Review: Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

A few weeks after the shocking events in Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates, Darcy Vega and the Celestial Heirs are desperate to save Tory Vega from Lionel Acrux. It’s been a tough summer and the group is ready for another year at Zodiac Academy.

But time is running out. The longer Tory is held captive by Lionel and his minion Clara, the worse her mind gets. Lionel only continues to become more powerful and his PR campaign in Solaria is working. Many people support his ascension to the throne, including the Headmistress.

That won’t stop Darcy from getting stronger and using her power to save her sister…and her kingdom. With everything at stake, the Heirs and the Vegas have overcome their differences to take on Lionel and his growing shadow army. Nobody in Solaria is safe anymore.

We’ve been anticipating Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne for a while…ever since Lionel won the battle in book 5. A lot is going on in this book! We’ll start out with character development. Darius truly shines. While we always liked him, we’re happy to see his growth as a person. He would do anything for Tory and his friends, including making some personal sacrifices. He finally realized that he should have been against his dad all along.

As for the other Heirs, we could tell that Valenti and Peckham tried to give Seth a redemption arc. We just can’t forgive him for how he treated Darcy. He can also be super annoying. Max, on the other hand, has gotten much better. We love his relationship with Geraldine and his powers really shined in the book. We’ve always found Caleb hilarious and he doesn’t disappoint. While we feel bad that he was rejected by Tory, we knew she belonged with Darius.

As for our favorite twins, Darcy takes on the badass role and Tory has to face a lot soul searching. Both of them experienced obstacles that led them to become better versions of themselves. One of the best themes of this series is the bond between sisters and how much the triumph together.

For the plot, everything kept moving so quickly. We’re back at Zodiac and the Spares (the Heir siblings) are starting at the academy. Without spoiling too much, Xavier has some interesting scenes, especially at the beginning. While it sounds like fun for everyone together at school, everything changes when they all arrived. New rules and a Headmistress that follows Lionel makes for some difficulties.

One of the best aspects of the plot was that we finally got a Solaria history lesson, which revealed Clara and Lionel’s endgame. Their plans go back generations. These lessons also gave our favorite characters some much needed intel on how to move forward.

Above, we didn’t mention Lance Orion or Gabriel Nox because everything about them is a spoiler. Just know that they both have huge roles to play in the story and the big battle on Christmas Day.

If everyone thought they would enjoy a cozy Christmas, they were wrong. Everything is out in the open, leaving all characters with major choices that will change the trajectory of Solaria. However, the story still ends on a cliffhanger. It gave us major Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince vibes because the main characters know they don’t have much time to defeat evil. And, the main characters can’t return to Zodiac without being killed. Where will they go? That will be revealed in Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐