Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

The concept of shapeshifting symbolizes the difficulties of trust that the Vegas experience upon entering this new world. Many times throughout the novel, the twins are surprised or tricked by shapeshifters. Tyler Corbin takes the opportunity while he is in his Pegasus form to inappropriately touch the twins’ chests while they remain unsuspecting that he is a Fae shifter in Pegasus form. Seth Capella and a wolf from his pack allow the girls to ride on their Werewolf forms’ backs only to abandon them deep in the woods with no easy way back to campus.

As the novel progresses, Tory and Darcy struggle to identify who their true enemies are or who to put their trust in. All the Celestial Heirs seem suspicious, until Caleb and Seth begin taking romantic and platonic interests in the twins. Orion at first seems as though he is an ally when he brings them to Zodiac Academy but soon becomes their primary suspect in the supposed plot to murder them. The shapeshifting nature of Fae symbolizes the manipulative nature of the race. Tory and Darcy cannot blindly trust what they simply see, as it could easily be a mirage or mask put on to trick and pacify them.

At first, Caleb presents as the worst of the Celestial Heirs. He’s the first to make a violent move against the Vegas by feeding on Tory. However, he slowly edges his way into Tory’s mind, and she allows him to become intimate with her. Eventually, she begins to believe that he’s not as bad as the others and is only trapped in a part he must continue to play to remain an Heir. It is revealed that his affection for her was actually the mask when Darius brings her to the pool at the end of the novel. Tory notices that Caleb’s “expression [i]s set in a careful mask and he regard[s] [her] like [she] [i]s someone he barely kn[ows], let alone h[olds] any affection for” (408).