Restless Stars by Susanne Valenti & Caroline Peckham

The series truly should have ended with book 8. The twins should have defeated Lionel and that subsequently caused the Heirs to realize they were fit to rule and bow to them. The beginning of book 9 just feels like Lionel crafted propaganda and I’m tired. 

In reality, though, what do the fakes do for the plot? This book is supposed to be wrapping everything up. If Clyde was supposed to be our final Big Bad, Lavinia should have been dealt with in book 7, Lionel in book 8, and then this book left for Clyde. These books don’t need to be so unbearably long in order to get everything done. Better plotting could accomplish the same thing. 

Darius going for the throat with Seth and Caleb in front of the whole gang, oh my god. 

I refuse to read Lionel’s chapters because I don’t want to know how things are going for him. I want the culmination of his plans to be brought to light for me at the same time it is for the characters in the book. I want to learn as the main characters learn. 

Okay, Darius is just being mean at this point with the way he’s toying with Caleb and Seth. He had a whole inner turmoil of love and obsession going over Tory that he was actively lying to the other Heirs about for all of the series until they were star crossed. If Caleb and Seth don’t want to come out as a couple, that’s up to them. And it was SO not his place to tell Tory. I don’t get why he’s so pissed about it, but I hope Caleb beats his ass if he keeps poking at him like that. 

Excuse me? Do I… respect and admire Seth Capella? I can’t believe this, but I think he’s actually grown on me and I admire his drive to be a better person and respect his growth into a man he can be proud of. 

It’s actually so hard to read any scene with Washer in it. All I can say is thank god I’ll never have to read another one of his pervy ass lines at any point in this universe again. 

The illusion in the weird ruins just tells me Seth has a thing for vampires in general. Also, it was blindingly not real because people thought Washer was hot/desirable. 

There’s officially too much smut in this damn book. Fight your war, for Christ’s sake. It was a fine enough balance through the series so far, but I feel like we’re in Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac levels of gratuity at this point. 

I can confidently say the only time I’ve ever found Seth attractive was when he was fighting to save Luca. 

Xavier having survivors guilt is so real, and it would have been great if they had done more with that than just giving him ED. 

There’s too much going on in this book… I’m not even invested anymore. I just want to be done. Between Tharix, the guild stuff, the Nymphs, Lionel, Lavinia, the two earthbound stars, the ferryman, my head hurts. 

Why can poor Xavier not catch a damn break? First, bursting in on a grief session about Tyler’s dead mother with his bejeweled cock out for everyone to see. Second, bursting in on a crime scene where someone was murdered shouting about how he wasn’t a virgin anymore because he fucked not just a girl but a guy as well, “ALL THE HOLES” in front of god and everyone again. Third, he can’t come anymore because he misses his mom and brother. Fourth, he finally gets to come again and live streams it for the whole world to see and somehow manages to tag his dead mother in it as well. It’s just malicious at this point. 

Weirdly, I think Caleb’s mom is the most normal and well adjusted parent that we see in this universe aside from Hamish. As much as she was overbearing and boundary crossing with Elise, she truly loves Caleb with the type of fierceness a mother should love her child with. She wants to see her child grow and flourish and succeed. If Darius had ever challenged Lionel, it would have been to the death and it would have been an unfair fight with Lionel pulling every shady trick to win. But Melinda just accepts that her son is in a better position to lead than she is and accepts his challenge gracefully, feeling genuine pride and joy when he beats her rightfully. 

Screaming, sobbing, crying over Caleb’s declaration. What a man. 

I do feel bad about Seth losing his whole family. It’s sad that there’s so much death and pain in the Heirs lives no matter what they do. Every time something good happens for them, it feels like there’s a rug ready to be ripped out from under them. 

I think I’m more than a little furious Xavier or Darius weren’t the ones to kill Lionel. I’m rewriting it in my head so that Lionel falls at the hands of his sons together. It would have been a very appropriate moment to have it from one of their perspectives and have a depiction of understanding flashing across Lionel’s face as he realizes he was the orchestrator of his own demise and the weakness was always his, not his sons. I don’t know. I just feel like it could have been done… better? More poetically? 

They just haaaaaad to set up the spinoff for Darkmore right there at the end, didn’t they. I can’t wait to enjoy the first three books in that series and then lament my decision to press on with all subsequent books. Hopefully by now they have an editor to cut out the slack. 

I love that it’s been 10 years and Caleb still can’t escape the Pegasus kink rumors. 

Well, I’ve discovered a worse baby name than Gravity. KALE? 

What the fuck do you mean ‘Many years after that (just before a new evil appears and it all goes to hell again)’??????

So, we didn’t touch on Caleb and Seth getting around the law of them not being allowed to be together, how Tory and Darcy handled that as the queens. We didn’t touch on the shift in power from the counselors to the Heirs. We didn’t touch on the ruling dynamic with Darius being married to Tory or Orion being leader of the guild and married to Darcy or Caleb being in a coven with Orion while also being a counselor. Once again, so many unanswered questions that just don’t get wrapped for the sake of ending the series. These authors really needed someone to go over this series with a fine tooth comb and refine it down to a nice, manageable series. The length really wasn’t even the issue, it was the scatter shot of a plot. Really, I would have been fine with 15 books if they had just been better paced and better plotted. 

Anyway, I have to be real, I skimmed sooooooo much. I just couldn’t do it and felt like 90% of it wasn’t really necessary. I had a headache by the end and was just ready to shelve that final book. I can’t stress how happy I am to finally, blessedly, joyously, be done. With Zodiac Academy. On to Darkmore Penitentiary or whatever its name is.