god-awful book lmao thank you so much for making this review

[@awesomesuncoolfriend]

Wow. If you're gonna compare this to Harry potter just think how weird it would have been if when hagrid told Harry he was a wizard and his parents didn't die in a car crash Harry had no questions about that at all. Not that he asked a whole bunch right at the beginning, certainly not as many as I would have, but he at least made sure he knew who killed his parents and in what context. Ffs.

[@So_Indecisive]

Yeah, but Pretty sure Harry had like million questions but was too polite too ask more than necessary, probably because of Dursley’s influence

[@ririns]

nothing to do with anything but i hate that cover because one sign (Sagittarius) got skipped. even if it was somehow an element in the story i would still hate it

[@magicalmomo9987]

A sensitivity reader was absolutely needed for this because the race joke? Horrible. Mentioning wanting to touch a Black boy's hair is just...why would you write that? We're not animals at the zoo. That's just mad weird. Also the boy saying random Spanish words even though he's not from the human world. Mad weird. Just weird. I would've told them to 100% take everyone one of those lines out posthaste because why on Earth...?? 💀💀

[@ignaciorlimon1]

Stardust = Discount Space Cocaine? 😂 Maybe it’s a discount Dune element? I think the reason why this is so popular is because it enables readers to self insert themselves and it vaguely references astrology for vibes/aesthetics. They’re not interested in coherent storytelling. The love interests are just there for readers to have hot n’ bothered feels. It would be interesting if the authors could have implied the “teachers” didn’t explain things well for the sake of fae being liars…or something? I could understand have some good groundwork that’s elaborated on in book two because it’s too much for book one, but to just throw things in without so much as a footnote defeats the purpose of putting them outside of the “real world.”

[@ReadswithRachel]

Tbh this made me appreciate the cruel prince more even though that’s still a 2.5-3 star read, it still is loads better of a fae story than ZA could ever be

[@redefiningalexandria7875]

I agree! After reading the first book, I was not invested or really focused through the whole thing. The series definitely does get better, but that doesn't mean the first one isn't terrible.

[@ReadswithRachel]

That was my exact experience with Gild by Raven Kennedy!

[@NahlaAnwer]

The whole book is just them getting bullied, I honestly don't understand the appeal.

[@OpossumOnTheMoon]

I’ve learned that this is just the book version of One Piece.

[@lexiebutler8022]

I made it four books in. And I gave up. I couldn’t do it anymore. The writing and plot has so many holes and it was too much back and forth on the enemies to lovers that made me lose my patience

[@lilly.12182]

I've never agreed more but for some reason I'm forcing myself to finish the series (currently on book 3) why am i doing this to myself? great question

[@JekyViews]

The cover bothers me AF - why is a sign missing?? WHYYYY. Couldn’t they have arranged it better, so the shield logo wouldn’t cover Sagittarius? Why Sagittarius? What did they do? If you want to have a zodiac illustration, use the whole zodiac. RAWR. Maybe this gets addressed later in the video, I don’t know, I just needed to get it out of my system. I get fixated. :)