The Awakening (Dramatized Adaptation)

Zodiac Academy, Book 1

De: Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

Narrado por: Lydia Kraniotis, Daniel Llaca, Gregory Linnington, Khaya Fraites, Nora Achrati, Jessica Schly, Karenna Foley, Julian Dailey, Ryan Dalusung, Gabriel Michael, Full Cast

I’m a Gemini. Impulsive. Curious. Headstrong. A twin. Heir to a throne I know nothing about. And it turns out, I’m Fae.

But of course there’s a catch–all I have to do to claim my birth right is prove that I’m the most powerful supernatural in the whole of Solaria. And sure, technically that’s true as I’m the daughter of the Savage King. But the bit they didn’t put in the brochure was that every single Fae in this Kingdom would claim my throne if they could.

The school they’ve sent me to is both dangerous as sh*t and one helluva party. Vampires bite weaker students in the corridors, the Werewolf pack has orgies in the Wailing Wood at every full moon and don’t even get me started on the dark and twisted ways the Sirens use their powers on people’s emotions, or how my sinfully tempting Cardinal Magic teacher hosts detentions that leave people needing therapy.

Classes are totally interesting if you manage to live through them. And that Gemini star sign I mentioned? It now determines my elemental magic and affects my destiny, so learning astrology is essential if I’m going to beat down my classmates–which is actively encouraged by the way.

My biggest problem is the drool worthy Dragon shifter who has his eyes on my throne. He and his three psycho friends are determined to make my time here hell.

All I’ve got to do is survive. But fate might have other ideas.

Dammit, why couldn’t I have gotten a letter to Hogwarts?

This is a dark, bully romance–don’t go expecting a sweet school for magic with friends around every corner. Fae fight for everything they own and Zodiac Academy is a cutthroat school for students aged 18+ where only the strongest prevail. There’s no Dumbledore here to save anyone’s ass and Lionel Acrux will give Voldemort a run for his money in the evil dictator category. So hold onto your stardust (broomsticks not required) and get ready for a bumpy ride.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Performed by Khaya Fraites, Jessica Schly, Gregory Linnington, Julian Dailey, Jon Vertullo, Ryan Dalusung, Gabriel Michael, Karenna Foley, Daniel Llaca, Lydia Kraniotis, Nora Achrati, Kelly Baskin, Stephanie Németh-Parker, Crystal Lee, Dawn Ursula, Lise Bruneau, Kaylee Eluvian, Marissa Clay, Bradley Foster Smith, Michael John Casey, Ken Jackson, Tyler Hyrchuck, Donald Guzzi, Yasmin Tuazon, Jerri J. Marshall, Laura C. Harris, Karen Novack, Eric Messner, Scott McCormick, Drew Kopas, and James Konicek.

* This audio production was updated on 10-14-2024 with new voice actors for Darius and Caleb. Reviews posted before that date are about the older version.

©2019 Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti (P)2024 Graphic Audio LLC

Why does Darius sound like a 60 year old wizard

I usually love graphic audio but they really fumbled the bag with who they cast for Darius. His voice doesn’t fit his character at all and I hate it! Seems like this guy should have voiced Lionel or one of the professors or something. Super disappointing but the rest of the audio is fine at least.

voice actors?

love this story and love graphic audios but the casting for Darius and Orion….. was a choice to say the least. almost couldn’t finish it was so bad and like i said i LOVE this series so it’s pretty disappointing considering they are like THE mmcs

and don’t even get me started on Geraldine, she’s not some stupid oaf like how this version makes her out to be. she’s a sweet, silly, southern bell and tbh i thought it was kind of disrespectful to her character..

probably won’t be buying the rest of the graphic audios if they stick with the current va’s

Can the voices be changed?

Darius’ voice was horrible!! Threw the whole book off for me!! I hope they change it so I can enjoy the next ones or I won’t be able listen 🥲

Fun twist to an amazing series!

This series is going to be so much fun to listen to with a full cast. You can’t beat Jake & Bridget when it comes to sexy heat but you can never have too many books.

Performances

Okay, they did not cast the heirs correctly. The guy that did Seth should have been Darius and the guy that did Darius should have been Caleb. Honestly the original narrators would have been great additions.

I love everything but Orion's voice

I just wish that Orion's voice sounded attractive at all. But he sounds like a dad, not a boyfriend. He sounds like he's in his 40s not in his late 20s. His dialogue and the actions he performed don't go along with the nerdy professor voice that he is given. I hope the actor will work on that for the next book.

The music is so distracting

Aside from the popular complaint about the actors, the music was so loud and distracting. I felt like the music for most of the book was terrible. There’s random techno and most of it doesn’t match the vibe of the scene. It has me so close to just switching to the regular audio but I love love love Khaya Fraites and Gabriel Michael so I’ll stay for now.

Great retelling/Poor casting

This is my first semi negative review, so I apologize if I’m a little all over, I have a hard time being negative. The story is VERY well read, I got all of the sound effects and feelings I was looking for after reading the series for years. My biggest hang up is the portrayal of Geraldine. I think a lighter touch was needed in voicing her. I actually needed to pause the audio when she first spoke in Part 2 because I was so surprised at how gruff sounding she was made to be.
If you haven’t read ZA, DO IT. It’s a wonderful story that keeps pulling you along through their world.

Overall I give 4 stars for everything, the voice actors did a great job, as a fan I would just like to hear the characters portrayed properly.

Why did they do this to Geraldine and Orion?

Whew, as others have said the narration on this is BAD. Geraldine is atrocious, her voice makes no sense to the strong confident character she is, plus she becomes a main character and I can’t imagine this voice for full chapters. It honestly made me sad.

Orion and Caleb are also bad bad bad.

Tory and Darcy are good but the sound effects (Tory moaning, Darcy crying) were cringey and bad. Idk I’ve listened to a lot of graphic audio and the sound effects are often cringy and distracting but this one was worse and had way more bad narration than normal.
It’s a long series so hopefully they make some changes. story is 5 stars and I’d love to continue the whole long series.

Wouldn't have so many complaints about the voice acting if Gabriel Michael was Lead!

Gabriel Michael should have been Darius Or Orion. His sexy as hell voice was not utilized enough. What a misuse of an amazing voice actor...

The book was great. I loved the tension build up. This story had my full attention from being to end.