The Awakening
Twin sisters Tory and Darcy Vega have spent their lives in the foster system, scraping by and looking out for each other, with no idea where they come from. On the eve of their nineteenth birthday, they learn the impossible truth: they are Fae, the lost heirs to the throne of the magical kingdom of Solaria, and their power is only beginning to wake.
To claim their birthright, the sisters must enrol at Zodiac Academy, an elite and brutal school where students are sorted by star sign and Order—dragons, sirens, werewolves, and worse—and where magic is currency and cruelty is a lesson plan. Standing in their way are the four Celestial Heirs, impossibly powerful young men who have been raised to rule Solaria and have no intention of letting two clueless outsiders take the crown. What follows is a savage test of survival, as the Vega twins fight to master their gifts, endure relentless hazing, and resist the dangerous pull of the very people determined to break them.
The first book in Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti's wildly popular Zodiac Academy series, The Awakening is a dark, addictive, and steamy bully-romance fantasy set in a richly built magical world of star signs, elemental power, and shifting loyalties.
A foster-system twin who learns she's a Fae heir to Solaria's throne.
Tory's twin sister, thrust into the same fight to claim their birthright.
A dragon shifter and Celestial Heir who torments and is drawn to the twins.
A powerful, forbidding professor at the academy.
A Siren Celestial Heir of House Aqua who feeds on others' fear and works to drive the Vega twins from Solaria.
Yes. The Awakening is Book 1 of Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti's Zodiac Academy series, first self-published in July 2019 and later reissued by Bloom Books/Simon & Schuster.
No. Despite its magic-academy setup, this is an adult/new-adult bully-romance with explicit sexual content, near-constant strong language, and dark themes including bullying and psychological abuse. Common Sense Media rates it 17+.