After the shocking events at the end of the previous novel, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next in this duology.

This story picks up immediately after the other leaves off. The sun is gone and Obsidian gods are out of prison (think power hungry gods running amuck) all because Teo rightly refused to sacrifice a fellow competitor in the Sunbearer trials. Now Teo, Aurelio, and Niya are on a danger-filled quest to right the wrongs, find their friends, and restore sunlight. While on this journey I enjoyed learning more about their expanded world, other communities, and people.

Teo has come so far as a character. As a Jade, he’s felt inferior to the Golds for much of his life, but his confidence soars, and he’s more comfortable in his skin in this sequel. His connection to birds (he can communicate with them) may not sound like a very useful ability, but you’d be mistaken to underestimate its importance. I appreciated the addition of Xio’s POV. They’re experiencing all sorts of conflicting emotions and manipulations and questions what’s right. Both Teo and Xio’s character arcs are wonderful.

Niya is still very protective of Teo, and her humor continues to provide moments of levity amidst a sea of tension and high stakes. Their friendship is beautifully written and one of my favorite things about this duology. The budding romance between Teo and Aurelio is sweet and authentic, and I liked the way the author leaves their story.

Celestial Monsters is a worthy sequel and leaves the reader with a feeling of hope for these characters and their world. Recommended for fans of strong friendship bonds, quest stories, and mythology.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you Macmillan Children’s and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book picks up right where The Sunbearer Trials left off and we’re thrown right into the action with no recapping, which I really appreciated.

I loved being back with these characters and following their journey to save the world. Teo, Niya and Aurelio are such great characters and I really enjoyed watching them interact in this new environment.

The blossoming romance between Teo and Aurelio was so sweet. In the midst of all this chaos, they had each other, and I really loved watching the way that unfolded without overshadowing the main plot.

I also really loved getting Xio’s POV and their journey in figuring out what kind of person they wanted to be. I especially loved them trying out new pronouns and everyone just immediately accepting and adapting regardless of how angry they were with them.

I’ll admit to growing a little bored during the middle of this book. It felt like not a whole lot was happening, they were just moving from town to town and encountering the same things in a different wrapping. It felt a bit repetitive, as though it was just filler rather than actual plot.

Despite that, I still really enjoyed this story and found it really quick to read!

The epic conclusion to the queer, Mexican Hunger Games delivers! I was blown away with the direction this book took compared to the first novel. Starting with the switch to dual point of view. Getting to know Xio more intimately was a great choice. Through him we get an exploration of what it means to be a villain, gender questioning, family, and so much more! Of course the romance between Teo and Auriello heats up, literally! The conclusion of the story wasn't what I was expecting which made it all the more satisfying. Aiden did a phenomenal job weaving Mexican mythology into the story to ground the plot. This novel and the series as a whole is worth more than 5 stars,. Thank you Aiden for creating yet another queer masterpiece!

A perfect ending to the Duology! Celestial Monsters beautifully combines the action/adventure of The Sunbearer Trials with the relationships and romance of Aiden Thomas’ other novels. The relationship building as well as the character development was perfect and the dual pov allowed for insights that we didn’t get in The Sunbearer Trials. A great read and a perfect conclusion!

celestial monsters pick up IMMEDIATELY where the sunbearer trial ended. I think I actually enjoy this one a little more. I also really enjoyed how we get both teo and xio pov. being in xio pov was interesting to read as we really see him grapple with the situation and people around him. The pacing and the characters development perfectly matches everything we were already familiar with in the first book. i will say i did request this arc and waited for the approval before i started the sunbearer trail cuz i heard from a lot people that there was a cliffhanger in book 1, I will admit this duology probably falls more in the mid to lower level age of YA, and if do feel like im just a little too old for it (again, this is entirely my fault)

I read The Sunbearer Trials over a year ago and really loved it! I had thought about rereading it before diving into Celestial Monsters but realistically I just didn't have time. I was mildly confused in the beginning of this book and did have to go back and read some reviews to remind myself what happens at the end of book 1 since Celestial Monsters really dives in right where book 1 ended.

I love this world and the characters - the diversity of the characters in particular is something that just really adds to my enjoyment. A great example is that there are a couple of scenes where a character is trying out different pronouns and says so in the middle of a verbal argument with another character - and that other characters says "oh okay" and then just seamlessly switches to the new pronouns even while still mad at the other person. All of the side characters are really well fleshed out too.

I thought the use of dual POV here was really cool - it's not often that you see the "villains" point of view and I could see how Xio struggled with their decisions.

My only real complaint about this book is that Xio's change of heart happens quite suddenly - I actually had to back the audio up a little because I thought I had missed them coming to the realization. I think just slowing that scene down a beat or two would have been a little easier to follow.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I adored book one in this duology, and while I liked this second and final book, I struggled with Xio's storyline and the overall pacing of the novel. I felt like Xio's villain/redemption storyline was very uneven, and I didn't really buy in to the speed of his turnaround. I still really love the world Thomas created, and Teo, Aurelio, and Niya were so much fun to spend more time with. Overall it's a satisfying finale to a really excellent book one, but I think it might have benefited from a couple more rounds of edits. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for a digital review copy.

Absolutely blown away! I have eagerly been awaiting the sequel and I was thrilled to receive an advanced reader copy. Everything about this book kept me on my toes while I was reading it, and I was turning pages late into the night to get to the end. I love the world that Thomas has crafted, the characters, and the suspense of how things will turn out . So well done!

I was absolutely thrilled to be back in this beautiful world with Teo and Niya! I love Teo and his journey to learn how to be a hero and his utter devotion to his friends and family. He has a total heart of gold! So does Niya. She is probably my favorite, with her confidence and boldness. I also liked watching her confront and overcome some of her anxieties in this book. And I love Aurelio. He and Teo are so cute together, and I was thrilled by all their little moments. He also got fantastic development. Lastly, I was initially apprehensive about Xio’s chapters, but I came to love them and really enjoyed their growth. Along with the characters, the plot was also amazing. The quest sort of nature of the story paired with the nature based godly powers reminded me a lot of ALTA. I also liked how it caused the characters to question the system they had grown up in and eventually change it. The only thing I didn’t totally love was the ending. But overall this book was everything I had hoped it would be and I highly recommend this duology.

Celestial Monsters picks right back up where The Sunbearer Trials left off. The Sun is gone, the world is in chaos, and monsters are wreaking havoc on Reino del Sol. Teo teams up with Aurelio and Niya on a quest to rescue the captured semidioses and restore Sol, all the while fighting the Obsidian gods and dealing with the betrayal from their friend Xio.

I absolutely loved that the POV switched from both Teo and Xio, where we got to see Teo’s blooming relationship with Aurelio as he proves his worth within the trio and Xio’s conflicting feelings as they deal with the guilt of abandoning their adoptive father to make proud their biological father.

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes where Teo got to show off his communication skills with birds and learn that the relationship between the gods and humans wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. I also liked seeing Xio discover their worth besides being a pawn for their father and their character development as they realized who their true friends/family were.

*I ended up reading this with my ears instead of via e-book, but still LOVED this. Thanks for the arcs!!*

This series is truly everything I love about YA fantasy. It’s just so much FUN. I genuinely love Aiden’s story telling style and how he crafts his worlds and characters. It’s always so immersive and I’m always sad to leave.

This book picks right where Sunbearer Trials left off. Which I LOVED. This has some truly edge of your seat action & fight scenes, and scenes that made my heart absolutely soar. And the ending was so incredibly satisfying it made me SOB.

I will yap about and recommend this duology for the rest of my days.

Thank you to NetGalley, Fewiel & Friends, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this advanced copy! You can pick up Celestial Monsters on September 3, 2024.

I absolutely loved this conclusion to The Sunbearer Duology. Aiden Thomas did a phenomenal job creating beautiful character arcs for our main cast and weaving in heart-pounding action amid important character development scenes. The monsters were grotesque but vividly described, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed the new POV introduced in this book. As much as I love being in Teo's head, it was refreshing to view the world of Reino del Sol through another lens that's been impacted by such vastly different experiences.

The slowburn romance between Teo and Aurelio was also SO incredibly sweet, and I loved every single interaction between them! But this book was about much more than just romantic love – Thomas also focused on the importance of friendship and the complicated love that exists within families. Every relationship just felt so achingly relatable, and it made the ending that much more emotional (yes, I did cry at my desk at work).

And, of course, it's beautiful and refreshing to see a queer-normative fantasy world full of people from diverse backgrounds (including disability rep!). I can't wait to see more books embrace this, and I'll be picking up the rest of Thomas's book expeditiously!

10/10, will always recommend.

Celestial Monsters picks up exactly where The Sunbearer Trials left off and it’s a wild ride from the start! The world building in this series was already so lush, but it was expanded upon in this second book and I loved it. The plot did drag a little in the middle, but I am not too upset about that because the characters made up for it. I love Teo and Aurelio so much! Niya kind of annoyed me at times, but I also get that they’re also teenagers and are supposed to be annoying. The writing was also so so so good. It was so lush and descriptive without being purple. I just love this series so much and I was so thankful I got to listen to an advanced copy!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the follow up to (& apparent conclusion of) the excellent YA novel, The Sunbearer Trials. The Sunbearer Trials was so good it would have been hard to beat, so perhaps it isn't surprising that this volume feels a bit underwhelming compared to its predecessor. The narrative switches back and forth between Teo and Xio, with the Teo chapters coming across as much stronger. Xio seems to be completely unable to acknowledge that there should be consequences for their actions and because of this doesn't seem to ever evolve over the course of the story, which significantly lessens the impact of both the reasons for their betrayal at the end of The Sunbearer Trials and their ultimate redemption arc. The story also felt rushed at several points, which further exacerbated the problem with Xio's story line, and the conclusion was so sudden and out of nowhere it almost felt as if the author was actively trying to end the series in a way that would preclude more stories within the world being written. Based on that conclusion, I'm guessing we won't be returning to the world, which is a shame.

I wish I had re-read The Sunbearer Trials before reading this one, because after a couple years I forgot who most of the characters are. That being said, I still enjoyed this book overall, and Aiden Thomas is quickly becoming an author whose books I will always pick up. Reading their books feels like watching a movie, and it is always a fun time.


I will say I remember the first book having tighter pacing than this one; there were a couple of meandering plot points that made sense by the end, but in the moment reading them I was anxious for the story to advance. 


Overall this was a satisfying conclusion to this duology, although I would recommend refreshing yourself on the events of the first book before diving in to this one.

The story being told here is vital for today's youth. It's one that I wish people in my generation had had more access to stories like this when I was younger. The representation and diversity is well done, age appropriate and key for so many of my customers. We carry the first book, and I look forward to adding this one to our inventory as well.

"Celestial Monsters" by Aiden Thomas is a captivating blend of magical realism and science fiction, drawing readers into a world where celestial phenomena unite a diverse group of characters. Thomas' vivid writing and strong character development create an engaging and emotionally resonant narrative. Themes of identity, belonging, and unity are skillfully woven into a plot filled with unexpected twists and heartfelt relationships.

I read The Sunbearer Trials almost two years ago I think and was super excited to get a chance to finish the duo logy early!

If you loved the characters in the previous book, you get to know those characters even better. Some of the side characters become main characters while also trying to save the world. I love the discussions about how the world that they live in isn't catered to the humans, but the gods and their children.
If you love Percy Jackson, but want more of a twist on that world with own voices latinx characters and world building, along with trans, non binary, and multiple queer relationships, this is a great duo logy to pick up.

A YA high fantasy steeped in Latinx mythology, full of incredible characters in an ever-changing world of monsters and magic. We follow a lovable main character who might have accidentally brought about his world's apocalypse and now is responsible for saving it. Great for those who loved Avatar: The Last Airbender and Percy Jackson.

trans mmc | high fantasy | Latinx mythology | friends-to-enemies-to-lovers | gods and monsters | queer friend group | banter | queernorm world

I really appreciated that this book focused so tightly on Teo, Niya, Aurelio, and Xio - by limiting the amount of interactions outside of this core group, we really got to see them bloom. I especially liked the way that Niya’s and Aurelio’s fears/anxiety manifested and how Teo and Xio come to understand just how much pressure is placed on even the privileged Golds.

Strangely enough I really wanted to see a bit more of Teo’s weakness? He keeps up really well with the others whose whole lives have been spent in training for physical exertion - and even though he TALKS about how exhausted he is, we don’t really see it. I wanted to see some consequences of that in the same vein as Aurelio’s and Niya’s emotional collapses.

Also props to the two times when there’s a fight, someone goes “actually I’m trying out these other pronouns” and the other side goes “I hate you but I’m going to respect your pronouns” and then continues fighting. Also also the sheer shared devastation when all of the prisoners have their hands bound and they all riot on behalf of the deaf character who now has no one to interpret the captors’ words or anyone else’s. It shows that 1) fantasy absolutely can be inclusive and 2) that Thomas really really wanted to put in the effort to prove 1.