Seen at Bookish Antics! 
 Zodiac was easily one of my most anticipated books of the year because I absolutely loved the description and am fascinated by space. The problem with Zodiac is that the plot is extremely slow-paced and that the entire novel consists of our crew running away from danger. Russell is definitely a talented author and her descriptions of planets are absolutely memorizing, but the plot in this book definitely needed some retooling. 
 Rho has always been apart of the planet Cancer where others' needs are always put before your own. When a mysterious attack ends up killing many of Cancer's citizens (including the planet's leader) without any explanation. Due to Rho's superior ability to read the stars, she is chosen as the leader of her planet and makes it her mission to warn the rest of the planets. Soon Rho finds out that there was a 13th planet that doesn't exist anymore and their leader was called Ochus. It appears that Ochus is behind the attacks... 
 Though there is a decent amount of info-dumping, I found the astrological system in this book to be fascinating. I was extremely intrigued by the techniques used to read the stars and how the various planets were run. Russell developed an interesting planetary system and I loved learning about each planet. I do think that the world-building explanations could have been streamlined better to make this book flow better and more cohesive. 
 Romina Russell is clearly a talented author and this series definitely has potential. I loved her descriptions of each of the planets and they helped evoke clear images of this world in my mind. 
 Despite this I do think that the characters in Zodiac were a bit on the weaker side, which helped disconnect me from the plot. Many of the characters seemed a bit one-sided and are mere caricatures because they seem to follow the personality of the inhabitants of their planets. For example Rho is supposed to be an altruistic person because she is from the planet Cancer and that's all she ever is. Many of the characters have little personality because they're doomed to follow the basic characteristics of their planets, making them extremely predictable. 
 The romance in this one is extremely dull, stemming from the fact that I had little interest in Ro's two love interests. I'm still not quite sure why a love triangle was necessary in this book and I'm truly tired of the fact that nearly every YA book features one. I truly think that in 2014 we should be done with this publishing craze because the market is over saturated with love triangles. 
 Zodiac is a decent series opener that I enjoyed and despite my hesitations with the romance and characters, I'm still considering continuing this series. I see so much potential in this series and it's my hope that book two is a vast improvement over Zodiac.