Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos - 4.5/5

"...the apocalypse didn't turn out to be about the end of days."

If this is the last book, I ever read I will die happy. I am a huge fan on Crescent City and Zodiac Academy books and this book hits the mark! This new adult fantasy has an eye catching cover and a story line that has characters you will fall in love with, world building that will wish you were there and an ending that makes you mourn for more.

First things first I am not into anything post-apocalyptic or any type of slow burn romance but this book was a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of this author before and was open to trying something new. I took my time reading and I'm glad I did because it flowed so well and THE ENDING!!! Omg I will definitely will be following up with this series!

The mention of Zodiac Academy is what immediately grabbed my attention and made me want to read this book!

This book was absolutely phenomenal in every sense of the word.
I have always found myself being a fan of angel/demon fantasy romance books but hadn’t found one in a while that caught my attention. until I read this book. This book immediately grabbed my attention from the first page to the very last one
. The characters are complex in nature and fascinating, the pacing of the plot is perfect and the TENSION throughout the book is intense. The twists and turns were very exciting and surprising. I am so excited for Wen’s journey and I really loved Godric!! Two thumbs up for the slow burn and the amazing plot. I’m so excited and curious for what’s to come next! You’ll enjoy this book especially if you’re a fan of slow burn romance and mythology with a modern twist.

Celestial Academy claims to be like Sarah J. Maas and Zodiac Academy.
And yes, I can confirm this.
The problem here is, it is too much like those. This book doesn't present anything different, anything new or spectacular.
It was boring, to read the same stuff you redid hundred times or just five times before. When I pick up a new book or want to read something new, there needs to be something that draws my attention to the story, to the whole book.
But in this particular book, there was just nothing.
I liked the MC, but she wasn't extraordinary in any kind. She was just an ordinary girl. I love to have glamorous characters with a great and big personalities. She doesn't have it.
I don't want to say that this book is bad. It isn't. But it wasn't for me.
Maybe if I wouldn't read so much fantasy like this, I would have actually enjoyed it. it.

PS: I hate the map

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OKOKOK I see you, Celestial Academy and Olivia Pharos.

This book intimidated me at first. I mean it is almost 600 pages long and I almost had a heart attack when I opened it up and saw that on my Kindle. I like my books around 200-300 pages because that's easy for me to finish in one night. But 551?! Oy.

This book was marketed to me as for fans of Zodiac Academy - which I loved. I'll be real, I was going into this book expecting a low budget rip off of ZA and I had a feeling it would be a DNF. But I was proved wrong. This book was an unexpected surprise and I'm eager to see where the series goes from here. Wen White (say that 5 times fast, I dare you!) is a pretty badass heroine. The slowburn in this story is killing me though. Slowburn is one of my most hated tropes and I haven't found anything yet that has changed my mind. But this series has promise and you can bet I'll be checking out the rest!

Why did it take me so friggin long to finish this book when it was SO FRIGGIN GOOD?! I have no idea, maybe subconsciously I didn't want it to be over and start the wait for the next one? I don't know but THAT FRIGGIN ENDING! I'm so glad it appears the wait for book 2 isn't going to be too long.

Wen White is the bottom of the barrel. Found as a child in the leftover rubble of a building she's sold to a demon to be a slave. Her life is rough but thanks to her one friend, Sarah, she stays grounded and keeps pushing through. One day Wen discovers that she can harness and sell Angel Essence, it's a drug, but if Wen ever wants to buy her and Sarah their freedom this is how she can do it. Wen is extremely careful about who she sells to and when because getting caught or ending up dead isn't going to help get Sarah free of her indenture. One night though, she has a couple deals fall through and gets a little sloppy. Enter Godric/Godawful/Angelhole.

If you enjoy an Academy vibe, Angels/Demons, enemies to lovers, slow burn, etc. then this is for you.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Seventh Wonder Press for the opportunity to read and review this story.

#CelestialAcademyEssence #BookOne #Series #AfterWorldBookOne
#Angels #Demons #SlowBurnRomance #EnemiesToLovers
#Dystopia #Paranormal #UrbanFantasy
#OliviaPharosAuthor #NetGalley #SeventhWonderPress

OKAY I JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK AAAAND. WHAT THE HELL. I FUCKING LOVE THIS NEW WORLD BUILDING.
If you loved Zodiac Academy, Crescent City, Fallen, and loved angels/demons in books, YOU CAN'T MISS THIS BOOK!
This is a perfect post apocalyptic/fantasy/ paranormal Romance book. I never read a such original book, there are Angst, mistery, romance, humor, trash and a lot of plot twists.
THANK YOU OLIVIA FOR SENDING ME THE ARC COPY. ❤️❤️
We are in a post apocalyptic world, with angels and demons after a war, they live on Earth and rule it.
Wen is the MFC, she is a human, and a demon slave. She live with her BFF Sarah Dilapidated house without food or comfort. They wanna escape from these conditions, so Wen raises money by selling drugs, the Angelessence, a power drug that contain the angelic essence of an angel. But She will be caught in the act of sell the drugs by a Nephilim and arrested. But when she is brought before the Archangels, they will feel something strange about her. Her ability to see angelic essence is rare. So they will submit her to a test, which will lead her to the celestial academy.
Here Wen will go through a lot of misadventures, and will know a new reality.
Godric is the MMC, he is a Nephilim (son of an Archangel), Grumpy, morally grey, a little bit villain and He acts like an asshole towards Wen. They are the perfect example of the enemies to lovers! Their bantering is so absolutely amazing, and the erotic tension between them is sooo crazy. I freaked out just for a kiss ahahaha.. OBV the romance part is underdeveloped, because we are still in the first book, BUT I hope we get to see more than one kiss later.
The final cliffhanger is fairly uneventful but I can't wait to read the next book.🤩🤩🤩
I loved also the secondary characters like Jinny, Sarah and Lorcan, THEY ARE SO FUNNY AND CRAZY.
(I already ship Lorcan and Sarah, buuut who knows... 👀).
~
Io ho amato molto questo libro, quando ho accettato questa collaborazione con l'autrice, non pensavo che mi sarei tanto appassionata a questo libro è a questo mondo. Non è un fantasy normale, ci troviamo in un mondo post apocalittico, dove angeli e Demoni dopo una lunga guerra, hanno firmato un trattato di pace e vivono sulla terra, insieme ad altri esseri sovrannaturali, trattando gli umani come schiavi e come merce di scambio. Gli umani quindi sono all'ultimo posto della gerarchia sociale. Tra loro c'è la nostra protagonista, Wen, schiava di un demone, che però sta architettando la sua fuga, insieme all'amica Sarah.
Wen ha una sorta di dono, la capacità di estrarre, e utilizzare l'essenza Angelica, per sintetizzata come droga. Questo le ha fruttato un bel po' di soldi, ma proprio durante una trattativa viene scoperta da Godric , un Nephilim stronzo, che la arresterà è la porterà in catene al cospetto degli Arcangeli. Ma qui mentre essi stanno per dare il loro verdetto avvertono qualcosa di strano. Wen possiede dentro di sé qualcosa in più. Il destino così ha in serbo altro per lei e senza sapere come si ritroverà alla Celestial Academy, insieme ad altri umani, ma non solo. Qui conoscerà Demoni, Nephilim, angeli caduti e molto altro.
Le avventure per la nostra protagonista sono appena iniziate e vi garantisco che ne succederanno di ogni tipo.
I battibecchi continui con Godric, mi hanno uccisa, sono il perfetto esempio di Enemies to lovers, con uno slow burn pazzesco. La parte Romance in questo primo libro è poco sviluppata, ma ci sta, perché essendo una serie composta da molti libri, c'è bisogno di tempo. Onestamente preferisco così, perché rende il tutto più coerente e vero. Godric nasconde molto, e sono curiosa di sapere cosa. Anche se all'inizio lui odia lei, la ripudia, le fa ribrezzo, man mano che si va avanti si assiste a un graduale e lento cambiamento. La tensione tra loro due è pazzesca, e mi sono ritrovata a sclerare per un singolo contatto. Ovvio che i pieni di lui non hanno fatto i conti con lei, e con la possibilità di innamorarsi del nemico. OH GODRIC. NON VEDO L'ORA DI VEDERE COME CADRAI AI SUOI PIEDI.
Wen è un personaggio un po' sui generis, mi ha fatto morir dal ridere, è un po' folle, a tratti stupida, ma comunque badass è con un lingua biforcuta. Non si spaventa a dirtene 4 in faccia, anzi, non ha proprio filtri. 😂😂
Che dire, primo libro molto apprezzato, con un world building pazzesco e complesso. Ho trovato la prima parte lenta, ma ci sta, essendo primo libro, e dove do fare un mega spiegone, ho comunque apprezzato molto anche questa parte. La parte finale invece mi ha lasciata senza parole, molto suspance, colpi di scena e un sacco di misteri che sono venuti a galla e per i quali sono curiosa di conoscere la risposta.
Consiglio questo libro, soprattutto per chi ama Zodiac acedemy, Crescent City, ma anche Fallen e tutti quei libri con gli angeli come protagonisti. Se leggete in lingua vi prego di dare una possibilità a questo libro, non ve ne pentirete!!

I unfortunately didn't finish this book. I couldn't get past the dialogue and tone. I found it difficult to follow and could not get invested in the story.

I, unfortunately, chose not to finish this book and ended up adding it to my "DNF" list.

Immediately at the beginning of the book I thought the dialogue was corny and a little forced, but I originally chalked it up to that being a possible reflection of this sub-genre of fantasy as this was not uncommon and I had seen it before in other books. Nevertheless, I continued on and gave more of this book a chance.

However, as I got further into the book, I began dreading reading it because I just could not get around the immature dialogue and characters. Furthermore, I couldn't look past all of the internet references such as the words "morally grey" actually being used by the main character to describe herself. Even in an urban/modern fantasy, I was unable to see past it.

Every interaction between characters felt like a forced conflict. Normally I would be able to look past cheesy dialogue if the plot is entertaining--it doesn't even have to be that well-written. But unfortunately, the plot of this book was predictable and the characters extremely unlikeable, and not in a good way.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this book, but I could not finish it.

"Celestial Academy: Essence" is the first book in a brand new series by Olivia Pharos. I found the book started out a bit slow but once it picked up steam, it was difficult to put down and left me eagerly awaiting for the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an entertaining read. Predicatable? Yes, some parts but that didn't matter at all. Because its also funny and intriguing. Wen is amazing, witty and feisty. And an expert in nicknames. The romance is very very slow burn, but that fits perfectly in the story. I can't wait for the next book.

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review

What a fantasy world she created. It was all there, good and evil, love and hate, life and death. She painted quite a picture. It took me awhile to accept the premise of heaven and hell on earth, as I don't really believe in that sort of thing, but then I remembered this was fantasy so anything goes. Once I got interested in the characters, then I just wanted to see what Wen's ability was and how she would use her new powers. It really was a love hate story of discovery from the beginning!! I can't wait to see Wen's powers and that of her "roomies" powers also developing!! And of course what is "Godawful" up to??

Celestial Academy: Essence (Afterworld #1) - Olivia Pharos

5⭐️/5 ~🇪🇸
Gracias a la autora por este ✨ARC✨ tan maravilloso🤩
Antes de nada, ¡es su novela debut! ¡Debut! Y ha sido de las mejores lecturas que he tenido en el año, a pesar de que es el primer libro en una saga y siempre es más introductorio.
~Muy buena construcción de los personajes, además de que la protagonista es la mejor 😂😂. Cada frase que sale de su boca es una joya.
~Es una relación de enemies to lovers, que aunque ha sido y será slow-burn, ya se ve que va a tener un desarrollo 👌🏼
~El resto de personajes me han encantado, y puedo decir que shipeo por encima de todo a Sara y Jinni (imposible no hacerlo)😚.
~Aunque es el primer libro y aún no se aprecia mucho, se ve que la trama también va a ser diferente y original☺️. Muy buena ambientación (mundo post-apocalíptico con ángeles y demonios), además de muy buena construcción de frases, expresiones y demás. Muy fluido y muy adictivo🤭
~¡Con muchísimas ganas de leer el siguiente!🥰

•••••

5⭐️/5 ~🇬🇧
Thanks to the author for this ✨ARC✨ so wonderful🤩.
First of all, it's her debut novel! Debut! And it's been one of the best reads I've had all year, even though it's the first book in a saga and is always more introductory.
~Very good character building, plus the main character is the best 😂😂. Every sentence that comes out of her mouth is a gem.
~It's an enemies to lovers relationship, which although it has been and will be slow-burn, it's already showing that it's going to have a 👌🏼 development
~I loved the rest of the characters, and I can say that I shipped Sara and Jinni above all (impossible not to)😚.
~Although it's the first book and you can't appreciate much yet, you can see that the plot is also going to be different and original☺️. Very good setting, plus very good sentence construction (post-apocalyptic world with angels and demons), expressions and so on. Very fluid and very addictive🤭
~Looking forward to reading the next one!🥰

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great start to a series and I loved this book. I loved the entire journey.

“Long story short, the Apocalypse didn’t turn out to be about the End of Days.

Days are still ongoing just fine, thank you.

Okay, so not so fine.”

What’s better than a heroine with a cosmic level of snark? A heroine that calls one of the most elite solider of heaven’s army Godric the “God-awful”. SIGN. ME. UP.

As a woman who doesn’t know when to shut up sometimes, a heroine who also has filter problems is incredibly appealing. Wen White, who uses the drug seller name of Walter White, sells a unique drug that no one else can replicate called Angelessence. She has qualms about doing it, but there’s no other option left to her if she wants to buy her way out of enforced enslavement to a demon. Especially not when her best friend Sarah’s life is also on the line. That is the driving force behind her urgent need to make enough money–and what ultimately gets her caught. Of all the possible ways they could punish her, the Celestial Council sends her to Celestial Academy as the nephilim Godric’s ward. It becomes apparent to Wen that, though this is punishment, it’s also because they need her. For…what? Possibly stopping the resummation of the Apocalypse. How she’s supposed to do that and how she has anything to do with the situation–she has no clue and no one is telling her.

Memories that she shouldn’t have start plaguing her, and her forced proximity to Godric doesn’t help. He may be “God-awful” full of himself, but he’s also gorgeous. There’s something that keeps drawing them together despite their intense loathing of each other.

I really loved this book. Unlike other dystopian books, this book actually takes into account the main character’s diminished physical state from being a slave (because, let’s be honest, a slave isn’t usually fed or educated well). Her intense, encompassing love for Sarah is overwhelming in its intensity. Found family is sometimes more intense than anything biology can ever give us–and we can love them far more than even ourselves.

The ending ups the stakes and leaves you waiting and wanting for Godric, I mean the next book.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with an ARC copy of "Celestial Academy: Essence" in exchange for an honest review.

I took a few days after I read this book to write my review because I still wasn't sure how I felt about it.

So, I did <b>like</b> this book and it could have been GREAT. I'll list my positives and negatives and I'll also definitely be reading book 2.

<b>Positives:</b>
● Amazing world building: post apocalyptic - I liked how she created the world with Angels and Demons now on Earth and how that integrated into society
● Interesting spin on Magic
● Magic, Angels, Nephilum, demons (main characters)…Might see in the future/mentioned Fae, Shifters,Witches

<b>Negatives:</b>
● too many “Easter eggs” and too many things or “stories” going on at one time : A little bit confusing and I didn't feel like it furthered the story line by inserting them
● very loud mouthed opinionated female MC (like to where you don’t want to route for her)...I had a few moments where it's like, why would you do that? or that's just plain rude or mean...or can you just STOP
● Prejudices (society) - Some could see this as a positive or negative...just not my favorite when its the main part of a story
● Little bit cheesy between the love interests
● Enemies to lovers
● Very very slow burn
● Zero spice in book 1 (I think this is supposed to be considered New Adult)

I would have thought this was a YA book... There are obviously some “adult” themes but if you’re looking for a “spicy” book…This is not it. (So be careful if you go into it thinking Zodiac Academy) I’m assuming possibly the next book might be a little more. (From what I researched they are considering this series New Adult) The “slow burn” romance was extremely SLOW.

Pretty cool world building, post apocalyptic. Loved her spin on the apocalypse and how this “affected” some humans. So all in all, it was a pretty good book. I'll read book 2 and hopefully book 1 was just setting things up.

4.5 stars

It took me a bit to get into the story, but all in all I really liked the plot and characters. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. The book was really long, and it took me quite some time to finish (I think it’s around twice the size of the regular romances I read).
At around 30% into the book, the academy part of the story begins, that was my favorite and the reason I picked up the book.
I really want to thank the author for all the hard work she put into this book.

4.5 ✨
Dystopian/Paranormal mix

The cover intrigued me. Read the description and knew I had to crack this one open. I was captivated instantly. I literally could not put it down and kept saying “just one more chapter.” (And we all know how well that goes 😂)

Can’t wait to read book 2 when it comes out 😩

I wish I knew how to rate this a 4.5 instead of a 4. I was very surprised by this book. I have seen many people compare this book to Cresent City. That book is one of my top all-time favorite books. TBH, I didn't think Celestial Academy would live up to that standard, at least for me. I was pleasantly surprised! I can see why people make that comparison. Celestial Academy definitely gives you that same vibe and feeling as Crescent City while also wholly being its own thing.

My 100% favorite thing in this book is Wen's attitude! She has some of the best comebacks, is full of sass, and doesn't take any crap. Don't get me started on the banter between her and Godric. I'm more in love with their back and forth than I am with them being in a relationship. I'm definitely shipping them, but the banter is*chefs kiss*