Zodiac Academy is an extraordinary series that just keeps getting better. Honestly the series needs a standing ovation. Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates was highly anticipated and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The book hangover has been real and brutal but very much worth it! If you haven’t started this series yet do it now, I promise it’ll be the best decision you’ll make all day.
These authors have produced some of the best worldbuilding I’ve ever read. These books are incredibly captivating – it’s like crossing the wardrobe into Narnia except it’s Solaria and it’s even more spellbinding. Cursed Fates ensnared me from the first page – it was gripping to the point of fixation with twists and turns I never could have foreseen.
This isn’t it. I won’t let him go. I’ll follow him beyond the veil. I’ll climb into the stars and drag his soul back out of them if I have to. This. Is. Not. It.
Cursed Fates starts right where we left off at the end of Shadow Princess with the pinnacle of the cliffhanger that left my heart battered and bruised for weeks: a life hangs in the balance, a crazy is on the loose (because super villain Lionel wasn’t enough) and potential eternal heartbreak rounded it all off nicely. There’s drama, tension, suspense and emotions flying all over the place. As readers we got some answers, we learned new truths and we became privy to new secrets but most of all we followed the characters down the rabbit hole to the biggest battles they’ve faced to date.
“You fight dirty for a princess.”
“I’m pretty sure being a princess in Solaria requires it.”
The trials and tribulations that all of the characters went through during this book were far beyond what we’ve seen before. Every hurdle surpassed the last keeping me on the edge of my seat almost continuously. The separation of key pairings was particularly heartbreaking and the self-sacrifice for love even more so. Whilst heartbreaking at times the storyline was truly fantastic throughout and at its heart was love and friendship.
What had happened between me and Roxy, that was…ours. It didn’t matter that it was fucked up and raw and bleeding, it was still ours. We’d been marked by it inside and out and no matter how much I might have wished it had gone differently, that didn’t change it.
The book in its entirety is incredibly well written, just like the rest of the series, but the kicker here was the character development. The characters have always been compelling and believable but in Cursed Fates the character development was escalated tenfold. I feel like I understand them all more than I ever have before and they’re making me feel more too. I hate Team Evil with a fiery passion that continues to build – if I could leap through the pages and punch Lionel and Clara repeatedly know that I would. I’m angry with characters I normally adore (Orion), I suddenly care about characters I used to loathe (Seth) and I’m slightly in love with a moody dragon (Darius) – did not see that coming. How these authors have managed to redeem the Heirs, particularly Seth, is a testament to the standard of writing here.
There had to be a way. We could make it work. We just had to climb this momentous hurdle and seek the light on the other side. Because no one would even compare to him. No one would ever own my heart but that man. It was a truth cast in iron, impossible to undo.
Cursed Fates is a must read that I could not put down. It ranks as one of my favourite reads of the year so far. Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti pull you so deeply into this world that you’re entranced, emotional and begging for more. That’s a skill only great writers can achieve. These characters have so very many battles to fight in book 6 and I’m in desperate need and counting down the days until its release!
“The stars might have decided that you can never be mine.”
“But I am yours. No matter what. I don’t care where we end or who we’re with, I’ll always be yours.”
If you love ZODIAC ACADEMY check out DARK FAE (RUTHLESS BOYS OF THE ZODIAC BOOK 1) and DARKMORE PENITENTIARY (SUPERNATURAL PRISON FOR DARK FAE BOOK 1) set in the same world but years apart with crossover characters (there are never any spoilers though because the celestial authors are marvels!)
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Check out the blurb for
ZODIAC ACADEMY 5: CURSED FATES
After the devastating events at Zodiac Academy, we have to deal with this darker world we’re faced with.
Lionel seeks to hurt us, the Nymphs seek to hurt the entire Fae race, and between all of it, we just have to try and survive each day as it comes.
I’m afraid of everything falling apart, but it looks like it already has.
About Caroline Peckham
Caroline Peckham is the author of the YA Fantasy series The Rise of Isaac and The Vampire Games Series
She began writing after her passion for young adult fantasy fiction grew to an obsession and she loves that she is now not only a fan of the genre but now an author of it too.
Caroline lives in the south east of London in a tiny, quintessentially English town where you’ll find an abundance of tea shops, pubs and rain.
She has a BSc in Zoology from The University of Reading and, when not writing, still has a mind for science and googles every question that springs to mind.
She adores animals, adventure trips, and watching the latest fantasy, action, paranormal and science fiction films at the cinema.
Don’t forget to join Caroline’s reader group on facebook!
About Susanne Valenti
Susanne Valenti lives in Kent, England with her husband and four fur-babies.
She has worked with rescue animals and helped to run the family business. In her spare time she likes to read, write, workout, watch movies and play video games (in that order).
She met her husband when they were teenagers and they have been together ever since.
Cage of Lies is her first series of books and she has spent every waking moment writing about Maya and her story since late 2013. Her love of fictional characters and incurable addiction to reading inspired her to put pen to paper since childhood and in 2015 her dream of publishing a book became reality.
You can visit her website susannevalenti.com for more information on upcoming releases and to follow her blog.
Don’t forget to join Susanne’s reader group on facebook!
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