ARGHHHHHH!! I LOVE TEO SO MUCH 🥹

The sunbearer trials was one of my top 10 books of 2023, and I was worried that this book would suffer second book syndrome… but it did not disappoint!!! 😍

We rejoin the story straight after the end of the sunbearer trials (I listened to the audiobook straight before this to get back into the world!) and we mainly follow Teo, Niya and Aurelio as they group together to try to revive Sol and rid the Obsidians from Reina Del Sol.

I loved the different POV in this story, so we get chapters from Xio’s point of view. It was great to get some of the story from their view and see their internal fight of finding a place in this new world.

Absolutely loved it!! All of it!!

Overall, I had a great time with Celestial Monsters! It was full of action, characters I was excited to revisit, and blossoming relationships. This felt like a natural conclusion to the duology, and it was especially pleasant to see the characters forge their own future.

The strength is 100% in the character building. Thomas creates such vibrant and amazing heroes. The relationship between Theo and Aurelio, in particular, gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings.

I am taking one star off from absolute perfection because it felt at times like we were fighting the big bad evil with the power of friendship, which even for a Young Adult book felt like too much.

All in all, I had an amazing time with this book and was so glad to read an ARC!

Back with Teo and the other semidioses right where we left off in book 1 with the Sol Stone taken.

So much action! My heart was in my throat because those horrible Obsidians were evil....and let's not talk about Xio!

As in book 1, the descriptions in this book were so vivid it was almost like I was there. The tree houses is something I'd love to see in person. IYKYK!!!

I don't want to say anything about the plot but what I will say is that Aurelio and Teo make my heart sing!

There was a couple of lines in this book that I couldn't resist adding here:

Teo is so right:
'It doesn’t make any sense to pay money to sleep outside without a real toilet and cook your food over an open fire!'

And this one got me right in the feels:
'It may not be real in fact, but it’s real in feeling.'

And that ending that I never saw coming in million years, but what a corker!

This was the perfect adventurous, vivid second half to this duology, following on from The Sunbearer Trials.

It's definitely a book you need to read the other first, partly just to get confident with all the names of the dioses and semidioses. Stepping into Celestial Monsters, it picked up from the moment the last book finished and never stopped. Weaving together two perspectives, you get to see new character development as well as enjoying light moments with old favourites.

Expanding the world gave space to tackle some ethical and philosophy questions I really appreciated and I loved joining the journey.

This was by far one of my favourite follow ups to a book 1 in a duology probably ever. The banter, tricky situations and character growth was just as top tier as book 1.

Im literally sobbing while writing this because the level of sacrifice and acceptance at the end was crushing and so so heart warming all in one go. I really fell inlove with these characters even our more flawed ones, I really hope we get a novella or something with spin off adventures maybe.

Celestial Monsters is the conclusion to The Sunbearer Duology and an amazing story about Demi-gods and quests. It’s a great end to the series and another amazing book from Aiden Thomas.

Picking up after the big reveals at the end of The Sunbearer Trials, this novel starts strong and delves into the action. Whilst we no longer really follow the trails, the characters have clear goals and a quest. It was so much fun to see our beloved characters working together and even seeing things from new perspectives (like with Xio’s POV). I feel like they’ve grown so much and become even more dear to the reader.

I loved that we were able to see more of this incredible world and explore more cities, characters and elements of the Mexican inspired mythology. This world-building was not only magical but it also felt educational. One of the things that I love most about these mythology inspired books is that fact that you get to immerse yourself in these celestial worlds and learn a bit more about other cultures. Much like in Percy Jackson, The Sunbearer Duology allows the reader to enter this ancient world of gods and monsters and learn about it by following characters they love.

The focus on a trans main character and plenty of other queer and non-cisgender characters also meant that the book could provide representation for so many marginalised groups. It doesn’t dwell on these details too much and allows LGBTQA+ characters to have completely developed personalities and lives outside of their identities which is wonderful to see. At least when I was growing up, this kind of representation was scarce, so I’m so glad we’re getting more of these stories.

Overall, this was a fun, emotional and deeply entertaining book! Aiden Thomas has built a fascinating world and absolutely lovable characters and I’ll be sad to see them go. I’d definitely recommend this book if you’re a mythology nerd, a fan of series like Percy Jackson or The Hunger Games, or even just a sucker for fantastical stories about teenagers battling monsters.

Aaahhh, this was just so amazing!

It's been over two years since I first read The Sunbearer Trials, but this book starts immediately where its predecessor left off and, I dunno if it's a testament to my memory or Thomas' writing (I'm definitely leaning towards Thomas' writing), I immediately was able to recall the important details while reading.

I just adore the characters. We follow Teo, Niya, and Aurelio for the journey, but we get some chapters in Xio's POV, too. Thomas makes his characters so charming and full of life. My love for my favorite himbo Niya reignited to the fullest, and I found Xio's POV added so much in regards to a deeper insight, and greater empathy, for the lone Obsidian semidiose. I got really invested into these kids; I even started tearing up at the end due to plot things I will not reveal (If you know, you know?)

The story is fantastic, too, because it primarily centers on Teo questioning the system the gods have implemented and trying to change it so no more semidioses are sacrificed. I really liked how humans are focused on a lot more, because, like the story is showing, their wants/needs are forgotten by gods who think they know better than them. The solution to this leads to is the best one, but it's still kind of bittersweet in some aspects (Again, if you know, you know).

I really can't talk about it without going into more spoilers, but I will say that if you enjoyed or loved The Sunbearer Trials, then I'm sure you'll love this, too!

4.5/5

I love this world and these characters with all my heart! It was so much fun to return to this series, I would read books and books and books more about all of them! Thank you Aiden Thomas for the perfect queernorm, Latine Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games series of our dreams! This comp perfectly describes the first book, The Sunbearer Trials, so if that sounds even remotely appealing to you, go read it!
Celestial Monsters continues directly after the big reveals at the end of the last book, we're thrust into the action straight away. It follows more of a quest storyline than the trial structure of the first book. Instantly, we have our goal and now we must follow Teo, Niya and Aurelio on their long and arduous path. We also get Xio's perspective as well which adds so much depth to the story.

The characters are truly the life force of this series, they're simply phenomenal. I adore Xio with all my heart, I loved seeing into their mind and all the conflicting motivations at play inside of them. I loved seeing their view of the other characters, their view of the past events. It was fascinating and made for such a fun and dynamic reading experience as we flicked back and forth between their situation and Teo's.
Teo has my entire heart as well, I honestly just adore all these characters. Teo has grown so much from the beginning of the series and it's amazing to watch his confidence soar and to see him embrace the hero's journey. Yet throughout all of this, more than anything, Teo has always had his compassion. He's always looking out for the underdog, always understanding of others in a way sometimes even Niya and Aurelio can't manage. It's Teo and his steady heart that drives the entire story. It's Teo that has the ability to change the world for the better, and the ability to convince others that they can too.
Niya is always a joy to read, she's brilliant and absolutely hilarious. My favourite moments were always the moments of banter between Teo and Niya (and especially the moments where they ganged up to tease Aurelio), they have such a beautiful friendship that Thomas writes phenomenally. He easily captures the pure love that they hold for each other and the lengths that they're always willing to go to for each other, and we get to bask in the beauty of it. It's so refreshing to read about such an unalterable friendship.
Aurelio was an incredible addition to Teo and Niya's merry band, I loved his steadfast energy, but I loved when we were able to see beneath his façade and into his moments of weakness even more. They all played off of each other so well.

I am exactly the type of person who enjoys Fellowship more than any of the other parts of Lord of the Rings and so inevitably I adored the wandering quest aspect of the story the most. I loved the small moments of happiness, the side quests, the heartwarming conversations, the strange and funny situations they somehow found themselves in. It was such a fun read and I enjoyed every minute. Because of this, I sometimes wished the action-heavy second half of the book would sometimes slow down a little, but I think that's just a me thing! I always like the slower moments more, but, for all its action, it still managed a lot of heartfelt moments amongst it all.

I loved how Teo's connection to birds was used all throughout, I always found it so sweet and such a warm and nurturing kind of connection to feature. I adored how the birds played their part as they are such a huge part of Teo's life and it was really nice to see that shown in this book as well. It's the little things that make the difference, that add the heart to a story!

Another thing I loved was the questioning of the world order all throughout. More than anything, I adored getting to see so many of the different cities and landscapes of the world and how every one was so unique not only in structure but also in how they operated. I really appreciated how these differences became such eye-opening events for Teo, I loved how they infused into this overarching question. Now that the world has been turned inside out, can we finally question it? As we fight to rebuild it, can we fight also for a better one? Maybe we don't want things to just go back to the way they were, maybe we need to force it to change instead. I adored this theme running as an undercurrent all throughout the book, influenced this way and that by any number of new sights, conversations and revelations.

I think this is truly such a wonderful series, it's incredibly fun to read and I'd highly recommend it! I think so many people of all ages would really enjoy this, it's so diverse and uplifting and centres trans characters as the heroes of their own stories. I adore reading fantasy set in queernorm worlds, books about queer and trans struggles are so immensely important, but stories where queer and trans characters simply get to exist are immensely important too! We always need more queer joy and I adore, adore, adore how Aiden Thomas has such well-written, but casual representation all throughout their stories. From Teo's jade green top surgery scars, to Xio figuring out who they are, to the easiness of queer love, I adored every moment. (This carries over from the first book where I absolutely sobbed at one of the most gender-affirming and beautiful moments!)
Books like these are so astoundingly important, especially for teens and a YA audience, which this is for. I'm so grateful and so happy that this exists! Thank you Aiden Thomas, I will read everything you ever write!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Aiden Thomas does it again with the most superb smash hit of a sequel. I couldn't find one bad thing to say about this!

I adored this book so much!!! What a fantastic story, I'm never disappointed by Aiden Thomas!! I could hardly put the book down, what a fantastic sequel!!
I would have liked the book to be longer, as I enjoy the world and the characters and would have loved to see more from them. Due to this the pacing slightly suffered for me, but I know this is aimed for a younger reader than myself, so it is similar to the similar thoughts I have for Percy Jackson also!
Deeply enjoyed the humour and pop-culture references, I was highly entertained the entire read! I would love a novella or a collection of stories to expand on the world and characters, basically I hope the duology has some sort of extra material I can eventually read! Overall a very strong book2 that absolutely stands strong and holds its own next to book1!

e-ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
[note: review will avoid any major plot spoilers but may allude to/reference mild spoilers and spoil major events of The Sunbearer Trials]

Let me start by saying, Celestial Monsters was my most anticipated release of 2024, so the fact that even with that level of pressure and anticipation I was not at all disappointed in an impressive feat of writing (why am I even surprised at this point?)

The end of The Sunbearer Trials truly set up everything perfectly with an ‘end-of-the-world-road-trip’ and boy did this deliver. The dynamic of Teo, Niya and Aurelio is one of the shining forces of this book, so getting to see the trio navigate danger whilst trying to save the world with their usual humour, love and merciless teasing was everything I could have wanted.
Add to that the layers of trauma each character is still learning to cope with and the bonding of this group into one unbreakable unit and the book delivered on everything it had promised. Putting love and friendship at the centre.

From The Sunbearer Trials we knew Aurelio and Teo’s chemistry is off the charts, but through the isolation trio experienced on their journey we got to see through some of the competitiveness, jokes and outward strength to be gifted (and it was truly a gift) with so many small, softer moments of complete vulnerability and affection. It really was the last piece we needed to see these childhood friends-to-enemies-to-allys-to-friends rebuild everything that they had once had and find something more.
(This isn’t to say there weren’t jokes. I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud at least once a page.
Maybe even once a line where Niya was invovled?)

And lastly, the gasp I gusp when I opened chapter one to see we were getting DUAL PERSPECTIVES! Parallel stories cutting back and forth between Xio and Teo was exactly what I never knew I needed. Xio’s story surprised me by being one of the most interesting parts of this book. I never thought I would appreciate time being taken away from Teo (one of my all-time favourite fictional characters); yet I was excited whenever Xio’s name came up!
Xio’s role in this book can’t be discussed much without some major spoilers but getting to see their perspective both presently, and during the events of The Sunbearer Trials was wonderful. And their relationships to everyone (friends, family and enemies alike) was one of the strongest parts of this book.

In conclusion, whilst there were some pacing elements that made this a 4-star read for me, I would still say Aiden Thomas really delivered on the sequel we’ve all been waiting for in a way that will leave fans of The Sunbearer Trials both overwhelmingly happy with the story’s conclusion, and absolutely devastated at having to say goodbye to these characters we have come to love dearly.
Celestial Monsters is filled with humour, heart, endless banter, moral messages, fantastical creatures, magical worlds, endless love and powerful friendships. And I couldn’t ask for more than that.
Plus, this book made me really want to try Takis.

A perfect fantasy duology for troublemakers everywhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Books for approving my request to read an arc of this book

After loving the first book in the duology I was so excited to get the chance to read Celestial Monsters early.
This book picked up right where our heroes left off and was full of danger, humour, love and monsters!
I enjoyed this book so much and I’m so happy with how it ended. I don’t want to give any spoilers for the plot, but I will say that it was a very addictive and fast paced read that I devoured in a day.
I highly recommend reading this amazing sequel, it gave me so much trans joy 🏳️‍⚧️

The book starts immediately where the last book left off. I would suggest re-reading the first book or reading the wiki because it goes straight into action and assumes you remember everything that happened.

I liked that it started this way. It was a continuation and that really worked for this series.

I loved it. The world building was great, the pacing felt right, and it was fun to join the characters again.

The series had a satisfying conclusion. I thought the ending was a bit rushed. I would have liked a bit more time spent on that but overall I really enjoyed the book.

“But we could be together in the next world. I’d wait for you.” “We could be together now.”
This review is not spoiler free
It is no secret that this was absolutely my most anticipated release of the year and I’ve been excitedly and impatiently dying to read it every single day since I finished The Sunbearer Trials (and proceeded to read it a bunch more times because I loved it so much) and let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint. It picks up pretty immediately after The Sunbearer Trials ends, and I love that it is told it dual POV so that we get to see both Teo and his, Niya’s and Aurelio’s journey to find the Sol Stone and save their friends, and from Xio’s POV so we can see them grappling with their guilt over betraying the only two friends they’ve ever had, and thinking they’re right for what they did, and how the other competitors are coping in their captivity. It also gave us a nice insight into what the Obsidians are like, even with someone they consider “their own.” It was interesting to see Xio go from proud of the way that they’d catered each prison to the captors specific weaknesses to seeing them feel guilt and regret over it. I also enjoyed seeing Vengaza teach Xio how to use their magic and the way that it manifested and how they could use it.
I really love Teo so much, he makes me laugh even in life threatening situations with his dumb comments and his inability to not be sarcastic. Once a trouble maker, always a trouble maker. He’s so brave and so full of heart, he cares so much about his friends and his mum and the people around him. I did find him frustrating at times though, mostly where Aurelio was concerned, when he didn’t understand why Aurelio was being so “hot and cold” and why he was being withdrawn, like dayum bro, his twin sister, who he is literally never separated from, has been captured and he’s worried about her. USE YOUR BRAIN TEO. I know you’re too busy thirsting after Aurelio but like be for real for two seconds please. There were some really sweet bonding moments between those two and Niya in this book, and so many moments that made me want to sob. I also love that even though Teo was betrayed and angry, he still worried about Xio and didn’t want them to suffer for their actions, and he was the first to want to trust them again when Xio came to help them. I also really love that Huemac packed him his comfort stuffed animal and that he slept with it every night they camped. Bless his little heart.
My favourite character, surprise, surprise, I’m sure, is 100000% Aurelio. He is actually my favourite character Aiden has written, which speaks volumes because I love Julian Diaz with everything I have to give, but I immediately was attached to Aurelio the second we met him in The Sunbearer Trials and the more I read about him, the more I loved him. That boy, bless him, is just so autistic coded. His social skills and the way he can’t tell when/if people are joking, the way he clearly has no regulation over his expressions/emotions and tone, the way he gets clearly overstimulated, the way he stims tapping his gold bands, cooking obviously being his special interest. Speaking of, I LOVE the way that he has cooking videos saved onto his phone and that he offered to show them to Teo when he was having trouble sleeping when they’d made camp. My heart broke so many times for Aurelio in this book, esp whenever they were fighting a celestial and he’d leave himself open to attack because he was so accustomed to having Auristela covering his weak points that he expected her to be there even though he logically knew she was not. And the way he was clearly struggling with her not being there – it hurt me so much. Twins always destroy me. I absolutely sobbed when the two of them reunited. I also think the development of his and Teo’s relationship was really sweet and seeing them so happy in the epilogue made my heart so SO happy!! And the way that Aurelio no longer had to be the revered hero Son of Lumbre, he could just be Aurelio and go to culinary school and be happy and himself. HE DESERVED THAT SO MUCH. Especially after all the garbage his mother put him through, and it was so sad to see him still struggle with that during this book. ALSO, the way that he’d pocketed that obsidian dagger with the intention to sacrifice himself absolutely destroyed me. He was always trying to look out for and protect everyone else, and no one, besides Auristela, had ever thought to look out for him until Teo does. It hurt me so much, and I’m so thankful that Teo talked him out of it and made him promise, and that he never got the chance to attempt to sacrifice himself because I would NOT have stood for it. I also really loved the way his friendship with Niya developed during this book, as she’d decided that since he and Teo clearly liked each other, he was now her second best friend.
There are so many other characters in this book I love so so so so much! NIYA, OCELO, XIO, AURISTELA, ATZI, DEZI, MARINO, FANTASMA, XOCHI, QUETZAL, SUERTE !!! JUST ALL OF THEM !!! There’s such a vast and loveable cast and I just wanted every single one of them to thrive and be happy. That is the case for most of them and they almost all get their happy ending, but Suerte sacrificing himself, and his closing words to Xio, absolutely broke me into a million pieces, and then the Dios/Diosas deciding to retreat and leave the world to the mortals and their kids too just had me sobbing, the way Teo desperately tried to negotiate so he’d still be able to see his mum, bless him.
I really loved the world building in this book !!! It was amazing to see glimpses of the other cities and the way that the Celestials had destroyed them. I loved that seeing Suerte’s city and the way that all the mortals banded together to handle destruction and disasters all the time meant that the celestials didn’t even bother them. And I love that venturing through there gave Teo some perspective and something to think about, the same as when they came across that village of mortals living in the trees that had no Dios and had no heroes, and that they’d never tried to kill the critters they face and had just found other ways of dealing with them. I also loved seeing the way that the Obsidians operated and to learn more about what had happened to the Obsidians mortal cities that had been destroyed during the war.
All in all, this was just a beautiful incredible book and I cannot believe I now live in a world where I’ve read it. I wake up every day like WOW can’t believe I’ve actually read Celestial Monsters!! I am still very eagerly anticipating my physical copies coming and the audiobook coming out so I can reread it many times more and absolutely tab it.

“First of all I want to just add a note about the previous title “The sunbearer trials” my main gripe with the previous novel was a non binary character Ocelo who used they/them for the entirety of the book was he/himed on two pages. And on the last page the first diose Sol was he’d, one of the characters made a point to say how it was cool Sol was non-binary.
In this book Ocelo only uses they/them pronouns which leads me to think it was a mistake missed by the editor. And Sol was he/himed 3 times at the end of this book so maybe make a point to clarify they use both he/they? Overall I did enjoy Celestial monsters and I think more than the previous book. This book has more of the high-risk high-stakes atmosphere that I missed in the sunbearer trials. I enjoyed the fight scenes/battles a lot more. I did find a few times that as a reader I felt a few too many steps ahead of the characters with the solution to the fight and it was almost annoying waiting for them the catch up. I would’ve liked to get to know Yucca and Paz a bit more but I understand the time restraints with that. I really loved the deaf/disabled representation of Dezi but he wasn’t in the forefront of this book. The romance between the mc and romantic interest was a bit meh unfortunately, they were on an adventure so it didn’t need to be a priority but it felt like they’d lost all chemistry/pining from the last book. Spoilerwould’ve liked to see more anguish/remorse from Xio because the flip-flopping wasn’t super in character from what we know of them. there were a couple of over used phrases too like the previous book but honestly a second editor would easily fix this issue. “
Extra notes to the publisher, it would’ve been cool to have a recap list of the characters and their diose parents/powers at the start of the book just to familiarise yourself. I felt that the phrases buckling their knees and gripped like a vise (vice in uk) were a tad overused. And the word neutral was misspelt as nuetral. And while I understand the Teo chapters were from his perspective they weren’t his internal monologue so the unknowing misgendering of Xio didn’t feel great to read.