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Book Review: Warrior Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #5)

Rating: 4 stars

I’ve been thrown into the den of a monster.

I once thought one of my ruthless boys could be the killer I’m hunting. They’re all dark, deadly and more than capable of brutality. But now I’m held by the King I’ve been stalking in the shadows and when I unmask him, he’ll realise he made a huge mistake in taking my brother from this world.

My Kings are coming for me, I know that in my soul. They’re on their way to rip me from my enemy’s arms and tear him apart for me. My heart beats to the sound of their names. But I won’t wait around to be rescued.

Everything has led me to this moment and I’m ready to destroy the Fae who stole my brother from me. Secrets will be uncovered. Destiny will be decided. Death will deliver us all in the end. No one will escape the conclusion of this story without blood on their hands. I guess it’s a good thing I’m a Vampire then, because I just so happen to have a taste for blood.

Warrior Fae, the last book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series, had some twists and turns I didn’t see coming. The ones that surprised me the most were finding out the truth surrounding King’s identity and finding out about Elise’s relations. King’s true identity threw me for a loop because I wasn’t expecting it at all when I read this series because I didn’t feel like I got a hint of it in the earlier books either in any way. There was nothing in these books that gave me the idea that this character was actually King, and I felt bad for Elise since she had a good relationship with this Fae throughout the series. I also appreciate the storyline surrounding Elise and her Vampire relations because I wasn’t expecting that here as it explains a lot with what happened and why Elise didn’t have much in family besides her mother and Gareth growing up. Both of these things were something I didn’t see coming but I felt like brought a lot of pieces together for me regarding the storyline in this series, so I appreciate them both.    

I wasn’t overall too surprised in getting the truth about how Gareth died though as I felt like I had that answer earlier in this series even with this book’s predecessor hinting at another possibility. I also wasn’t all too surprised about how Ryder’s gang reacted in this book because I felt like that was to be expected due to his relationship with his members throughout the series. Both of these aspects of the plot felt predictable to me because I felt like I knew they were going to happen before reading this book. Though I was surprised at the new identity Ryder ends up taking on as it took me this book to realize that character makes an appearance in the Zodiac Academy series several times.  

However, I did enjoy continuing to see all of the relationships between all of these characters grow in Warrior Fae. I feel like character development continued on with this book, especially with all of the guys. I feel in particular that Dante, Ryder, and Gabriel had the most character development in this book with regards to each other. In particular, I was pleased to see the progression in Ryder’s character continue because I feel like he’s the one in this series who’s had the most growth out of Elise’s guys. His relationships with both Dante and Gabriel developed really well for me here and was happy to see him and Dante no longer hating each other. We saw his relationship with Gabriel grow in Broken Fae, but I felt like it grew even more in this book than the last. I believe its because out of the guys in the group, he felt like he could relate to Gabriel the most because neither one of them for so long felt like they really had anyone they could trust but themselves.

What I also enjoyed with Warrior Fae was seeing all the answers Elise was looking for regarding Gareth falling into place and them defeating King. While I felt like I already knew what happened to Gareth before reading this book, I was happy to see Elise get the answers she was looking for when it came to her brother and her finally getting the closure she deserved. I also enjoyed getting to see some of her memories with Gareth in this book because we were able to find out what her relationship was like with her brother before he attended Aurora Academy. While seeing those memories was sad at times, I also am glad that she had some memories of him that she could hold onto despite the pain she went through with losing him. I also enjoyed the moments in this book when they all fought against King because they were finally all able to take him down. While I feel like this is a moment that could’ve happened sooner in the series, the way it happened I enjoyed every minute of it.

While I’ve already mentioned some criticisms I have for this book earlier in my review, there are some I need to talk about. The biggest criticism I have for Warrior Fae (though this might be more of a criticism for the series as a whole than this book in particular) is how long it took for the plot to develop. I enjoyed seeing Elise’s relationships with these guys continue to grow and their relationship with each other as well. But I feel like that took up more of the book than defeating King and finding out who killed Gareth. While I don’t mind it because I love seeing all of these relationships and how the characters are able to relate to each other, there were moments when I was ready for the fight to happen with King already. Not necessarily because I was ready to finish this series, but because I feel like there was a lot of build up to it as I’ve read this series that I was ready to see it unfold. As much as I’ve enjoyed reading this series and seeing all of these relationships develop, I feel like there was a lot that also could’ve been taken out for us to get to this point.

Another criticism I have for the final book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series is the ending. While I overall like that these characters get the happy ending they deserve, I feel like some of the epilogue is just too much. I was interested in seeing what happened after they all defeated King but the way the authors chose to go about it wasn’t what I was expecting for this series. Yes, it was nice to see Elise and the guys lives once King was out of the picture, but there were some chapters in the epilogue that I felt weren’t needed because they didn’t add to the overall story.

But overall, I enjoyed the last book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series, Warrior Fae. While I’m sad to have finished this series by these authors, I have another series by them that I’ve already started reading and will be looking to review here.

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Book Review: Broken Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #4)

Rating: 4.5 stars

The stars have torn us apart.

Just as we were finding a way to get past our difficulties, my kings and I have been shattered by a twist of fate.

And while we’re left reeling from the wheel of destiny, our enemies are only growing more powerful.

Felix Oscura is haunting Alestria with his bloodthirsty need to steal the power of the clan he was never destined to rule over, and the illusive King is growing closer to taking control of the entire city.

With challenges around every corner, and the mysteries behind my brother’s death slowly starting to unravel, I don’t know if I’ll be able to overcome the will of the stars before it’s too late…

Just like with its predecessor Vicious Fae, Broken Fae had me hooked from beginning to end. There were a lot of twists and turns in this book, and I felt like the plot continued picking up the pace, making me want to find out what would happen next.

I feel like Gareth’s point of view in this book was better than in the previous books because we get a much better idea of what he’s thinking of doing just days before his death. I especially enjoyed seeing his interactions with King that we get because we know he’s starting to get into the inner webs of this cult and was interested to see how it all plays out for him. We also know there’s a possibility of something else happening that I wasn’t at all expecting from this series, which made me want to continue on to find out how things go. I don’t want to be hopeful with regards to the potential the authors have opened up here in this book regarding what happened to Gareth, but the possibility that things aren’t what they seem has me even more invested to see how everything plays out in this series.

What I also enjoyed when reading this book was continuing to see the different relationships between all of the guys Elise is with. After the ending of the previous book, these relationships were definitely put to the test. But I did enjoy what I did see of their dynamic once they all realized how much Elise cares about each of them. I especially loved seeing the beginning of a friendship between Gabriel and Ryder and I feel like all of these guys are growing in their own ways. One of my favorite moments with the guys in Broken Fae was when they were all together for Christmas. Even though it wasn’t something they all had planned to do together, I really enjoyed that moment because it felt like the calm in this book before everything went crazy.

Just like with Vicious Fae, the pacing in this book was just right for me. It felt like we were getting a lot of insight into King and the members of the Black Card along with seeing all these relationships continue to grow. I definitely felt some character growth in this book with Gabriel and Ryder. For Gabriel, I feel like his growth came in realizing what Elise needs to be happy instead of acting possessive of her. I also feel like he’s the character in this series who’s actually helping Elise get answers to what happened to her brother. With Ryder, I felt a lot of his character growth came with him realizing he had more than the two emotions tattooed on his wrists. I also felt his growth through his continued rivalry with Dante and the truth Dante ends up revealing to him in this book that he didn’t know anything about. I feel like we see a lot more of Ryder’s character in this book as he’s finally embracing his feelings towards Elise and is actually starting to heal from his dark past. And I’m completely here for all of it.

While the plot involving Gareth moves slow sometimes, I feel like there’s a lot that happened here in Broken Fae that had me interested in reading to find out what happened next. Everything that happened in these pages had me hooked on seeing how everything in this series would play out. From finding out how Leon’s brother Roary ends up in Darkmore Penitentiary to the final fight against Felix and seeing Gabriel join the Black Card to get answers for Elise, there was a lot that happened in this book in comparison to the rest of the books in this series that had me reading to see what would happen next with all these characters. I’m at the point now with this series where I want to find out how everything turns out for Elise and all of these guys as well as find out who King is and get answers regarding Gareth and can’t wait to read the final book in this series Warrior Fae to get these answers as this book has left me in so much suspense despite how much I loved every minute of it.

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Book Review: Vicious Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #3)

Rating: 4.5 stars

The King will fall.

While I continue my hunt for the Fae who killed my brother, I have to try to keep my heart away from the vicious boys who could be responsible for his death.

But as my investigation leads me down a dangerous road and answers seem closer than ever before, I’m whisked away to the elite school, Zodiac Academy, with the four Kings, and my heart becomes more vulnerable than ever.

There are so many secrets left to uncover, and I sense something terrible is about to come to light. But I’m in so deep to this dangerous labyrinth, what if this road only ends in blood?

Out of the books in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series so far, Vicious Fae has been my favorite to read. I feel like it’s the book in the series where the story is finally coming together to me. Elise is finally starting to get some information regarding those she believes are involved with Gareth’s death and we are seeing her relationships with all of the guys starting to really take off. I like what we learn about Gareth from his point of view in this book because we are getting more clues into his relationships with Ryder and Dante months before his death.

I enjoyed reading this book because of the dynamic between her and all of these guys. You can see how much each of these guys cares about her and understand why she likes each of them. I especially enjoyed seeing the beginning of a friendship between Ryder and Leon. Their interactions throughout Vicious Fae with all the Lion King references were hilarious to me, and I love that they actually had them watch the Lion King together with Elise. I especially like that out of all the guys, Leon seems to understand what she wants and tries to do what he can on his part to make her happy by trying to bring all of the guys together and form a friendship with them. And I feel like in this book in the series, we are slowly starting to see them understand that Elise cares about each of them and they actually starting to accept that about her.  

With this book, I also liked that the plot was actually starting to pick up. In Savage Fae, while I enjoyed seeing Elise’s relationships with these guys, I felt like her looking into Gareth’s death took a backseat and that the story was mostly focused on her dynamic with all these guys instead of her focusing on who was responsible for her brother’s death. But in this book, I feel like she’s getting some information about who’s responsible for his death and is making steps towards getting more information than she had before. However, I know a large part of that is also due to Gabriel because in this book, he was doing some investigating on his own using what he could of the Sight to gather information for her. And I feel like I really appreciate that about him because I don’t know if the plot in this book would’ve moved forward if it wasn’t for the information he was able to get Elise.

I also enjoyed in Vicious Fae seeing them all go to Zodiac Academy together. I especially enjoyed seeing all of their interactions with Orion and seeing the beginning of Gabriel and Orion’s friendship. I appreciate the authors bringing in the scene that was referenced in the Zodiac Academy series with regards to how Gabriel and Orion’s friendship started as that was something I wanted to read, and this book didn’t disappoint with including it. I also enjoyed seeing their interactions with the Heirs in this book before all of the events that took place in the Zodiac Academy series. And I enjoyed seeing how Dante acted towards Lionel on his first meeting with him. I knew already how much Dante didn’t like him but didn’t realize how far back his dislike towards Lionel began.

With the ending of this book, I’m torn between how I feel about it. I enjoyed the action part of it where all of the guys are working together to save Elise. However, I’m unsure how I feel about what happens afterwards as I feel like it puts a division between Elise and the guys when they were all starting to finally get along. Its not that I don’t like who she has that moment with because out of all the guys, he’s the one who I feel like understands what she needs to be happy and she’s able to laugh and have fun with him. And I found myself once it happened wanting to see where things are going in this series from there. But at the same time, I know its going to cause a divide with her other relationships and am not completely sure if it’s what needs to happen.

However, I overall enjoyed reading Vicious Fae, the third book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series. I feel like it did a wonderful job picking up where Savage Fae left off, and there was more plot wise that happened along with Elise’s relationships that’s made me want to continue reading this series to find out what happens next. I also loved seeing these characters getting to go to Zodiac Academy and seeing the beginning of the friendship that formed between Orion and Gabriel. Definitely looking forward to reading Broken Fae to see where this series goes from here.   

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Book Review: Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #2)

Rating: 4 stars

There’s more to my brother’s murder than I realised… Shadows in the halls, mysteries lurking around every corner. Whoever killed him is covering their tracks well. And now I’m walking a dangerous line between getting close to the four kings for information and wanting to crawl deeper under their skin for my own desires. I can’t trust anyone. I can’t let my guard down. And I must keep the urges of my body separate from my heart. But I’m starting to break all of my own rules. I just hope I’m not falling for my brother’s killer.

Savage Fae, the second book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series, was an enjoyable read. It hooked me from beginning to end as I wanted to find out what happened next after its predecessor Dark Fae ended. While I wasn’t too fond of that ending due to the number of questions I had, I feel like we got a little bit more insight into it here once Elise discovered one potential Fae at her school that might be involved with that group. Otherwise, I feel like there’s still more that I feel like is still needing to be uncovered.

What this book did best for me was continue establishing Elise’s relationships with the four guys she believes might be involved in her brother’s death: Leon, Ryder, Dante, and Gabriel. I especially enjoyed seeing her interactions with Leon and Dante in this book and learning more about Ryder’s dark past. I also enjoyed seeing Dante’s point of view in this book especially with the times when he went home to see his family members. Seeing his family dynamic was cool to me as you can see how much he values his family despite being a leader of a gang. I also enjoyed seeing Elise’s interaction with Leon’s family in this book too as we now know that a Lion Shifter’s charisma doesn’t affect her at all, which I find pretty cool.

I continue to find Gareth’s point of view in these books interesting. Especially in this one as Elise is getting close to the guys Gareth himself is developing relationships with. We especially see his relationships with Ryder, Dante and Leon in this book and its interesting seeing how he interacted with them in comparison to Elise. And what he was willing to do to get the debt their mother owed paid off by doing what Ryder and Dante asked of him. Its interesting seeing his interactions with these characters in comparison to Elise as their experiences with them are completely different. And I find myself wondering how things would’ve happened if Elise had met these guys while Gareth was attending Aurora Academy.

In comparison to Dark Fae, I feel like there’s not all that much investigating in Savage Fae when it comes to finding out who killed Gareth. While I don’t mind it just because I’m interested in these characters and seeing how these relationships continue to develop, I feel like her investigating is moving at a very slow pace. I feel like she focuses more in this book on what happened to her at the end of the last book than in even seeing if there’s a connection between it and her brother’s death. While I understand that she’s trying to navigate every clue she does receive, I feel like its moving really slowly and that she’s making very little progress if any at all. In this book, I feel like she’s more focused on her relationships with these guys than doing any investigating. However, I do feel like a little progress is made too at least when it comes to Gabriel since he finds out who she is in this book and seems to be trying to help her find out what happened to her brother. So that’s some progress, though not all that much considering how many pages are in this book.

I did, however, find the ending of this book in comparison to its predecessor interesting as I wasn’t at all expecting it. We know there’s a divide in Dante’s gang between him and his uncle Felix, but I wasn’t expecting to see that play out in some way in this book. But it does and in a most interesting way too, which has me wondering how things will go between Dante and Felix next.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Savage Fae and seeing Elise’s relationships with these guys continue to develop. It was also interesting to see how they differed from her brother’s relationships with them as I continue to learn more about what he was up to during his time at Aurora Academy. Hoping we get to see more plot wise being uncovered regarding Gareth’s death in the books to come though as I continue on with reading Vicious Fae.    

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Book Review: Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac #1)

Rating: 4 stars

What do a heartless Dragon Shifter, a cold-blooded Basilisk, an arrogant Lion Shifter and a brooding, tattooed Harpy have in common…? Me. Elise Callisto. Vampire. Angel of vengeance. And a girl on a mission to destroy one of them for murdering my brother. I just don’t know which one did it yet.

When I kicked the ass of a Werewolf who was high on a new and dangerous drug called Killblaze, his final words painted a dark reality for me. The King of Aurora Academy killed my brother. The trouble is, there’s four kings at that school and each of them have motive and cutthroat natures.

Aurora Academy isn’t a place for the faint of heart. To put it lightly, my town is the asshole of Solaria where the dodgiest Fae in the kingdom reside. The school itself is divided by the two gangs who run this town. The Lunar Brotherhood and the Oscura Clan. And guess what? Two of the kings run the gangs at the school, their hatred for each other so fierce I hear a day doesn’t go by without blood being spilled in the halls.

I might be a petite, lilac-haired girl who looks like a fragile doll, but they haven’t been introduced to my fangs yet. And they don’t know why I’m really here. Or that I’ll do whatever it takes to bring down the Fae who took my flesh and blood from me.

I don’t believe in fate, but I do know this… the King who killed my brother is a dead man walking. And I’m prepared to sacrifice my heart, body and soul to ensure I get my revenge . This is a reverse harem series set in the world of Zodiac Academy four years before the Vega Twins were Awakened. Expect some character cross-over, dark and hot romance, and a twisted murder mystery which will leave your head spinning.

Dark Fae is an interesting story told in a world I’m already familiar with that’s mixed with murder, mystery, and intrigue. What I feel like this story does well is the different points of view we get from the characters in this series. I feel like in this book, we get different perspectives that I find interesting to read. Also some that are familiar too since three of the characters in this series were also in the Zodiac Academy series too. What I find interesting about the perspectives we get in this book is that not only did I get to learn more about characters from that series that I was intrigued by when I read those books, but we also get some chapters about events that happened in the past from Gareth, Elise’s brother as well. I find his chapters interesting because we find out what exactly he was up to when attending Aurora Academy and his relationships with the Fae Elise believes are responsible for his death. We get to see his dynamic with the characters Elise is getting close to and get to see what his life was like.

What I also enjoyed when reading this book was seeing the different relationships Elise had with the guys who she suspects might be responsible for her brother’s death. Each of them are so different from each other that its interesting to see her interacting with them and seeing how they each feel about her as well as see what’s going on in their lives in this book. Each of the guys I find intriguing for different reasons, but I find the dynamic at Aurora Academy intriguing as well due to the two gangs that attend the school. I find the gang dynamic at the school interesting because Elise describes the clear division/territories at the school with regards to the gangs. I also find it interesting that if you’re not part of one of the gangs, the leaders will usually try and get you to pick a side even when you make it clear that you have no interest in joining their group.

I also found the two gang leaders themselves interesting as well. You have Ryder Draconis, the leader of the Lunar Brotherhood, who is of the Basilisk Order and has the word pain tattooed on one knuckle and lust tattooed on another. As Elise gets to learn more about him, you discover that there are a lot of dark parts to his past. Then you have the leader of the Oscura Clan, Dante Oscura. He’s a Storm Dragon in a family full of Werewolves and to me, gives off Italian Mafia vibes. He’s also a character that I’m already familiar with due to reading the Zodiac Academy series, which he also makes an appearance in, and is someone in that series I also liked as well and wanted to learn more about. What I found interesting about both of them is seeing their dynamics within their gangs in comparison to how they both act around Elise when she’s around. I also felt like I saw a lot of depth to both of their characters while reading this book as there’s more than meets the eye with both of them but in different ways. And I was invested with each page to learn more.

Another thing I enjoyed about reading Dark Fae is the murder mystery element that’s in this book and Elise’s character. I wanted to learn like she did about what had happened to her brother. And seeing her willing to do whatever it takes to get to the truth of it made me continue reading to find out what would happen next as I know I’m nowhere near close yet to finding out what happened. But with how much I enjoyed reading this book, I’m okay with that as I don’t mind continuing to get lost in the story to see how everything unravels. What I like about Elise is how strong she is despite her brother’s death. Yes, she has some moments where she’s extremely vulnerable, but I feel like those moments from her aren’t common and its understandable since she hasn’t really fully dealt with her brother’s grief.

If I had to choose something with this book to criticize it would have to be the end of this book. Its light in comparison to the books in the Zodiac Academy series, but I felt like I was left with so many questions by it because it felt so unexpected to me. I wasn’t expecting what happened to Elise to happen. It felt like the authors added something plot wise into the story for Elise to want to look into without giving any indication as to how it ties into her brother’s death and that was frustrating to me.  

Overall, I enjoyed reading Dark Fae, the first book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series. Really interesting read with characters I wanted to know more about and told from different perspectives with some familiar faces that I was more than happy to see. Enjoyed getting to learn what happened to Gareth during his time at Aurora Academy and seeing Elise’s dynamic with the guys she believes might be responsible for his death. Also enjoyed learning about how the two gangs operated along with learning more about the gang leaders and seeing Elise’s character continue to develop. Can’t wait to read the next book in this series Savage Fae, to see how the mystery in this series continues to unravel.

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