Wandering Star by Romina Russell Series: Zodiac #2
Also in this series: Zodiac
Published by Razorbill on December 8th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 353
Source: The Publisher, Blog Tour
My content rating: YA (Nothing more than kissing shown)
My rating:
A breathtaking sci-fi space saga inspired by astrology that will stun fans of the Illuminae Files and Starbound series.
Orphaned, disgraced, and stripped of her title, Rho is ready to live life quietly, as an aid worker in the Cancrian refugee camp on House Capricorn.
But news has spread that the Marad--an unbalanced terrorist group determined to overturn harmony in the Galaxy--could strike any House at any moment.Then, unwelcome nightmare that he is, Ochus appears to Rho, bearing a cryptic message that leaves her with no choice but to fight.
Now Rho must embark on a high-stakes journey through an all-new set of Houses, where she discovers that there's much more to her Galaxy--and to herself--than she could have ever imagined.
It’s been a long time since I read the first book in this series (I probably should have actually participated in the rereadathon of the first book, but I just didn’t have time), so it took me a little bit of time to remember what was happening, but once I got myself warmed up, I found that I was enthralled with the worlds of the Zodiac once again!
This second book picked up right where the first left off—after the destruction of Cancer, Rho and her brother are refugees of sorts on Capricorn. She’s overwhelmed with guilt over Mathias’s and her father’s deaths (not to mention many other citizens of Cancer) and she’s pretty much given up on being a leader. Of course, she might not get to choose whether or not to lead.
What Fed My Addiction:
- The Zodiac worlds. I just love the concept of the worlds of Zodiac and how they’re affected by their signs. Russell has done some amazing worldbuilding here!
- The Risers. I loved the concept of the Risers and how they are treated as outcasts in the Zodiac society. I don’t want to give too much away about them because you learn more about them as the book goes on, but I thought that these characters brought up a lot of questions about how we can build prejudices based on the actions of a certain subset of a group and also just based on the fact that someone is different. In this book, even Rho starts to question her own views and how she might have a skewed perspective that has led to some prejudices. I’m probably most interested to see where Russell goes with this aspect of the book and to see what happens with the Risers.
- Lots of revelations! This book was action-packed and filled with twists and turns. I’ll admit that I saw a few of them coming, but there were definitely still some surprises. Rho learns a lot about the history of Zodiac and she finds that she is tied to that history in certain ways. Actually, there are lots of revelations, but of course, I can’t talk about them in any sort of detail because I’d end up giving things away!
What Left Me Hungry for More:
- Still a love triangle? Rho can’t let go of Mathias, even when he’s dead. She holds onto the guilt she feels over his death and she holds onto his memory. And as the book goes on, things just get more and more … complicated. I’ll confess that I was never really much of a fan of Mathias in the first place, so I just wanted to see her move on with Hysan. but she couldn’t really do that. (On the positive side, we did get some nice moments between the couple). I did understand some of Rho’s feelings and actions when it came to the romance, but there were a few times when she just made me more than a little crazy.
This book digs us deeper into the history of the Zodiac and propels the story toward an uncertain future! I’m excited to keep reading and find out where Russell takes us in Black Moon! I give this book 4/5 stars
(The love triangle almost makes me want to reduce that to 3.5 stars, but I’m intrigued with some of the revelations that Rho made about herself—with Hysan’s help—at the end of the book, and I think that the triangle helps her explore those, so I’m more on board with it than I would otherwise be.)
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
About the Author
Romina Russell is a Los Angeles based author who originally hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a teen, Romina landed her first writing gig—College She Wrote, a weekly Sunday column for the Miami Herald that was later picked up for national syndication—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. When she’s not working on the ZODIAC series, Romina can be found producing movie trailers, taking photographs, or daydreaming about buying a new drum set. She is a Virgo to the core.
Blog Tour Schedule:
Want to see what others thought of the book? You can check out lots more reviews by following the tour!
Or check out the Twitter chat on August 6th (scroll to the bottom of the tour schedule for details)
Week One:
July 17 – Bookiemoji – Book Photography
July 18 – The Book Talk – Book Photography
July 19 – The Eater of Books! – Wandering Star Mood Board
July 20 – Picture Books to YA – Review & Cookie Decorating
July 21 – The Book Nut – Galaxy Playlist
Week Two:
July 24 – In Wonderland
July 25 – The Hardcover Lover
July 27 – The Swoony Boy’s Podcast
July 28 – Rachel’s Book Reviews – Live Tweet Reading of Wandering Star
Week Three:
July 31 – The Wednesday Blog
July 31 – Feed Your Fiction Addiction
August 1 – YA and Wine – Review & Mood Board
August 2 – The Hermit Librarian – Wandering Star Playlist
August 2 – MundieMoms – Spotlight
August 3 – Pen and Parchment – YA Characters & Their Zodiac Sign
August 3 – The Biblio Life – Spotlight
August 4 – Four Violet
Twitter Chat: August 6th @ 8PM EST Hosted by @buttermybooks @ ButterMyBooks
wow look at those covers! and I’m fascinated by the zodiac too [child of the 80s I guess lol] and lots od twists and revelations. yay! I’m adding it! thanks for the revie w:)
The Zodiac worlds are really interesting. I love how she imagined them!
I have book one on order from the library because I haven’t started this series yet. I wasn’t aware of the love triangle and this is something I’m not a fan of, but the world building sounds fantastic enough for me to still want to read this series.
Yeah, the love triangle isn’t my favorite part, but it’s definitely still worth reading.
I have been meaning to read this series for so long. I’m not a huge fan of the love triangle, but I can get over that if the writing is bomb. Great review!
Love triangles are hit or miss for me. I’ve read some where I feel invested in both love interests enough OR where the winner seems obvious enough that it’s not a big issue (like where the MC is confused but not necessarily struggling that much with the decision). This one kind of sort of leans toward that second scenario, but not quite enough to make the triangle work for me.
I think I’m going to make this my end of summer binge read.
Hope you enjoy it! I’m just about to dive into the third book!
Looking forward to reading Romina’s Books. Thank you
Enjoy!
I’ve always been intrigued by books about the zodiac so this is right up my alley
I think you’ll love this then. It’s a unique take on the subject.
Sounds good but lost me at “love triangle” I loathe them more than I can say. I know you say it’s still worth it, and it does sound interesting….I am still on the fence 🙂
If you really loathe them, this honestly might not be for you. I can be okay with love triangles sometimes, but this one is definitely not one of my favorites.