Zodiac Paperback – November 10, 2015

I’m a SYFY geek and when I heard about Zodiac I was intrigued, especially by the gorgeous cover that seemed to glow! Zodiac was a fast pace galactic ride that was such a unique read it wasn’t hard to fall in love with the whole world, er galaxy. Zodiac delivers a great read with intense action, loss, romance and mystery. Our heroine, Rhoma Grace is strong, caring and she’s going to need that to not only fight for her world Cancer, but the other 11 Houses of Zodiac.Rhoma,or known as Rho, is from the House of Cancer, a world 99 percent water. On one of Cancer’s moons, while Rho and her band play, a flash of light interrupts the concert destroying the nearest moon, Thebe, and killing all those in close proximity. It also causes major problems for the planet Cancer as tsunamis destroy many cities. Rho and her band escape the tragedy but she doesn’t have time to mourn when she is nominated as House Guardian of Cancer. Rho also has a gift, she can read the constellation of the stars and while doing so, she sees a dark matter moving from House to House, destroying each planet. The Dark Matter is Ochus from the lost 13th House. Even when she agrees to be guardian, no one believes her when she tries to warn each House about Ochus. As each House falls, Rho tries to save not only her people, but her galaxy.Rhoma was a wonderfully developed character. She was so young to be given the job as Guardian but took it to save her people. Even though those in her House think she’s a naive little girl, Rho takes it with pride and will do anything to save her House. She’s head strong, courageous and never backs down, even when no one believes her about Ochus. She faces all her turmoil and stress just as any teen would, questioning herself or those around her.The secondary characters bring support and intrigue to Rho’s journey. Two hot guys are her love interest, the Cancerian Mathias and the Libra Hysan. Mathias is assigned to guard Rho on her travels. He takes his job seriously and questions Rho on everything. He’s a little bit stoic in his opinions and keeps his emotions checked. Hysan was a fun loving Libra, who I liked a lot because he wasn’t as serious. He had a witty personality and kept everything light. I hate love triangles but this one was light hearted and romantic. So it didn’t bother me as much.The words flowed and the description were breathtaking. I really felt like I was in space with Rho going to each planet to warn the Zodia. Even though sometimes I got lost in the verbiage, Romina did an excellent job in explaining what was going on.Let’s get to the galaxy that Romina created! She just didn’t world build, she galaxy build. Is that even a word? In the future, there are 12 planets, each the sign of the zodiac. Each House as unique gifts like Scoprio, my sign, is Innovation, or House Cancer is Nurture. The people of the houses have their own characteristics as well. Cancer people are all curly haired with blue eyed who have a nurturing disposition. I love Astrology so reading this book brought a whole new insight to that meaning. Romina has created words such as Emphemeris, Acolyte, Zodai….to go along with her SYFY epic. I did have to go back a couple of times in the book to understand the terms…but it didn’t stop me from reading this epic story.I love space. I have always been a Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, BattleStar Galactica, Farscape, girl. So this books touched my heart. I love the book Dune and Zodiac has a reminiscence of all my favorite shows and that book.Should you read it? Yes, Romina did a wonderful job at creating the galaxy of the Zodai and the ending left me reeling! Fast pace, action packed book that you can't put down. I can't wait for the second book.

Title: Zodiac (Zodiac #1)Author: Romina RussellPublisher: Razorbill, 2014 (December 9)Genre: YA Science FictionI am part of an exciting readathon for the Zodiac series, and though I’ve owned the first book for its gorgeous cover and its riveting synopsis, I had never gotten around to reading it.I mean seriously, look at this COVER!!So I jumped at the chance to read along and read book one, Zodiac, and it was good. So good.Review:I love anything Astrological. I know I’m a Pisces, and I’ve known this for awhile. I’m the epitome of one. Cancer is a water sign, so I got along with the protagonist quite easily.Rhoma Grace, an Acholyte from House Cancer, is a sixteen year old student and a drummer. Her biggest fears are her tests coming up to become a Zodai. The university’s best-ranked graduates get invited to join the Order of the Zodai, our galaxy’s peacekeepers. The best of the best are recruited into the Guardian’s Royal Guard, the Zodai’s highest honor.And Rho doesn’t feel like the best of the best, but before her mom left, she drilled Rho full of information about the other Zodiac houses and had her practice reading the Stars. When a concert is interrupted buy an explosion on her planet, the current Guardian of her house is killed. Rho turns to the Stars for answers, and instead of finding them, she just finds more questions.She finds the Zodiac’s biggest boogeyman and legend actually exists. And he almost kills her when he finds out she can see him.When the other Zodai learn of her abilities, Rho is made the new Guardian of Cancer. She’s now Holy Mother of the entire Cancrian people.However, despite having the power and the title, no one will listen to Rho: the boogeyman, Ochus, has intentions of destroying the whole Zodiac, and though only 12 houses (all the astrological signs we know) are all that exist, there is a Thirteenth House, and it’s out for destruction.While Rho deals with trying to convince every planet in danger of attack that Ochus exists, she meets Hysan, an ambassador from Libra, who believes her instantly. It puts her mind at ease but also frustrates her when her crush and new partner, Mathias, thinks she’s mistaken. Rho’ heart is torn between the Zodai protecting her and the charismatic Libran who aims to please.When Rho goes on an intergalactic mission to try and warn the Zodiac, Ochus seems to always be a threat…but how can a sixteen year old newly appointed Guardian convince all twelve houses that the legend, the monster under the bed, the “Thirteenth” house, is REAL?Is It Classroom-Approriate?Actually, yes. I found this book to be a breath of fresh air after all the other books not suitable for the classroom. The intricate Zodiac system is quite interesting, and all the virtues that one house represents are all virtues we have inside. Discussions on personal astrological signs could be discussed and turned into fun projects for each student to learn more themselves; they could find the virtues that they agree with and the virtues they don’t…they also could find how we are all a little bit of every sign if we really look at ourselves. Reading horoscopes in class can open dialogues or they could write their own predictions for the other signs.The most engaging aspect is the science. Conversations about time and space are completely easy to tie in with Russell’s book. I would say it would be productive for all high school levels to use this book, and even though it’s part of a series, it ends at an interesting point of the story that would open up more speculation (not going to reveal those spoilers, though!)Btw, I give Zodiac ★★★★☆ for classroom use! See all the possibilities?Use it! Just be creative with it and have fun! I would have given it five but it’s not exactly a lesson plan that’s easy to fit into the curriculum, so you have to find a way to make it work. Science classes would benefit as well as literature classes: you could do a shared Unit!AGE RANGEI feel Zodiac is appropriate for any age – I didn’t see it on Lexile.com, so I would recommend 13 and up…there’s a lot of complicated information about space and the houses so it’s probably best for an advanced or avid reader. However, there was noting inappropriate that I could find, and you know I try to err on the side of caution.End Result:I give Zodiac ★★★★★! I loved it. Then again, I’m a big science fiction reader. I also love the Astrological aspect. I leaned a lot about the different signs, which I love. And of course only wish the main character’s house was Pisces! I can’t wait to read the next installment, Wandering Star.

This book gets 3.5 stars from me. I love the world and the 12 Zodiac houses. Their cultures and values and just everything about the planets and the constellations are fascinating. There, at least, this book excelled. But as for the rest of it, it was really frustrating and annoying at best. Rho, our protagonist, is a real special cookie. Every guy she meets instantly falls in love. She's the most loyal Cancrian and she's the only one that can save the universe. Ugh, please. It's so cliche to make your protagonist the most specialist person ever and then have her stuck in a love triangle too. Which brings me to my next point. I hate love triangles with a passion. I can't understand how anyone can think it's okay to string two guys along and still justify your actions after jumping from one to the other. If Mathias wasn't in this book I would have been happy. He is the worst kind of guy and Rho being okay with him not trusting her when she cannot tell a lie, is beyond me. Hysan is obviously my favorite. But that insta-love also put me off quite a bit. He's an intriguing character all on his own and I want him to be our hero! Rho, go take a back seat. If you can stomach a really annoying protagonist and a bad, bad love triangle, go on, give this book a read. The world is truly fascinating and makes up a bit for the terrible romance and special-cookieness of our heroine.