Title: Celestial

Author: Olivia Wildenstein

Pub. Date: January 5, 2021

Pages: 528

Pub: Not Listed

Genre: NA Paranormal Fantasy Romance

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads

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In ninety-two days, the feathered appendages that link me to the people I loathe finally come off. Dear, winglets, you will not be missed.

Celeste has spent the last four years building a life outside of angelic guilds—parties, check—pursuing human ambitions instead of celestial ones—college, check—and shedding feathers across Parisian cobblestones and more recently New York sidewalks—speaking her mind, always check.

She swore off angels, but the death of the woman who took her in the night Leigh died brings them soaring back into her life . . . and not just any angel but the most detestable one, the one complicit in Leigh’s death—Seraph Asher.

Although Celeste tells the archangel to feather off, the unreasonably pretty and obstinate man doesn’t leave her alone. He returns and insists she complete her wings. When she asks him for one good reason to do so, he gives her an unbeatable one: what he did with Leigh’s soul.

Asher never meant to share his damning secret, but he knows it’s the only way to save Celeste—the rebellious Fletching he can’t get out of his head… or heart.

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This will be a spoiler free review. I listened to the audiobook via Audible. If you want to check out my spoiler free review of the first book Feather (Angels of Elysium #1) – you can click here.

I wanted to listen to the audiobook for this – since I listened to the first book – but I also was starting to get a bit tired waiting. I’d planned on taking this book with me to the beach to read. But surprise! I happened to be trolling on Audible and it popped up. I’d just finished a different book, and while I wasn’t really looking for supernaturals with wings (angels) I knew I wanted to see what happened next for these characters.

Um, this book was fantastic. Where I enjoyed the first one, I loved this one. It’s got a whole rivals to lovers, second chance at love thing going on. And it’s second chance at love, in a way I’ve not really seen. Honestly, I didn’t expect it.

When I originally saw that this second book wasn’t going to follow Leigh and Jarod – I mean, how could it after how Feather ended – I was a little apprehensive. I honestly didn’t know how to feel, I didn’t know how there could be a second book with how the first one ended.

The choices Olivia makes for these characters – the journey they go on, that little plot twist that she imbeds – *chef’s kiss* – superior. And then the last chapter/epilogue – jfc, give me book 3 right now.

Celeste and Asher are so good – the chemistry between them. The tension. The snark.

If you’re a fan of Rowan/Aelin, Bryce/Hunt – or any of SJM’s pairings really (they’re the ones that most notably come to mind) then you’re going to love these two. They’re journey together is really good – really enjoyable. Somehow, they bring out the best and the worst in each other, but it just works.

But it’s not just the two of them. Celeste is amazing on her own. After her entire world flips, ends, drastically changes – she forges her own path. And while she spends so much time forsaking her past, she never stops helping people. Despite all the pain she’s felt, endured and survived, she never loses her goodness. She’s also a spitfire, a bit naïve and loyal af to those she claims as family.

And I definitely love the insight we get into Asher’s character. Since in Feather he’s not a main character, and we don’t really get to truly know him outside of Leigh and Jarod’s interactions. He’s still very much a mystery. But we get to explore who he is and what he stands for in this book – the lengths he’s willing to go to, to ignite change.

Ugh there is so much I want to talk about, but it’s all spoilers. The characters were just fantastic, and the new and old faces we get to meet/see again add so much to the story. And there is still so much more to this story. What started off as a cool take on Romeo & Juliette has turned into something so much bigger, so much cooler. I never could have guessed the plot would go the way it did.

I wasn’t bored for a minute. I was completely hooked. Between the budding chemistry between Asher and Celeste, the backhanded snark and harassment from other angels, the reshaping of reality and truth, Celeste’s human life, and the power grabs in Elysium – you’re never bored. It all just works so well, and it’s setting up for something so much bigger and probably utterly amazing. The world changes for these characters in this book – and it’s only going to keep on changing in the next one.

Y’all, I’m seriously excited.

If you’ve read this book, I’m sure you understand why.

If you read Feather – pick this up.

Hell, go read Feather, so you can pick this up. And you definitely have to read Feather first otherwise you’ll be lost. First you need to fall in love with Leigh and Jarod. Then you need to fall in love with Celeste and Asher – so you can be ready to fall in love with Adam and Naya. And trust me, you’re going to want to fall in love with those two.