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Zodiac Rising by Katie ZhaoDescendants of the Zodiac #1
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on October 8, 2024
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Representation: Chinese cast
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
At a secret Manhattan boarding school, the Descendants of the Chinese zodiac have hidden away since the source of their magic—the twelve zodiac statues—was vandalized and lost to time. Thus, a curse befell the Descendants, and they’ve lived as creatures of darkness . . . until now.
When the lost statues suddenly resurface and a powerful classmate is found dead, all signs point to foul play from the fae. The Descendants finally have the chance to take back what's rightfully theirs and break the curse. To pull this deadly heist off, though, they must assemble an elite crew:
THE VAMPIRE: After a century of burning hunger, Evangeline is out for blood.
THE SHAPESHIFTER: Nicholas yearns to restore justice to his people—and make peace with his past.
THE MORTAL: Alice seeks the truth of her mysterious heritage, and this mission may be the key.
THE WEREWOLF: Tristan will do anything to break free from the monstrous wolf inside.
Only these four have the power to save the Descendants, but the wrath of the fae waits at every turn. One wrong move and the fate of their kind will come crashing down. . . .
A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.
Trigger & Content Warnings: death, murder, violence, torture
Zodiac Rising was a disappointment; I wish I could say otherwise.
This is the first book in Zhao’s newest YA fantasy series, Descendants of the Zodiac. It’s based on the Chinese zodiac, which was something that instantly appealed to me. The synopsis gives off nostalgic 2010s YA vibes — namely The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, which I also didn’t enjoy, so I guess we’re not surprised why I didn’t like this one as much as I hoped I would. But I’m a firm believer reading tastes change over the years, and sometimes that nostalgic vibe? It works out, like it did with Fourth Wing*. I mean, that one didn’t with the sequel, but at least it was good fun.
*It’s not my intention to compare Zhao to Yarros or vice versa; Fourth Wing just turned out to be the first book that popped up into my head in recent books that give nostalgic YA vibes of the early 2010s.
Zodiac Rising was not it. So where did it go wrong for me?
The writing felt… bland? I was buddy reading this with Izzy from Nine Tale Vixen and she puts it as “very baby fanfic writer” which I feel sums the writing pretty accurately (except I don’t read fanfiction so it’s choppy and not flowing well). The plot and pacing felt off, and I don’t think the writing style helped either, even if it was easy to read when I actually sat down and had no other books available to read without WiFi; it ultimately felt like the book was dragging its shoes in the sand.
The characters? Honestly, I don’t remember any of them, outside of maybe Tristan. And an unknown character that we get introduced to at the beginning of Part Two that gave ominous villain vibes. They didn’t seem to have anything other than surface-level personality.
The world? It feels like there’s a lot going on and some of the logic doesn’t make sense. I feel like this is my biggest pain point in books that have this nostalgic vibe.
We have this secret school in Manhattan (Earthly Branches Academy) where the descendants of the Chinese zodiac have been hiding in since the twelve zodiac statues got vandalized and five of them were stolen, resulting in everyone but the House of Boar getting turned into various creatures. That’s dandy and all, but what truly grinds my gears here is we have the High Council going to school for like 100+ years, just like… all the other students?
It’s like they have nothing else better to do — surely there’s only so much content about Vampire Nutrition and Advanced Mandarin that you can go through before it just starts getting repetitive. And they’re the high council leading the descendants. There’s got to be better things than attending classes, but I honestly just got a Mean Girls vibe if there was a plot to overthrow them from one member.
I think if I read Zodiac Rising ten years ago, I’d probably have a much better time enjoying this and wouldn’t question the writing or world building choices. But for now? I just didn’t vibe with it, and I feel like I was in denial for longer than I wanted before I decided to call it quits.
Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.
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What a pity. I’m not a fantasy reader, but I think I get what you mean. The basic concept is interesting…it sounds like much more could have done with it.
(could have been done with it) 😬
Ugh that is such a shame, part of me is still curious enough to maybe give this one a try? Maybe I won’t mind the writing style as much? Lmao and if I do I know who I can waddle to and vent.
Yes, yes, you’re welcome to vent to me at any time lol. But I hope for you that if you do pick this up you DO enjoy it.
i’m planning to read this one sometime early next year, but I’m putting it off because I also didn’t gel with the writing too much – I think the concept was pretty interesting though! Loved reading your honest thoughts on this one sophia <3