Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight

I don't know how to create words right now. I feel so many things...I feel SO happy and also REALLY scared. I feel irritated but also fulfilled. I feel like we came so far but also didn't go anywhere. I'm thoroughly enamored with this series, these characters and this world. This book is the kind of read where you specifically take your time and read slow so that it doesn't end. You know its a good story if you're doing that to keep these people around for as long as possible. A triumph in the series, Bravo to the sisters on this epic journey. I am SO THRILLED we get one more book.****SPOILERS****Starting this book was HARD, because of where we ended with the last one. I was so emotional, I chose to hope stepping into it that we would meet Darius again, I DID NOT give up. I wouldn't give up. And I have to say as the chapters went on and on I started losing hope. At one point when another chapter came and went and he wasn't back I was so upset I started balling uncontrollable muttering things like "I just don't understand" and "why is this happening, why would they do this?"Darcy and Orions torture was extremely tough to read BUT...I was content in a way because they had each other. Obviously there were times I wanted to hurdle through the pages and bitch slap anyone who was hurting them but again...they had each other and Tory didn't have Darius OR Darcy. When Tory finally made it to Darcy I was so sad for her that Darcy decided to stay but honestly I was happy with that decision. I think 1. it was the correct thing for Darcy to stay with her mate during and 2. it gave Tory the push she needed to complete her mission. It stung yes, but I believe in my heart of hearts its what both the twins needed to continue.Why was I irritated throughout this book you ask?! Yet again its another ENTIRE book where Seth and Caleb don't just express their true feelings to each other. Its INFURIATING! Their inner dialogue needs to become actual words because I swear if I have to listen to them yearning for each other without admitting it again I will RIOT! There were so many times I was like "this is it....finally they're going to admit their love!" and NOPE! If they don't get Elysium mate status I swear I will lose my absolute mind.I was happy mostly with everyone else, I was extremely happy that Xavier got his wings back. I thought the sisters wrote his trauma of losing his brother and mother really well, very relatable.There was so much trauma in this book, but that was expected because we lost such strong characters in the last book. There was a perfect amount of comic relief to go with that trauma. The balance was so well done.I enjoyed the secondary characters chapters, breaking up the main characters dialogue was needed in this book more than ever purely because of the stuff they were all going through.When Tory finally made it to Darius I was an absolute sobbing mess of a person. Then he bowed to her and I was shaking I was crying so hard...then they danced and it seemed like all was lost and this was the actual last time they would see each other and I was inconsolable, It was midnight and I was crying so hard my husband woke up to see if I was okay. He had to help me put my kindle down on the nightstand I was so upset. THEN...badass f-ing Tory, she fricken did it! And all of a sudden they were back and I was jumping up and down. The biggest FU to the stars ACCOMPLISHED! So much tension lifted off my shoulders. I know its a book but these people are a part of me now.The ending, back at the Academy, all the nostalgia was executed perfectly. The battle was intense and crazy and perfect. But then right as Darius walked up to everyone the twins were taken away and trapped in that damn place. DAMMIT! I needed the heirs reunion, I needed Xavier reunion, I NEEDED ORION AND DARIUS REUNION! I know we need a cliffhanger but COME ON!This book is special, this series is astounding and I am a happier human for having found it to read.

This whole series is amazing there's so many ups and downs in each book you get drawn into all the action and emotions of a great story line, highly recommend.

This is one of my all time favorite series! And while it has severely wounded my heart time and again I can't stop reading. The ending here is a real doozy and I'm hoping the authors make the RIGHT choices for the heirs and the twins. I can't wait for the final book to release here soon!If you like new adult, romantasy, then this is a must read series!

I want to start this review off by saying that I LOVE the Zodiac Academy series. It is one of my favorite series I have ever read. I own all of the books, novellas, short-stories, and bonus chapters written about Solaria. The world-building, magic system, characters, plot, storyline ALL OF IT is amazing…With that being said. I hated this book. Absolutely hated it. And I don’t say this lightly. I think I may have enjoyed reading 10-15% of it. I’m not saying I hated it because it was so sad, or the cliffhanger was brutal, or nothing went right… This was just a terrible book. I’m giving it 3 stars only because I love the series as a whole, but this book almost ruins the entire series for me.I feel like the authors lost the plot or they didn’t map out how the series was going to end and how this book was going to go until they actually sat down to write it. Suddenly there’s witches and oracles and dark magic (which is different than the shadows) and runes. Shadows aren’t actually the 5th element like we’ve been told for how many books- it’s ether? None of that was even mentioned in any of the previous books but the dark magic and runes are so heavily present in this book. Also there’s mention of the other countries in the realm (besides Voldrakia) multiple times. Do these countries actually matter to the story or was it just to add to the word count?I felt like I read 7 books just to throw everything I knew away. That prophecy we’ve been trying to figure out for 2 years? Well that was voided because fate shifted. But don’t worry, there’s 2 more prophecies for us to stress over. The man with the painted smile? Never ever would’ve guessed it was who it was, and it was such a “are you serious right now” moment. Completely dumbfounded.This book was too long. There is so much unnecessary information and fluff in the book. I literally had to force myself to read it which I’ve never had to do with a ZA book before. I never had a problem with the extra fluff before but I was struggling so much with this book. There are a lot of different characters with their own chapters in this book that just didn’t need to be there. And I hate to say this, but anytime Geraldine spoke, I skimmed through her dialogue. It’s almost like the authors try to write each book longer than the last, which is not necessary a good thing. When I found out there was going to be a 9th book, I was kinda pissed off. Not only because there’s been 1 year in between the last two ZA book releases, but because the books are so long which allows the authors to screw with the characters more. Enough is enough, ok?I hate the miscommunication trope with a passion, so the storyline with Seth and Caleb just pissed me off. I assumed- wrongfully of course- that after they almost died multiple times and their best friend died, that they’d realize life was too short and admit their feelings. Nope! No feelings shared. They did have a couple hot hook-ups, but agreed that they were nothing and peaced out.I was not a fan of the chapter where Tory went to the Nymph village and spoke with the 3 oracles. It was way too much and I felt kinda grossed out reading it. We get Darius back but obviously there’s a cost. We don’t know what that cost is exactly yet, but suddenly Tory and Darius are thirsty for blood and death but they refuse to question as to why. Suspicious.The story already has 2 villains so I’m not sure why the sisters felt the need to add another one. Like I said, I don’t think the series plot was mapped out prior to each book. I was not expecting the broken promise to be to an actual star. And the Imperial Star- the one thing that we have been told could defeat Lionel- is actually the heart of a fallen star which has cursed all Phoenixes for breaking the promise. And all the work Orion did to learn about the Imperial Star from his dad’s journal and to teach the twins the words that they could use, was all a waste because they only use it once. The one time they do use it to keep the broken promise, they fail (surprise surprise) to kill the freakin fallen star who turns out to be evil and locks the twins away and takes their place.This book was a huge disappointment for me. I’m a big fan of rereads, especially before the next book in a series comes out, but I can definitely say I will not reread this book. I have tabs in the important places so I’ll skim the book when book 9 comes out as a refresher.It breaks my heart that I hated this book. I was so excited to finally read it but it got to the point where I was happy when I finished it so I could finally put it down to read something else. And I hate that.

4.25/5 starsMy heart hurts after reading that one. The fallout from book seven was prominent through this one and I thought each character’s grief was portrayed so beautifully and really highlighted how grief affects everyone differently. The way each character handled their emotions was so specific to them and I thought Xavier’s character especially showed the emotional rollercoaster of grief so well.In this book there were a lot of different characters pov’s and I felt that all of the characters had so much going on individually. And while I’m sad we didn’t get much of everyone together in this one I think it was necessary for the development of each character. I enjoyed seeing all the characters dig deep and find their own inner strength (particularly Tory) to keep pushing on no matter what. It has been amazing watching these characters grow from the start of the series to the people they are at this point.I also liked that we were able to learn a lot more about everything going on and all the larger forces that have been at play during this series, and I think that this book really helped to set up nicely for the finale in book nine. I love these characters, this story, and this universe and I can’t wait to see everyone together again in book nine, and to finally see them all get their happy endings. There’s a lot to get through and book nine is going to be yet another emotional rollercoaster.