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A review by pandasbookshelf
Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos
5.0
Celestial Academy: Essence is the first book in the Afterworld series, a romance supernatural series by author Olivia Pharos.
Perfect for fans of Zodiac Academy and Crescent City by Sarah J Maas.
• Slow burn romance
• Enemies to lovers
• Epic fantasy world
• Angels and demons
• Plenty of angst and sexual tension
You will love this post-apocalyptic slow burn fantasy romance set at the magical and dangerous celestial academy. The book is told from the POV of Wen, a demon-owned human who has a bit of an attitude and a real problem. Conscripted to celestial academy and placed under the care of Godric (Godawful), Wen must survive while uncovering the truth about who and what she is.
Firstly, this is a long book, I’ve seen other reviews judge the length but for me I found it was all needed and it didn’t drag at all. The world building and complex characters backstories were 100% needed and what made this book really great. I loved the concept of heaven and hell on earth and angels, demons and other supernaturals felt exciting and fresh.
I was really surprised to find this was the authors debut novel. It was exceptionally well written and completely engaging. I felt myself getting hooked very early into the story. The plot was well paced, and the first book didn’t just feel like a introduction or set up book, the storyline was interesting and the characters interesting and unique. The ending leaves enough questions that you really really want to read book two.
The romance is slow burn but not so much that it drags out. Personally, I’m not a fan of insta-love, and I liked that their relationship had depth and growth. I am looking forward to seeing how this develops in the next books. The romance in this one is PG with no steamy scenes at all. Normally this would put me off, but the sexual tension and angst was off the charts and making us wait for more doesn’t put me off at all.
I am really looking forward to reading book 2 and hope it won’t be too far away.
Perfect for fans of Zodiac Academy and Crescent City by Sarah J Maas.
• Slow burn romance
• Enemies to lovers
• Epic fantasy world
• Angels and demons
• Plenty of angst and sexual tension
You will love this post-apocalyptic slow burn fantasy romance set at the magical and dangerous celestial academy. The book is told from the POV of Wen, a demon-owned human who has a bit of an attitude and a real problem. Conscripted to celestial academy and placed under the care of Godric (Godawful), Wen must survive while uncovering the truth about who and what she is.
Firstly, this is a long book, I’ve seen other reviews judge the length but for me I found it was all needed and it didn’t drag at all. The world building and complex characters backstories were 100% needed and what made this book really great. I loved the concept of heaven and hell on earth and angels, demons and other supernaturals felt exciting and fresh.
I was really surprised to find this was the authors debut novel. It was exceptionally well written and completely engaging. I felt myself getting hooked very early into the story. The plot was well paced, and the first book didn’t just feel like a introduction or set up book, the storyline was interesting and the characters interesting and unique. The ending leaves enough questions that you really really want to read book two.
The romance is slow burn but not so much that it drags out. Personally, I’m not a fan of insta-love, and I liked that their relationship had depth and growth. I am looking forward to seeing how this develops in the next books. The romance in this one is PG with no steamy scenes at all. Normally this would put me off, but the sexual tension and angst was off the charts and making us wait for more doesn’t put me off at all.
I am really looking forward to reading book 2 and hope it won’t be too far away.