Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight Paperback – December 12, 2022

This has been a journey reading and listening to this series. I was not prepared for the rollercoaster this story has been taking me on since I started this series a month ago. But here I am, clinging onto hope and praying to the stars that Lionel gets the vicious ending he has earned. I feel so connected to these characters, that I simply cannot get enough of them.I highly recommend reading this book in tandem with Zodiac Academy book 8.5 Beyond the Veil. It gave me a little more reassurance after the brutal ending that was book 7, which shattered my heart. The beauty that really lays in book 8 was how grief and loss was handled. In too many stories, grief is handled in a single chapter then it's brushed off. That is not the case in this book. Each of the characters were allowed to confront and deal with their grief on their terms. They weren't expected to handle it as a group, but they could have moments together and alone. And honestly, Caleb's POV of this grief hit like a sledgehammer. I was a mess with these characters and cried numerous times.The emotional turmoil I felt in this book took me across the spectrum of emotions. There was so much happening that is absolutely made sense why they could not wrap up this series in 8 books. I could have done without the Mildred chapter; she is pure evil. But the journey Tory was willing to take to right the wrongs the stars kept throwing her way had me captivated. And the torture Darcy and Orion faced together showed how much they loved one another and would keep fighting for one another. And I loved getting to know more about the Heirs and their own personal struggles and wants.I never would have guessed how much I would come to love Seth and Caleb. I never would have believed my change of heart after the first 4 books, but I couldn't live without them. And seeing Xavier come to terms with his loss has been hard but he keeps fighting and rising above it all. And I love how much his herd loves him and does what they can to make him shine. There is so many side plots finally getting an explanation and loose ends coming to their end. I look forward to seeing how this final stand between the Queens and Lionel will unfold.

Really great end of this book. A lot of action and accomplishments for all involved. The rebels and the false king. I’d say the stars are still keeping thing’s balanced.But I will say this, there were definitely unnecessary chapters. Some story lines dragged out. And I’m sorry but Geraldine is annoying as all get out!!! I skim the chapters that are hers. The rambling is so not necessary.This book was long and I feel it could have been cut back in numerous places. Stick to the meat of the story lines and get rid of the filler.On to the next novella, Beyond the Veil(?) before finishing the completed series.

I loved every second of this book. It was long, so it took me a second to get through.I went through straight turmoil while reading this book. Darius’ death tore me to shreds. To the point where every time he was mentioned I was in tears. Straight waterfall coming from my eyes type of tears. When Tory managed to bring him back I was so excited, I was literally screaming in my car. Everyone’s reunion with Tory, Darcy, Orion, and Darius made me tear up.THE HEIRS BOWING TO TORY AND DARCY?!?!?! My jaw was ON THE FLOOR. Shook isn’t even the word.Tory and Darcy still deciding to release the star not realizing the promise was the star basically stealing their magic angered me a bit. I knew as soon as the memory was over it wasn’t a good idea to release him, and now y’all are trapped. Tf is this star about to do?! I’m actually terrified!Love love loved this book. That’s it, that’s all.

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.