Mortal Instruments meets Fourth Wing at a militant Hogwarts?? Yes please! I really liked this. It had all the elements that tickle my fancy and I absolutely cannot wait for book 2! I need a physical copy for my shelves and everything! 😂
The narration was perfect added to the experience. Well done!

You had me at post apocalyptic! Throw in angels and demons and I’m sold. Brilliant narration, excellent book. Loved it!

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook!

I enjoyed the read and all the characters. The main character's narrative and dialogue is definitely repetitive but I'm interested enough to see what comes next.

Honestly - the marketing on this book annoyed me SO much that I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more had it not been marketed as being just like every other major fantasy series out there. Let's be serious - it can't be like Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, Crescent City, Zodiac Academy, Mortal Instruments AND Harry Potter???? and it isn't.
It's disappointing that the publisher didn't think this could stand on it's own right as being a post apocalyptic world where demon's and angel's rule over humanity and there are secret schools to train recruits for both armies for the never ending war.

The narrator for this audiobook was perfect! I loved the way she added her own sass to the reading and her voice was so soothing and easy to listen to.

The story itself took a little while to get used to the writing style but once I was invested I really enjoyed this book.
The relationships between the characters were great - although I’m hoping book 2 is less of a slow burn!
I love Wens snark and her reactions made me laugh on multiple occasions HOWEVER does this girl have zero will to survive? 🤣 honestly her mouth is definitely definitely going to get her killed…
I’m really intrigued to find out what’s going to happen next! I honestly have zero idea where the story’s going to go

Ok, I ended up liking this a lot more than I anticipated! It was a little bit of rocky start and the pacing was off for me in the first 25% but once we actually got to the Divine and the academy, I think the plot really picked up! I'm very intrigued to see where this is going to go.

I really liked our FMC - she is funny and takes no s**t from anyone!

The romance is a veryyy slow burn but I think it had great potential.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Angels and demons are coexisting. Maybe “coexisting” isn’t the right word. There is a toleration and they both feel obliged to do their job.

This is a post-apocalyptic book that combines elements of humor (yes, I said humor), violence, organized mayhem, and feelings between two characters.

⛓️ Forced proximity
⛓️ Enemies to lovers
⛓️ Agonizing slow-burn romance
⛓️ Unlikely FMC/MMC relationship

I listened to the audiobook and this seemed too much of a slow-burn for me. If I had been reading this book, I would have DNF’d it. Yes, there was violence but it wasn’t as bad as the description makes it out to be. I feel like the description highlighted all the good parts in the book, just like a preview of a movie can do. It dragged on.

It wasn’t for me. 3/5 stars.

Special thanks to #NetGalley and #OliviaPharos for the #ARC to review.

Demons and Angel's exist in the world and they attend special academys. Humans can be bound to either., but from the characters I don't think I would want to be bound to either of them. I enjoyed the audio book. The narration brought the characters to life and helped convey the emotion and action of the story. The trials these poor characters had to go through.

Je l'ai choisie car d'une part la couverture est belle et que le résumé était en français sur mon navigateur internet.

En le recevant je n'ai pas pu lire car ils sont en anglais.

Celestial Academy: Essence (Afterworld #1) by indie author Olivia Pharos

I was given the opportunity to listen to this Urban Fantasy Romance via NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest review.

For fans of Crescent City and Zodiac Academy - Celestial Academy-Essence is a binge-worthy delightful first book in a series of a dystopian world in a setting two decades since the apocalypse. In an afterworld that has Hell and Heaven on Earth, humans are now the lowest beings who are sold as slaves to other races to use them however they wish.

Wen (Gwendolyn) White is human, orphaned between 1-2 years old, and then sold as a slave to a Demon at four years old, or five...she isn't quite sure how old she was when she was dumped at the orphanage as a toddler with no one to tell her about her parents or her birth and her caretakers guessed how old she was since they didn't have any information about her. The only thing she had from her mother was a locket with an iridescent stone, Gwendolyn inscribed inside along with a photo of her mother holding her as an infant but it was lost in a fire. Being human, it didn't matter to the supernatural beings who had taken over as humans were not worthy to give a second thought. Her life has been hard with constant abuse by her Demon owner, who is in danger daily, and her main goal is to save enough money to buy out her and her best friend Sarah from slavery. The only thing that has saved her from being killed is the demon slave mark she was given when she was sold.

Clever and street-smart, Wen endured this harsh world for 20 years and lives in a modest apartment with her best friend Sarah. Surprisingly she's lived that long with her snarky attitude which flies from her lips like a whip before her brain can stop her. When faced with a dangerous foe, it's beyond her control spewing out insults disregarding the inevitable punishment of her brash attitude. One day by pure accident she found that she could take an angel's essence and turn it into a powerful drug she could sell. Being able to see an angel's essence seemed to be something only she could see. Not even the angels could see it. Since she was the only one who could see and harvest it from them and make it into a drug, people are willing to pay a lot of money to experience the euphoric effect it gives the consumer. The cost of buying out their slave indentures is high so she needs to sell more often to try and get out of slavery as soon as possible. While doing this, the angels caught on and Wen was arrested in a sting operation selling to the most powerful Nephilim in history.

Godric, is a breathtakingly handsome but a ruthless soldier for Heaven, and an assassin working for the angels. He drags her to the Celestial Court to stand trial for her crime and find out how she is making the drug since no one else has been able to harvest an angel's essence and transform it into something people could consume. Wen thought she would be sentenced to death. To her and Godric's surprise, her punishment was to be sent to Celestial Academy where Nephilim, Demons, Vampires, and Fae are sorted by their powers. The chosen are tested in the divining to ensure they are angel-blessed and see where they should be placed. They are then put into groups to train for a deadly trial to be worthy of being enlisted in Heaven's army. Not only was Godric her captor, but now she is his charge to train her for the next four years while the angels try to figure out her abilities since she is an anomaly.

Wen loves to get under Godric's skin and try to break down his stern resting bitchface attitude which is his default demeanor towards everyone. Their constant bickering doesn't dampen their electric attraction to each other since it's as thick as their mutual annoyance. His mission is to figure out what exactly she is because she is not just a simple human that she believes to be, but even the angels cannot determine what she is. Being her personal trainer which he has never done before, he prepares her to endure and complete the trial that thousands before her have failed. Failure = Death and to Godric, that is not acceptable. Although he shows constant disdain for her, he has a "touch her and die" attitude to anyone who goes near her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wouldn't be surprised if an adaptation was made into a TV series or movie. It has supernatural beings, mystery, a slow-burn blooming romance, danger, and fun banter. Other than some overuse of derogatory nicknames, this was extremely entertaining.

4.5 stars
This story is a fun and interesting one. Humans (many slaves/indentures to non-humans), demons and angels on earth, along with a host of other fantasy creatures all caught up in the long game of good vs evil. Several storylines, some larger than others, but all integrally linked, involving love, soulmates, relationships between different creatures and the nature of good vs evil. Had me trying to remember what I know of different named angels, demons, etc.
Everything is left wide open, with very clear indications that even more bad things are on the horizon.
Wonderful narration.
My only complaint is the age old "he abuses me because he wants and loves me so much" that is present. Along with pretty much all the females being MEAN GIRLS, save one who is too kind for reality (I'm pretty sure there's a reason for her wonderful nature, though).
Now I sort of regret listening because it is the only one with narration so far... guess I have to get back to reading my kindle! :)

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I don’t normally listen to audiobooks but I did enjoy popping it on when I was walking. I was hooked once I started the first chapter. It keeps you wanting more. Looking forward to the second one

I grabbed this in audiobook format from NetGalley after seeing much comparison to Zodiac Academy, which is still sitting unread on my bookshelf. . Urban Fantasy is hit and miss for me, so I have been putting it off. I thought I would give this book a chance to stand on it's own without the comparison. In the beginning I was so annoyed the main character that it nearly pulled me out of the book. However, it may be the narrators voice (which was a pretty perfect delivery of Wen's banter) rather than the actual writing, Wen's incessant questioning, inner dialogue, and snarky quips really gave me a chance to get to know her and made me ask "Who hurt you". I adored Pharos' world and character building, and while it was a bit slow and chaotic, I can appreciate all of the possibilities open for exploration in further books.

With that being said..... READ THIS NOW!
- Angels & Demons, check
- Hidden truths, check
- Forced proximity, check
- Enemies to lovers, check
- SLLLLOOOOOOOOOWWWW BURN, double check

That epilogue really sent me. I need more TUH-DAY! While I pine to hear more from dear AngelHole, I have so many questions. I need to know more about the Unitas and this wild connection and Godric's history, and all the things.

Also, Ms. Olivia, I'm living for this romance, but girl give me Lorcan! Take my money I need more Afterworld.

Superb audiobook presentation. Adult fantasy novel, part urban and part what you might call the hardest finishing school ever, death is a possibility. Scratch that, likely. Wen just can’t help herself, thoughts have to be verbally expressed, and we get to enjoy the witty, snarky banter that ensues. But she often suffers for her uncontrolled expressions as much of this is directed primarily at arch-angels, Godric (yeah even his name gets ridiculed by her) in particular. First in a series, many questions to be answered. I want the other books now (small foot stamp in case those with the power hear and react badly) Thank you to Olivia Pharos and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The premise of this book was very interesting to me! It reminded me a lot of Cresent City meets School for Good and Evil. I wanted to love this book more but this book was just not for me, however, I know plenty of readers who would eat this book up! So the rest of my review is mostly personal preference.

I did not click with any of the characters, and almost every piece of dialogue had me rolling my eyes as the sarcastic banter (which wow... is all I have to say the banter was bantering) was present enough to be featured as a separate character (as well as the mention of the MMC's package). I did not feel that the MMC (Godric) really liked our MFC (Wren), they argued A LOT and were mostly mean to each other, I felt like they just had lust more than love. The narrator nailed the voice and brought the sarcastic and carefree spirit of the MFC out. Otherwise, I thought the plot was interesting and the concept of the school for angels and demons was a unique aspect that I have not seen a lot of. My only downside was that this story was not for me.

Big thank you to the Independent Book Publishers Association and NetGalley for the awesome opportunity to dive into this audiobook! Thanks for letting me join the adventure early!

WOW!! I need everyone to read this book right now!! Urban, dystopian, supernatural, paranormal romantasy 😈 with incredible characters and intriguing plot and mystery!

Dark Academia setting - heaven and hell battling on earth, resulting in an apocalypse that makes life extremely difficult for the humans, makes sense when there are angels, demons, etc ruling the world..

Wen (Walter White): an unsuspecting angelescence drug dealer turned hero(?!) she’s got a crazy, emotional past that keeps on getting crazier throughout the book. This gal is SO FUNNY. I genuinely laughed out loud at her sarcasm and banter. While most of her new academy does NOT love her- I always will!

Godric (Godawful): Grumpy, angel daddy with runes, muscles, and wings 😻 don’t mind if I do. “Come back to me-always”

Sarah: wen’s best friend, loved by all who know her, and has a mysterious, sought after quality I hope to find out more about in the next book!

Jen, Lorcan, Gideon, Cara, basically all the side characters are written extremely well. They’re all uniquely written with differentiating personalities and interactions with the fmc. I didn’t love them all at first, but I ended this book loving them all and hoping to see more of them in the next one!

No spice, but lots of ✨thoughts✨ and tension. I’m expecting some spice in the next book 👀

The narrator of this audio book did a fantastic job! Her sarcasm and attitude were on point and the delivery was everything you could hope for as a listener.

I received this audiobook arc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I highly recommend this book!

4 stars! At first, I'll be honest. I was a bit lost. With so many names and various types of beings, it was a bit difficult to keep track of everything. I felt like we were thrown into the deep end of the pool. After a chapter or two, however, I found myself really getting into it and not wanting to put it down! It had some really funny moments while also being more serious overall. I will likely check out the other books in this series to see what happens next.

I did listen to this on audio, and the narrator was great. She pulled off the snarkiness of some of the characters perfectly. There were no issues on the audio front.

🧚🏻A HUGE thank you goes out to NetGalley, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and author Olivia Pharos for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Really enjoyed this audiobook.
The story was good in itself although sometimes I felt like I was missing something and it took me a little while to understand where the story was but that was probably because I found the narrators voice quite soothing and so u would start drifting off to sleep when listening at night.

The narrator was good and I liked listening to her and I'm looking forward to the next book but j think I will read the book instead of listening to it so that I don't keep loosing where I am lol

Yes! This was so great! In the beginig very confusing in a good way, in the end it got confusing again - but defently intersesting, and so sad that I can't find the next one anywhere...
A grown up heaven and hell on Earth story!

Celestial Academy was entertaining but nothing new. This reminds me very much of Fortune Academy, so if you have read and like that series this would be a good series to read next!

While this one wasn't for me, it wasn't bad, so I won't judge it unfairly. Sometimes a story just wasn't made for you, but that doesn't mean others won't enjoy it.