Ruthless Boys Of The Zodiac Series Review

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series Review - Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti - Fantasy Dark Romance Reverse Harem Book Recommendation
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In this post I would like to give you a Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series review. Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti are known as the Twisted Sisters because their books have a tendency to ruin you. Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac is no different, it will likely ruin you.

As usual I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum but since this is a series there will likely be a few small spoilers in this review.

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac is a fantasy dark romance reverse harem series set in the same world as the Zodiac Academy series. If you’ve read anything else from the Twisted Sisters and liked it, you will probably really like this series too.

That being said, I went into this series not at all realizing that it was a reverse harem so that was a fun thing to find out once I got into it. Especially because this was only the second reverse harem I’ve read. Those of you who have read this and are reading this post are probably laughing, it’s ok, I’m laughing too.

Additionally, while normally I will do reviews of each book in a series because of the nature of this series I will not be doing that in this review. Mainly because I want to avoid spoilers. So I will give an overall synopsis, talk about the characters, talk about what the reading experience was like and then give my ratings.

Trigger Warnings

Since we don’t always get trigger warnings on books I like to give trigger warnings in my reviews. This can help people avoid certain triggers that could hurt their mental well being.

Possible Triggers in this book are:

  • Anxiety
  • Assault
  • Attempted Murder
  • Blood
  • Bones
  • Bullying
  • Death
  • Decapitation
  • Depression
  • Drugs
  • Fire
  • Gore
  • Kidnapping
  • Murder
  • Occult
  • Poisoning
  • Profanity
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes
  • Snakes
  • Spider
  • Suicide (mentioned)
  • Torture
  • Violence

For a list of the triggers I look for you can check out this link here. This may or may not be a complete list of triggers for this book, I do my best to make sure I mark anything that could be a potential trigger but I may accidentally miss triggers.

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Reading Order

This series needs to be read in order and there are five books in the series. If you are not reading them on Kindle Unlimited – which I highly recommend having this subscription service – then I recommend having all five books.

There is not a single series that Caroline and Susanne put out where I would ever recommend starting the series without having it in full and ready to read. They often leave books on cliffhangers that have you staying up for another hour just to get to a point where it’s ok to put the series back down.

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac reading order is:

  1. Dark Fae
  2. Savage Fae
  3. Vicious Fae
  4. Broken Fae
  5. Warrior Fae
Dark Fae
Savage Fae
Vicious Fae
Broken Fae
Warrior Fae

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series Review

Elise Callisto is on a mission to find out what happened to her brother who supposedly died from a drug overdose at Aurora Academy. Elise knows that her brother would never touch a dangerous drug like killblaze. With the final words of a killblaze addict she finds out the King of Aurora Academy killed her brother she becomes a student so she can hunt down and kill the King. Except there are four Kings at Aurora Academy

The four kings are: Dante Oscura, a heartless dragon shifter, of the Oscura Clan. Ryder Draconis, a cold-blooded basilisk, of the Lunar Brotherhood. Leon Night, an arrogant lion shifter. Finally, Gabriel Nox, a loner harpy who looks like an angel of vengeance. The two rival gang leaders have taken as much of an interest in Elise as she has them and Leon and Gabriel have her in their sights too.

Elise, who is a vampire, needs to be careful with these ruthless fae and figure out who had motive, who was seeking possible revenge, and who is responsible for her brother’s death, while hiding the darkness of her past. Fate has a way of bringing everything together though so be prepared for the many twists that come.

As usual with Caroline and Susanne’s books this series is filled with twists and turns that make it hard to put the series down. I felt a wide array of emotions in these books just like I do most of their books. They are brilliant authors who make me laugh, cry, scream, and rage in almost every single book I read.

This series takes place in the world of Zodiac Academy and you’ll see a lot of character cross-over including the biggest asshole of Solaria. from that series several years before the events of Zodiac Academy.

I fell in love with the characters, the setting, and often find myself immersed in these worlds. However, I learned well from Zodiac Academy, and I share this advice often with others. Please slow down because reading their books in a binge may leave you with book burnout.

These books left me with emotional damage and I think Caroline and Susanne for it.

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Characters

First up, Elise. My girl! I love a strong kick ass woman who isn’t afraid to do a little unaliving to get justice. Elise is a wonderful character because while she’s tough and strong, she is incredibly caring and loyal. She is one of my all time favorite female main characters in a book. I have yet to find some who doesn’t love this a petite, lilac-haired girl, with fangs.

Dante Oscura. I love Dante in Zodiac Academy and seeing him in this series was just as amazing. Dante is a Rottweiler, tough and scary at first but is actually sweet and cuddly. His growth in this series is good but he didn’t have the best. He stays pretty consistent throughout the whole series. He is also the leader for a gang of werewolf shifters.

Leon Night. I absolutely love the dynamic between Elise and Leon as well as how Leon interacts with the other kings. He is funny and fun, but also has these moments where you see the deeper side to him. Leon could absolutely be described as being a golden retriever boy. I will warn you, at first I hated the Mindy’s but by the end I was laughing at the antics that came with them

Gabriel Nox. Alright I became a huge fan of Gabriel while reading Zodiac Academy. He’s just a great character in Zodiac Academy. I was absolutely excited to see this character crossover from the Zodiac Academy books and it was the main reason I read this series. I was absolutely thrown for a loop during this series when it came to Gabe. However, this is the type of character growth I freaking live for in books.

Ryder Draconis. There is a sound on Tik Tok that says, “he’s not even morally gray, he’s straight up a bad dude. And I can’t stop thinking about him.” That describes Ryder through most of this series. This character has my whole damn heart and his character growth is amazing. I will never get over this character.

I don’t want to give anymore character information because we do have quite a bit of crossover between Zodiac Academy and Ruthless Boys, let me tell you though. It’s amazing seeing how some of the characters are in Ruthless Boys and what they are like in Zodiac Academy. I love how the Twisted Sisters actually have some characters change depending on what they’ve gone through.

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Reading Experience

When I say I went through a wide range of emotions in this book I really did. There are scenes where I literally want to reach through my screen and rip a person to shreds. I have laughed so hard at certain scenes that I cried. I have ugly cried several times in these books too so make sure you have tissues. There is hot romance scenes that will leave you swooning too.

In the world of Solaria it’s the cutthroat natures of fae that make a twisted murder mystery like this a fantastic read with so many twists you’ll finally understand why the authors are referred to as the Twisted Sisters. Also get ready for hints, clues, and more mysteries to come up with your own theories about how the Zodiac Academy series will turn out.

This series is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of triggers but if you can read through it the dark shifter boys and the vampire girl are going to make their way into your heart and soul. They will live there forever and you will always come back to this series needing more.

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac will likely do that to you. It’s a fantastic story and the ending despite the tears that I shed was surprisingly happy and satisfying. There are only a few books where I can say that I think about these characters often. For me this is one of those series. I think about it all the time and it has stuck with me even after months.

I recommend reading Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac before you read Zodiac Academy but it’s not necessary. I personally read Zodiac Academy before and was thrown a bit by the natures of fae. If I had read Ruthless Boys I know I would have been a bit more acclimated to the cutthroat nature of fae in Solaria. Additionally, since this series is finished you can easily binge the entire series.

Star Rating

Before I rate this series I want to give you a bit of background about what my rankings mean. I typically read books that I check out through the Libby app with my local library or through Kindle Unlimited. 

I rarely buy ebooks unless they are cheaply priced or on sale. I also very rarely buy physical copies of books. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I have to absolutely adore a book to buy a physical copy that will be proudly displayed in my home.

So my ranking system is as follows:

  • 5 Stars equals I am buying a physical copy of this book. I will read this book at least 10 more times, it is the best ever.
  • 4 stars equals a great book. I might buy an ebook version when it’s on sale so that I can re-read it at least one more time.
  • 3 stars equals a good book. I likely won’t read again but I appreciate the story.
  • 2 stars equals “Meh.” I will not read this book again, it had a lot of problems and I did not care for it.
  • 1 star equals a bad book. I barely finished this book and I will never recommend anyone waste valuable book reading time on this book.
  • 0 stars is a did not finish book. I will never finish that book and it is banished.

The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series gets 5 stars, 5 peppers, and 5 tissues. That’s right this was a triple 5 series for me which means it’s one of the best I’ve ever read. There are only three series that I love this much, ACOTAR, The Ravenhood, and this series. 

I will never get over this series and I will love it forever. I felt it ended perfectly and I was extremely happy with the end result. I also love how in some ways it gives us a sneak into what the future might look like for Zodiac Academy. 

Final Thoughts on Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac

Like I’ve said previously, this series is fantastic. I have a love-hate relationship with Zodiac Academy. I love the series but I read that series in a binge and it caused me severe distress. Had I read this series before Zodiac Academy, I think I would have always loved Zodiac Academy. 

While there will likely be some small spoilers for Zodiac Academy in this series, I highly recommend reading this to get acclimated to the world of Solaria before diving into Zodiac Academy, especially if you are not a bully romance reader.

Read my post on Reverse Harems I’ve Read and What I Thought here.

Have you read the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Tik Tok and Pinterest for more like this and Pin this to your favorite book boards.

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series Review - Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti - Fantasy Dark Romance Reverse Harem Book Recommendation

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti - Fantasy Dark Romance Reverse Harem Book Recommendation - Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series Review

Fantasy Dark Romance Reverse Harem Book Recommendation - Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series Review - Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

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