# Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

### Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

**Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti** · Zodiac Academy, book 1 of 9 (complete) · [https://houseofareader.com/books/zodiac-academy](https://houseofareader.com/books/zodiac-academy)

Twin sisters discover they are fae heirs and are enrolled in an academy where four heirs to the throne intend to break them. Genuinely brutal bullying-to-lovers across a very long completed series, with a reverse-harem structure.

- Spice: 4/5 — Explicit. Escalates sharply across the series; the first book is milder than what follows.
- Romance prominence: 4/5
- Plot: 3/5
- Worldbuilding: 3/5
- Darkness: 5/5
- Writing craft: 3/5
- Burn: slow
- Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, academy, morally-grey-mmc, touch-her-and-die, slow-burn
- Creatures: fae, shifters
- Setting: Zodiac Academy, a fae school ordered by star sign
- POV: first person, dual
- Ending: happy ever after, ends on a cliffhanger
- Audience: adult
- Content warnings: bullying, assault, torture, graphic violence, explicit content
- Best for: Fourth Wing readers who want the academy structure and a series they can finish.
- Last verified: 2026-08-28

## Sources

- https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Zodiac+Academy+The+Awakening+Peckham

## What to read next

- [Fourth Wing](https://houseofareader.com/books/fourth-wing) by Rebecca Yarros — spice 3/5. Readers who want competition and banter carrying as much weight as the romance.
- [Iron Flame](https://houseofareader.com/books/iron-flame) by Rebecca Yarros — spice 4/5. Fourth Wing readers who wanted the spice turned up and the stakes widened.
- [Quicksilver](https://houseofareader.com/books/quicksilver) by Callie Hart — spice 5/5. ACOTAR readers who want the same shape with the heat turned up two notches.
- [Powerless](https://houseofareader.com/books/powerless) by Lauren Roberts — spice 2/5. Fourth Wing readers who want the trials and the banter without the explicit scenes.

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Ratings are editorial judgements applied against a published scale at
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/spice, not aggregated reader scores. Editorial policy:
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/how-we-choose. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements.