“The Zodiac Odyessey” by M. R. Smith is about Starleta, ordinary until Prince Andreas ruins her life. She sets off on a question to gather items with her new dragon. Ups and downs mark her journey to find her safety in the new world she was thrown into.

I didn’t really like this book. The astrology sign aspect and the talking animal companions were cool but that’s all I liked. For me it was on the boring side, and it felt rushed and flat. The characters didn’t stick with me. I gave it a 2 out of 5 stars.

*Thanks to Kindle, M.R. Smith, and Netgalley for providing this book to read for free in exchange for a review. All my opinions are my own.*

The plot intrigued me to pick this book to read.
After trying Zodiac Academy, I was looking for a good zodiac-inspired book that focused more on the signs aspect.

The good:
- Good worldbuilding in the middle and end of the novel with the use of astrological signs and language. Example:
- Magical animals, dragons, and mentioned gods.
- Development of our female main character, Scarlett.
- Animal sidekicks.
- Perfect for Young Adult readers.


Needs improvement:
- More Point of Views. Seeing the villain's side more in focus.
- boyish tantrums of the male main character but lack substantial development.
- Felt rushed due to amount of pages and convenient time/plot skips.

Overall I would give this a 3.5 of 5 stars. There’s room for improvement and the concept is interesting and can develop further. The writing does leave you wanting to know what happens next due to the lush descriptions and the cliffhanger.

I don’t read young adult very often but this was short and fun! I even reread and read it to my daughter. The third person point of view took me a minute to get used to but the story was interesting and exciting. I can’t wait to read part 2!