Celestial Monsters by Aiden ThomasMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was provided an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
André Santana narrates the audiobook and he is a wonderful narrator. He narrates the duology and does such a wonderful job with the books! He brings the characters to life with different voices and accents where appropriate and makes this already great series even better!
This picks up right where The Sunbearer Trials leaves off, so it doesn't read as a standalone. It has been about 2 years since I read The Sunbearer Trials, but I was quickly able to reengage in the storyline and remember what was going on after the Trials ended in such unexpected chaos. This follows our Sunbearer Teo as he sets out to bring back the sun and set the world back to rights in the aftermath of the trials. He isn't alone as Niya and Aurelio are with him bestowed with gifts from the gods/goddesses to help them on their quest to rescue the other semideoses and defeat the evil that was unleased. We also get chapters from Xio's perspective as he (later in the book Xio transitions to they pronouns) spends time with the Obsidians and learns about his/their heritage and powers. Xio has to face the decision they made in book 1 and decide which side they want to take and what kind of person they really want to be and who their friends and family really are.
As with the first book this was action packed, has some good humor, has great world building, and deals with social issues under the guise of myth and fantasy. I loved the mythology and lore elements of the series. This book doesn't have as much character as the first book did, as the development is mainly focused on Xio's character in this installment. Xio deals with alot of feelings in this book, and we get to see them go through quite the journey. Teo, Niya, and Aurelio have more of a physical journey, but theirs is not with out emotion either. I don't want to spoil anything but this was wonderful.
I loved this series so much! It deals with so many great topics while being entertaining with such a rich and vivid setting. Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Macmillan Audio/Macmillan Young Listeners for allowing me to take part in this wonderful journey with these amazing characters!
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