Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac: I Almost DNF'd My New Favorite Series

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What do a heartless Dragon Shifter, a cold-blooded Basilisk, an arrogant Lion Shifter, and a brooding tattooed Harpy all have in common? A lilac-haired vampire named Elise Callisto. And her very specific mission to destroy one of them for murdering her brother. She just doesn’t know which one did it yet.

That is the premise of The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac by Susanne Valenti and Caroline Peckham. A five-book paranormal academy reverse harem set in the world of Zodiac Academy, four years before the Vega Twins were ever Awakened.

If you have read ZA, you will find some character crossover that will delight you. If you haven’t, it doesn’t matter at all. This series stands completely on its own, and I say that as someone who read it without having started Zodiac Academy.

I picked it up, I was absorbed, I was fine.

More than fine.

Title: Dark Fae (The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, 1)

Author: Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenit

Publisher: Independently Published

Format: eBook and physical

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Why Choose, Reverse Harem

Release Date: April 1, 2021

Pages: 536

Star Rating: 5 stars (the entire series)

Spice Rating: 3-5 chilis with Dark Fae being the tamest and Warrior Fae the spiciest

What is The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac About?

Aurora Academy is not a gentle place. It sits in the roughest corner of Solaria, split between two gangs—the Lunar Brotherhood and the Oscura Clan—whose hatred for each other means blood in the hallways is practically scheduled. Two of the four kings run those gangs. The other two are no less dangerous.

Elise arrives knowing one of them killed her brother. She arrives with her fangs and her vengeance and the intention to burn whoever did it to the ground. What she does not expect to arrive is everything else that happened to her there.

The five books—Dark Fae, Savage Fae, Vicious Fae, Broken Fae, and Warrior Fae—build a murder mystery wrapped in a dark romance, gang politics, magic, and more emotional devastation than I was prepared for. It is twisted, it is chaotic, and it will leave your head spinning in the best way.

The Series I Almost Put Down Three Times

Now what you came here for.

This series had been sitting on my shelf for two years. Two years of walking past it, picking it up, putting it down. I am a mood reader through and through, and for two years, the mood never quite arrived.

Until one day it did. The siren song of that spine called to me, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I had originally mapped out a whole reading plan: first three books of Zodiac Academy, then Ruthless Boys, then back to ZA to finish the roundup.

Very organized of me, right 😏? Right.

My brain said absolutely not, though. Something instinctive told me to experience this series completely on its own, and I listened, and it was the right call.

Now here is where I have to be honest with you.

What You Actually Get When You Read This Series

The writing is not great (like it is borderline terrible). I need you to hear that and hold it close because it is going to matter in a moment. The word flesh is used in a way (repeatedly) that made me want to put the book down on several occasions.

And I almost did.

What stopped me was posting about it on Threads, where a lovely reader told me to push through and said this was one of her favorite series. I trusted her. I will be grateful for that nudge for a long time because The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac is easily one of my favorite series of the year.

What you get when you read this series is not a perfectly written book.

What you get is a story that grabs you somewhere low and real and does not let go. There are moments that are genuinely unhinged—I will say only this: someone has a thing involving cake with his brothers in the vicinity, and it is treated like a perfectly normal Tuesday—but alongside those moments is some of the most emotionally rich storytelling I have read all year.

I spent entire chapters giggling and kicking my feet. I raged. Wanting to physically rip pages out. I cried real tears. Not every book takes you through all of that. This one does.

the ruthless boys of the zodiac taken by the diary of a reader

Ryder Draconis and the Character Arc that Wrecked Me

Now let’s talk about the boys, because you need to be prepared.

Leon is pure sunshine, and I love him exactly as he is. But I will be transparent with you: I am a woman who is called to dark edges. Which is why the trio of Gabriel (do not call him Gabe, he hates it), Dante, and Ryder had me in a chokehold I have not recovered from. I cannot choose between them.

I tried.

There is genuinely no way.

Ryder Draconis is the one who wrecked me most. He moved through his life defined by two words tattooed on his knuckles—pain and lust—fully convinced that was all he was, all he would ever be, that he was simply unlovable. Watching him slowly, painfully, beautifully come to understand that he was so much more than what he had been made to believe is the kind of character arc that stays with you long after the last page. One of the best I have read this year. Possibly longer than that.

The Worldbuilding, Magic System and the Zodiac Academy Connection

The worldbuilding is genuinely good. All manner of creatures exist within Solaria, and the magic system is a lot of fun, with each character belonging to a different order.

I would obviously be a Sphinx (they are fueled by reading).

There were moments when I wanted to go even deeper into it, some scenes feeling thin, and I was hungry for texture, but that is less a criticism and more a testament to the fact that the world is interesting enough that I wanted more.

Woven through all the romance and chaos is the mystery that brought Elise to Aurora Academy in the first place. Her brother, Gareth, and the truth about what happened to him.

That thread of murder mystery and dark intrigue is what gives the series its backbone and keeps you racing through the pages.

How Spicy Is The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac?

Now, let’s talk about spice. Because I know you want to know. It is there, but for someone who is a self-described spice lover (the spicier the better, but it has to make sense, obviously), the earlier books did not quite reach the level I personally wanted. What I will tell you is that the spice builds steadily across the series. Warrior Fae, the final book, is the spiciest of them all. The payoff is absolutely there.

The twists are a mixed bag. Most of them I called early; some were embarrassingly predictable, and I spent a good portion of the series feeling smug about it. Then the big one hit. The one I did not see coming, even though somewhere in my gut I had a feeling and I chose to dismiss it. I should have trusted it. It would not have mattered. I still would have been unprepared.

But I should have trusted it.

I finished the final book in the series, Warrior Fae, and sat with an overwhelming sadness that only comes when a world you have been living in closes. The kind that had me immediately wanting to go back to Dark Fae page one and start all over again, knowing everything I know now. That specific grief is the highest compliment I know how to pay a series.

Sooo should you read it?

So is it worth it?

Worth the writing that makes you wince, worth the flesh overuse, worth the moments that make you stare at the ceiling wondering what you just read?

Without hesitation, or a hint of doubt, YES!!! A thousand times yes. Because underneath it all is a story with real heart, characters who earn your love, and emotional arcs that remind you why you read in the first place. Whether you are deep in the Zodiac Academy world already or have never touched it, this series will find you, and it will keep you.

If there is one reverse harem series I will put in your hands, it is The Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac. Weird cake and all.

For the ones who thought I’ll just read this one book and then got sucked in and spent roughly 2 weeks reading 3.5k pages. I see you.