Never Keep cover art

Never Keep

Sins of the Zodiac, Book 1

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Never Keep

By: Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti
Narrated by: Bridget Bordeaux, Jake Bordeaux
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About this listen

From the Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling authors of the Zodiac Academy series Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti.

The dragons are lost.

The elements are at war. Enlisting isn’t optional.

And I’m falling for a man who wants me dead.

I’m a wielder of hearts and summoner of corruption. Heir to nothing and born to a fool in the wrong damn month.

But I’m also one of only two Fae in this divided land of hellions who might be starting to see through the lies we’ve swallowed for so long.

In the year we turn twenty-one, conscripts from across the warring nations of air, fire, earth and water are sent to Never Keep – the only place in our besieged continent where our magic can be Awakened.

But something is wrong inside Never Keep. Something which might extend far beyond the reaches of this desolate fortress. Within the gothic walls of this frigid castle in the snow, we’re left to hold our own against the brutal Fae from the opposing lands.

The Reapers are merciless. The Royals are lying. The Werewolves run rampant and Vampires roam the wastelands in bloodthirsty covens. But even though death lurks in every shadow of the Keep, it’s the least of my worries.

I’m delving into secrets the stars don’t want me uncovering, making alliances with Fae born to be my enemy, falling for a sinner while promising my heart to a different heathen and somewhere amid it all, I’m supposed to win a war.

I thought the only thing I had to do was survive my magical instruction.

Turns out, fate doesn’t favour the wicked.

***This is an enemies-to-lovers romantasy series set in the same world as Zodiac Academy, but it's a dark and villainous tale of its own. You haven't met tainted souls like these before or enemies that hate each other as deeply as these characters do. Book 1 in the series will leave your heart raw and bloody. You'll be left gasping for breath and aching for more of the twisted Fae and they might just be irredeemable... ***

©2024 Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti (P)2025 Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti
Fantasy Heartfelt Fiction War

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All stars
Most relevant
As always, their books are just the next level of crushing despair and darkness and I love it. Absolute!

soul destroying

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this is amazing as always! the twisted sister never disappoint! loves every second of it!

absolutely loved it!

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Loved the new order forms, the powers, the non-stop action, the truly wicked characters. The twists are brutal, but I enjoyed every second of the book, nonetheless. Can't wait for book 2! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a TRUE enemies to...whatever they are :)) five pure stars from me!

Absolutely magical!

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8/10 ⭐

This book was ... Long. 😅

First of all, what is it about?
The fae of the elements are at war. To get their elemental magic Awakened, fae have to attend Never Keep. So Raincarvers, Skyforgers, Stonebreakers and Flamebringers learn how to control their magic and are trained as warriors together. Conscripts are strictly forbidden to kill each other, still there is a lot of rivalry.
Everest, a Raincarver, and Vesper, a Skyforger, are sworn blood enemies, but they seem to be the only ones who realise that something is amiss at the fortress. The Reapers at Never Keep are supposed to be mediators of the Stars and impartial, but missing conscripts and horrible screams from beneath the keep indicate something else. The 2 FMCs forge a bittersweet alliance and with werewolfs, vampires and unknown powers it's hard to tell friend from foe.

This book has:
🗣️1st person, multi POV
🌪️ elemental magic
🐆 shifters
💪🏻 badass FMCs
🌫️ morally grey characters
⚔️ true enemies
🏰 academia setting
🩸 revenge
🦎 animal sidekick
🌶️ spice (I'd say 2/5)


I feel like the prologue lasts 10 chapters. You're thrown right into a battle and you don't have a clue what's going on for over 100 pages. Things happen, you're supposed to be sad, but you don't because you didn't have time to make a connection with the characters.
The real story starts with chapter 11 - one year later - when the characters prepare to enter Never Keep.
My advice would be: Read the first 2 chapters, skip chapters 3 to 10 and then continue with chapter 11. 😅

The rest was pretty good. I liked the FMCs, the mysteries and the way every fae has an element and an order form.
It is set at a magical school, but unfortunately you don't get to read a lot of what happens during instructions. I would have preferred to know more about how they learn to control their magic etc.
I just think the book was too long. If it had 200 pages less it would have been a 10/10 for me. 😅

Having said that, I started listening to book 2 (Echo Fort) right after I finished Never Keep. 😂

Would have been better if it weren't that long

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Its a good story. Though I found it a bit rambley at the beginning, too much description of things that didn't need it and not enough of description when it was needed.
I enjoyed the run up to & the ending, the crazy s**t with Kaiser, and Everest and Vesper & *******!!
Didn't really like the narration, if you have man doing the men's voices, why did he only do the 2nd to last chapter.
I will be reading the next book.

Pretty good

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