Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos is an engaging start to the Afterworld series, blending fantasy and adventure with a unique twist. The world-building is rich and immersive, and the main character’s journey is both intriguing and relatable. The plot is full of action and mystery, with just enough suspense to keep you hooked. While there are moments that feel familiar, the pacing and character development make it stand out. A solid 4.25 stars—captivating, with enough originality to keep you wanting more.

The cover is amazing and I was intrigued just by that alone. After reading it I realized that I need more more more! Such a great read.

This one was an easy 5 star read for me! There was a great cast of characters that were relatable, surprisingly funny and annoyingly sexy! The slow burn, forbidden and inevitable romance between the 2 main characters was mouthwatering and I cannot wait to see where it takes them in book 2.
The magical system was unique and interesting, I loved that it was different to a lot of other fantasy books that I've read recently, it was a breath of fresh air. The setting too was also great, I love an academy setting and the students just made this one all the more exciting,

Absolutely fantastic read, highly recommend,

I ultimately DNFed this book, not because it was bad, but because it was not for me. The comparison to Mortal Instruments, Fourth Wing, a "sexy Hogwarts", and Zodiac Academy drew me in, and ultimately is what also caused me to DNF this book. I simply have crashed out on the genre of New Adult school based books As a 30 year old woman, I still enjoy New Adult books but this style of book just does not fit into the part of the reading journey that I am on at the moment. I think it's excellent for the target audience of older teens and comparisons to Zodiac Academy, Crescent City, and Mortal Instruments are valid. But I also think seeing so many comparisons in the blurb to well known properties might have been a bit of an oversell when the uniqueness of this story should have been more of the forefront.

3/5 ⭐️

I did enjoy this book. It was very difficult for it to keep my attention, but that could be distractions around me or I didn’t vibe well with the writing.

The dialogue between characters got annoying. Wen so overly hateful and I loved Godric’s grumpiness. The book confused me and with the size of it, there could have been so much more information presented to help set the scenes.

This is a world that is easy to follow but certainly not boring! I like how fast paced this without being rushed the entire plot. The dialogue is witty without being overly comedic and forced. It’s definitely an interesting story and I am captivated to see how it is going to end for them.

The reference to zodiac academy and crescent city is what captured my interest but I was left wanting. It is a fun book for sure but the pacing was inconsistent and certain words or phrases would completely take me out of the book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars.

I had super high hopes for this book. It was marketed for fans of The Mortal Instruments, Crescent City, Fourth Wing, and Zodiac Academy, four series I absolutely love! I think Celestial Academy: Essence had potential but fell short in terms of characterization and world-building. I also think it fell into the trap of relying too heavily on tropes and not actually having meaningful or organic interactions.

The main character, Wen, is snarky to the point of being completely unlikable. So many times she had the opportunity to get the answers she was seeking or make an ally and she just blew it because of her attitude and inability to say anything that wasn't a sarcastic retort.

There were so many scenarios in the book that revolved around Wen being protective of her friend Sarah but there was no substance to their friendship beyond "this is my best friend Sarah." Their backstory was briefly explained but there was no platonic chemistry and quite honestly it didn't even really feel like Sarah liked Wen. They barely had any interactions after the first couple of chapters. Sarah's character as a whole was incredibly two-dimensional and just served a purpose as the one nice person in the book.

I do see people bashing the romance aspect of this book and Godric's character but I will say - if you liked Darius in Zodiac Academy, you'll like Godric in Celestial Academy.

The 'world-building' in this book was just a brief info dump in the very beginning that never got built upon, even after our main character learned there was more to the world than she knew about previously. It was also very 'this is just the way that things are' and the why and how of it all was never explained, which I really want to see in a book that's based on near-future Los Angeles. It's easier to forgive when it's a completely fantasy setting.

The author did a great job of laying a trail about Wen's real identity and backstory that makes you really interested in what is going on with Wen - who she is, WHAT she is, and how she got to where she is now. The clues were laid out enough that you feel like you may have some idea of what's going on but also everything that is revealed makes you come up with more questions than before.

Overall, Celestial Academy: Essence had a very interesting premise but needed some more editing and the world-building and characters needed to be fleshed out more.

Thank you to Olivia Pharos and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

After seeing people say that this was like zodiac academy but better I knew I had to give it a go and I wasn’t disappointed!

The slow burn between Godric and Wen is slow but mark my words it is simmering and cooking. I love a good slow romance they are always the ones that are worth reading.

I am so invested in these characters even when I do get lost in the plot at times, I kinda overlook it because I just love the characters so much.

For fans of:
- Psycho Beasts
- Psycho Academy
- The Treasured One
- Bonded Nightmare
- Draw Down the Moon

Imagine what LA would be like if angels and demons went to war and took over Earth...and they all suck. Now imagine being a human slave girl scrounging for a chance at freedom who gets sucked into celestial drama. Welcome to Celestial Academy.

This book includes:
- angels, Nephilim, demons
- celestial warfare

This book is fun and fast-paced. It's almost like a smutty, romantasy BookTok version of "Good Omens." However, the writing style was not for me and I found the use of smut to be very jarring.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Seventh Wonder Press, and Olivia Pharos for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

This was a great book I loved everything about it. I also listened to the audiobook and was equally as good.

OMG i loved Wens character! So funny! The world building was absolutely marvelous! Loved everything in this book!

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC and ALC of this book first in a series

Unfortunately I was not able to enjoy this or care about the characters... I listened to 65% before I DNF'D the book.

I can see allot of others liking this book but it wasn't for me

Celestial Academy: Essence is a solid entry in the magical academy genre. This YA fantasy follows a group of teens as they navigate their newfound powers at a school for the supernaturally gifted.

The magic system is intriguing, centered around the idea of "essence" - a unique energy each student must learn to harness. Pharos does a great job of world-building, creating a vivid and immersive academy setting.

Characters are relatable, if sometimes predictable. The main protagonist's journey of self-discovery is particularly well-crafted, though some side characters could use more depth.

While the plot hits familiar beats, Pharos throws in enough twists to keep things interesting. The pacing is spot-on, balancing classroom drama with more high-stakes magical conflicts.

Celestial Academy: Essence is a fun, engaging read that sets up what could be a promising series. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it's a solid choice for fans of magical school stories.

Okay it took me a really long time to get into this book like at least 50% before I started liking it and understanding the world. I’m so intrigued to see what happens next I feel like the last 100 pages were the best and now we have a good base for the next books! Overall low stars only because it was super slow to start but I’m excited to continue this series. If you like zodiac academy this gives very similar vibes!

This book is so action-packed I feel like I can't even sit down and fully compress the amount of amazing things that happened within this book to lead us to such an amazing and groundbreaking epilogue...
This book gets the enemies-to-lovers trope down perfectly, being both believable and arousingly infuriating at the same time.

I almost put this book down. The first twenty percent was too manic and unfocused, and then boom something happened. That is where I found the rhythm since this book comes in waves. Slow sections have you trudging to get through, then a race to the next peak, all while watching the battle of good and evil playing out without truly knowing who is good and who is evil.

The age difference within this enemies to friends (they aren’t at the lover’s stage, yet) theme was a bit cringy. Wen is a mouthy sixteen full of insults and questions, Godric, all scowls, and growls, is somewhere between 30 and 30 thousand. For being an “inexperienced” teen girl, her thoughts are spicy with descriptions way beyond her years.

So many characters. There is a glossary at the end, but you might need to keep notes with both names and how they are related to the hierarchy. Lorcan and Gideon, cousins of Godric, bring humor and lighthearted parts that the book needs. Sarah, Wen’s only friend, is reminiscent of Enid Sinclair from the show Wednesday. Yet, there is more to her story, way more, and the reader is just getting to the tell me more parts with her. And the twenty or so others at the academy all vying for a place without dying first.

What carries this book is the banter. You will find yourself laughing and smirking. As far as I can tell, the plan is 7 books, but with the “oh, that’s interesting”, that carries the reader from one chapter to another, there is no telling how far this series can go.

I’m assuming Olivia Pharos is a pseudonym since the writer comes across as someone with more experience than the usual first-time indie author. Be careful while searching out this book, it appears there are a couple of different authors using the same book title.

With Wen’s spicy thoughts, the Celestial Academy falls firmly into the new adult fantasy realm.

I enjoyed this book. I do feel the book had a slow start and you had to hang with the beginning of the book until you really got into it. Once I got there I could put it down. I want to know more the story and can't wait for the next book!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was a bit of a dense read due to the intense worldbuilding, so it took me a bit longer than usual to get through the book. The world-building was fantastic and I loved the take that Olivia took with the Angels, Demons, and Apocolypse, especially with the view that not all Angels are good and not all demons are bad.

I enjoyed Wen and Godric's story/journey especially the humor and banter, even if I thought some of the scenes were a little bit overwritten. For example, Godric and his leash and Wen and her inability to not stop asking questions. I am not sure if I was frustrated for Wen or with Wen.

Lorcan was my absolute favorite and I had a soft spot for Sarah. I loved how the Unitas do come together in the book later in the book even when it seems unconventional. Jinny grew on me the more the story progressed, especially when we learn more about who she is and see how she is just as protective of Sarah.

The only part I struggled with was that I was confused a lot in the book. I think it would have helped if there was a bit more of connecting on points along the way. It left me with many questions which was sometimes more frustrating than intriguing.

With the book ending on a cliffhanger, it did leave me with enough intrigue to want to read the next book.

I will be posting a video to Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram in the next week. Once I do, I will add the link here to my review.

I loved this book, the world-building was great, the characters were fun, and the romance is a slowww burn enemies to lovers! The world has gone to hell, literally, angels, demons, and all kinds of monsters have taken over the world and poor Wen is just trying to survive the chaos! She is brave and sassy, loyal to her friends and takes no shit from anyone. She is taken by Godric AKA Angelhole to be questioned before the Archangels and they end up throwing her into Celestial Academy with him as her mentor. Their relationship was fire and I loved it. This is book one so there's so much mystery and unanswered questions which will have you coming back for more!!