Zodiac Academy: Ruthless Fae

Ruthless Fae is the second instalment in the Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti.

Directly taking place after the events of the previous book, Ruthless Fae follows Tory and Darcy as they navigate life at Zodiac Academy after the Heirs try to scare them off for good. We see the twins deal with their inner turmoil of whether to return to the mortal world where they struggled and suffered or stay and prove themselves.

This book serves as a great continuation of a story that is so hooking that I was very invested. The drama and angst are great, and when considering that the relationships in this series are slow-burn, the authors have done a good job of creating tension without speedrunning the romance. We are also introduced to a deeper level of world-building, which includes the concept of star bonds: Nebula Allies, Elysian Mates and Astral Adversaries, which I hope get explored in upcoming books.

I would argue that Tory is my favourite twin — I feel like her personality has more to offer to the narrative and her budding romance with Caleb definitely has potential. She has no problem with seeking out revenge which is satisfying from the reader's perspective as she is not afraid to fight back and stand up for herself and her sister. Darcy is still important to the story, however, the teacher-student relationship doesn't do much for me so I struggled to become invested in her arc in particular.

After the events that closed out the previous book, it's fair to say the Heirs are pretty awful people. After seeing the families they come from, you understand why they hate Tory and Darcy and why they consider them a threat, but they definitely go to the extreme. Darius seems to be at the forefront and will play a bigger part in the story. Max is pretty non-existent. Whenever I start liking Caleb and Seth a smidge, they end up saying or doing something that brings me back to square one.

Onto book three!