Zodiac was a charming novel that featured an amazing original idea.

At first, I found Zodiac to be a really slow and boring start. The author introduces many words and places in her universe that weren't explained well, but as the story progressed I began to understand the language she made up for her fictional universe. Once the book got going, I found that I had myself hooked onto the story and I wanted to know more about the characters. I even began to feel for the characters, which is always a good sign for the book!

The start was slow, which made the novel hard to read. I almost put the book down three times due to how boring I found the start to be. Once I was three-fourths into the book, I was hooked, but I would suggest the author to make the story a little more enticing towards the beginning instead of the end.

I felt like I needed a Zodiac style dictionary for some of the words used in the novel. The author explains the words once or twice, and then they are used constantly. Sometimes I needed a little reminder of what Psynergy was or other terms that aren't used in day to day life. But, this author is making her own universe so the new words were used in a good way! Her own fictional universe deserved it's own language!

I liked the character development and the twists and turns of the novel! While the book was slow, the action that did occur was appreciated. I loved the development of the story and the different pieces of action that happened. I would have liked to see more of the different Zodiacs involved in this novel if I had to choose anything to fix about the plot.

Overall, I did enjoy this book! I liked reading it and I found it to be an original and well thought out idea! I can't wait to read the next one now that I'm hooked on the first!

Four out of five stars for Zodiac, due to the slow start.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. ( )

I enjoyed it. Rho is a bit irritating in some parts. The love triangle is nice. One thing that put me off is: I have the 15th edition print and it contains grammatical errors. ( )

Interesting new sci-fi world, based on the star systems of the zodiac. There was a little too much dramatic zooming around the universe and mooning over potential mates, but pretty cool on the whole.

Advanced reader copy provided by edelweiss. ( )

I’ve been anticipating reading Zodiac for a while, so this book had a lot to live up to. I really liked it, fully acknowledging that there are things about it that just aren’t perfect. It’s the conviction, the constant movement, and the universe of the Zodiac that really got me. This book doesn’t give you a lot of time to adjust before it takes you off running.

Zodiac begins with the anticipation of an exam and band performance, but quickly explodes into a galactic terrorist attack and the struggle to convince seasoned politicians to do the right thing even if it’s difficult to understand. Rho, a Cancerian, is joined by her chief advisor, a “diplomatic emissary” from the Libra constellation, and at first one of the twins from Gemini seeking to warn the other Zodiac Houses. And so it begins.

The beginning and the ending were my least favorite parts of Zodiac. The book sets up a typical YA underdog situation focusing on teen life, but immediately throws that away for the greater plot. The ending pulls out a common trope used in first books that, in many ways, makes the events of the entire book feel pointless other than world building and character introductions.

Rhoma Grace is an okay character, but she’s nothing special. Zodiac is more plot-centric than character-centric, so we don’t have a lot of time to think about how two-dimensional Rho is while reading – there’s far too much going on. Much of what we know about Rho, Nishi, Mathais, and Hysan is told to us in dialogue. Rho has some flashbacks that give us context, particularly earlier in the book. We know she cares for her family and loves her planet and her Sign, but otherwise, we don’t know much about Rho. We don’t know what drives her, what makes her happy, what makes her sad. Her reactions are blindly driven by a singular focus on her task – something even the Jury at Libra’s Embassy notes. If you’re looking for deep, complex characters… look elsewhere.

The world of the Zodiac really interests me. The various Houses have been thought out in detail – everything to the different terminology they use for communication devices to the way they say hello and goodbye. Each house embodies a different trait and each Guardian – for how little we see most of them – is distinguished and unique. The atmosphere and temperament of each of the planets is extremely different. We even learn a bit about lifestyles in Gemini and Virgo. Altogether, it was the world building and the plot that kept me so curious and engaged. Every time Rho and her companions landed on a new planet, I wanted to know everything.

In addition, the plot tugs you forward as the passengers of the Equinox struggle to stay ahead of Ochus and his Psy attacks. Whether it’s a one-on-one battle or a planet-wide attack, there’s a lot happening in Zodiac. You root for Rho not because you’re loyal to her, but because she’s the only one trying to stop the destruction. There’s not enough time for Zodiac to get boring because every handful of chapters, there’s a new problem or a new place they have to go. I thought the pacing was really quick, but I liked it this way because in Zodiac, that added to the urgency.

If you’re a character-driven reader, you may not enjoy Zodiac. But I recommend you give it a try if you’re into science fiction and mythology and like a good action story! It’s loads of fun. Will be reading on for sure. ( )

2.5 stars

There was potential here, but the love triangle was inane and completely unnecessary to the story. In the first half I felt that some things were rather contrived and forced. It was a bit better later, so 2.5, but in the end, it was a 2 star experienced for me. My library network has only the first two books in this series, so I am guessing that they didn't circulate enough for the libraries to keep buying them, or else there was too long of a gap in between books.

I also wasn't that thrilled with some of the character development and the uneven world building.

Most of all, I think there was too much of many things to make this as good as it could have been. ( )