{REVIEW} Zodiac by Romina Russell

ZODIAC
by Romina Russell

Genre: Young Adult, Scifi- Space Opera
Pub Date: Nov 10, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Length: 480 pages
Spoilers: MARKED
Goodreads ♦ Amazon($6.64)

 

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At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancrian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

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Holy World-Building, Batman!
I am in love with this world. All of it. Every last atom of the entire galaxy of the Zodiac! It’s amazing! It’s diverse. It’s rich. More importantly, when Rho visits another planet, enough description is given throughout her visit to actually picture and understand not just that planet, but the culture! It’s so well written and I am in AWE of the amount of planning that must have gone into this! ❤

Pacing
I was caught off guard by the pacing of Zodiac. I honestly was not expecting it to move so quickly and often had to pause to actually digest just how much was going on in the course of such a small span of time. Yet, it wasn’t a bad fast. It was an important fast. Scenes and time weren’t filled with empty scenes that had no point. Each chapter connected with the last and the next in a seamless line that really draws the reader in. It was a long book, but it was such a fast timeline that it didn’t even fell that long! 😀

The Trope
Alright. I’ll be honest. There’s definitely a trope in this book. Actually, there’s a couple YA tropes in this book, but I didn’t care. (I know, right?! Shocker!) But I didn’t care because the story was so well written and there was legitimate explanation and reason behind why the tropes were happening. More importantly, the characters reactions to the tropes were what made them believable and, frankly, interesting! I was really excited to watch how it was all going to blow up in everyone’s faces. :p  *may be a horrible person*

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Romance
Aha! I knew it! Someone was going to die! Although, to be honest, I was not expecting mathias to be the one who dies because everything that was happening totally made it seem like hysan was going to die. So… that was a surprise. What’s more, I didn’t see rho breaking things off with hysan at the end. I was devastated because I DEFINITELY ship those two hard-core! OTP!

Failure
Ha! I knew it. I knew it would all blow up in their faces. (I mean, there’s a sequel for goodness sake), but I had no idea HOW it was going to blow up in their faces and I was SHOCKED! I didn’t see the total anarchy coming, but I think it’s actually a really good choice. I think it offers up so many more possibilities for the rest of the series and while Rho may still be the true Guardian of Cancer, now she can do what else she needs to do. After all, she’s only seventeen.

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