Review: Zodiac by Romina Russell

Zodiac #1

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: December 9, 2014

Rating: 3 Stars

Source: ARC trade

Pages: 336

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancerian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

This is a book that I have been wanting to read for quite some time for two reasons. The first being JUST LOOK AT THE COVER! And the second being because I found the fact that it was based on astrological signs to be very interesting! I enjoyed this book overall, but I didn't love it as much as I had expected to!

Rhoma Grace, or just Rho, has a real knack for reading the stars, but she does it her own way which gets her in trouble in the beginning of the story because she doesn't show how she comes to her conclusions. But she sees a weird pattern in the stars, but no one believes her that it's probably something bad. So she goes on with her life and is about to play a gig with her band when there is a violent blast that strikes the four moons of Cancer and MANY people die, including the current Guardian of Cancer. She is taken to a space station with the rest of the survivors from the blast and is taken aside and tested and named the new Guardian of Cancer, much to her surprise. She makes her first official act as Guardian a mission to go warn the other Houses about the impending danger to their planets with her advisor, Mathia, and the diplomatic envoy from Libra, Hysan. The only problem with her plan is that no one believes her so her biggest challenge is finding a way to prove it and get the Houses to all get along with each other again.

Rho is the main character of this story. I liked her. I think she might have been kind of dumb sometimes, but I liked her. She was selfless. She was definitely very determined. She told everyone her story of what she saw in the stars even though it seemed way too far fetched to be true. No one believed her, but that never stopped her from at least attempting to warn everyone who immediately needed warning. She was brave to do a lot of the things that she did even though it very well could have been the end of her. 

Mathias is Rho's self appointed Advisor. They had a previous 'relationship' before they really met in the story. They always hung out in the same area and they basically just watched each other for years until she appointed him as her Advisor. I didn't like him. I never found him to be entirely pleasant. He CONSTANTLY doubted Rho and tried to get her to stop doing what she was doing. And he was constantly trying to fight with Hysan and I was basically just over him.

Hysan is the diplomatic envoy from Libra. Rho and Matthias take off on their mission to warn the Houses in his ship. So he ends up tagging along with them. I liked him. He was SO MUCH more pleasant than Mathias. He believed Rho even though her story sounded so crazy and no one else could see what she was seeing in the stars. He was kind and always seemed to be smiling and just so much better than Mathias all around in my opinion.

There is definitely a love triangle in this book. I don't understand it. It seemed to me that for most of the book, one of them is the clear pick! But that's not necessarily the case and I just didn't enjoy it! She says she has feelings for both of them. So obnoxious!

Besides Mathias and the love triangle there are two other things that bother me. One of them being how after the blast no one could find her family, they were missing. Then they were found. Then they were missing again. And it just felt like it kept going back and forth and I guess I could have maybe not read it as clearly as I should have, but that bugged me. Also the fact that not a single person even would consider that Rho's story was true even after all that had already happened, but then one more even happens and suddenly EVERYONE believes her and thinks she's totally sane again and I didn't feel like the way that went was very believable.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I found the astrology part of this book to be super interesting. Although, as a Sagittarius, I definitely don't think that I would fit in with the group from this book. I am like the opposite of curious. I am very excited to read the next book and I think that I'm probably going to buy the hardcover of this book! I need that beauty to be on my shelf forever!!

Also since I am doing Bookish Bingo, I have just crossed off the Science Fiction square with this one!

What did you think of this book if you've read it?