The first book in awhile that actually brought back YEARNING!!!!! We are so back, authors take note. This is how you do a slow burn that the genre desperately needs

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

4.5 stars

was this the best book i’ve ever read? no, surely not, HOWEVER i absolutely ate this up within hours and now unsure what to do with myself.

i found the world-building using greco-roman deities and astrology very intriguing, but would have enjoyed a little more depth/clarity.

as for the romance: it was semi-instalust but not entirely? i enjoyed the banter between our mcs but i definitely rolled my eyes at some dialouge. the few spicy scenes in the book were def spicy, but i’m glad this was more fantasy than romance though, because i find that books that try to appeal to the spicier part of booktok fall flat everywhere else.

overall, i’m very excited to continue this series! not to mention my fairyloot edition of this book is gorgeous!!

i really truly did not think i was going to give this five stars going in and wow i was wrong. i will not say this is perfect, but you can definitely tell that Imani Erriu has academic training in writing. the characters actually felt different from every other fantasy romance book. i love the switch up of Elara having the shadow powers and Enzo having the light powers. seems like we always get the brooding shadow boys but we got a broody shadow girlie pop this time and i loved it. enzo is truly one of the best mmcs in a fantasy romance that i can think of right now. the magic was fleshed out but did not bog down what the plot was trying to do. the twists you come to expect from this genre were there but turned on their heads a little. i am DYING for the next one.

Such a fun new fantasy series! This book was full of twists, turns, surprises, longing, spice, and more. The characters were interesting and all had some good and bad qualities. To be completely honest, I was confused at the beginning of what was going on and had to restart a few times, but once I got into it, I did enjoy it a lot. Excited to continue on with the series

This book could’ve been so good, but the pacing kept throwing me off. The world and myths/legends were really cool and I loved the lore and how it all came together at the end. I think the romance would’ve hit harder if it was more of a slow burn and the world building would’ve benefitted from more time as well. Instead of information being dropped as soon as it was needed, I prefer a little bit of foreshadowing so that I can guess what is going on before it’s explicitly stated.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Heavenly Bodies is a beautifully written, deeply atmospheric book that feels like stepping into a dream, or maybe a nightmare. The prose is poetic and evocative, creating vivid, haunting imagery that stayed with me for days after I finished reading.

Erriu weaves themes of love, loss, and humanity into a darkly magical story that feels both timeless and unique. It isn't a light read, but it is one that demands to be savored. If you enjoy literary fantasy with a gothic edge, add this to your TBR right away.

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH Canada for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I’m a sucker for a fated mates fantasy book. This was DELICIOUS in the best way. I loved Enzo and Elara together. I loved their slow burn romance, the way he speaks to her, the plot, the twists, ALL OF IT. Such a unique world building experience. And that ending was AMAZING. Definitely a series I’ll be reading again and again.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

HEAVENLY BODIES by Imani Erriu is a romtansy story that takes place in a celestial world that is found to be ruled by The Stars. We follow Elara, the Princess of Darkness, who is kidnapped by her neighbouring kingdom, Helios, know as the Kingdom of Light. The one in power of this kingdom give Elara the task to be trained and work alongside with the Kingdom’s Prince, Enzo, to hone her powers and find a way to kill Ariete, The King of Stars ( a god ). The same god she is fated to love and yet cause the end of The Star,

But as she trains with Enzo, despite the hate they initial had for each other, she finds herself slowly falling for him, and going against the prophecy trying to tie her to Ariete.

Overall this was an enjoyable read and the ending made me intrigued to see what will happen as the series continues. I liked how the zodiac and the stars were incorporated specifically with the magic system.

I also enjoyed the foreshadowing with the plot. However, i did find aspects of the plot predictable and the pace felt I bit off to me. I do which we got to see more of Elara and Enzo relationship develop more before the “I love you”

Overall I did enjoy the read, thank you netgalley for this copy

DNF

Unfortunately, I had to put this one down before finishing as it wasn't landing for me. It has a unique magic system and greater worldbuilding that I think a lot of readers will gravitate to despite it not hitting me the way I'd expected. The main character for sure is the standout from this. I loved her inner voice and would have kept going if not for my issues with the pacing and the disconnect in how we were integrated into this world. Thank you again to the publisher for providing me the opportunity to read this and I will certainly be continuing to read more from this genre!

Just amazing! This books takes starcrossed lovers to a whole new level. There was longing and yet a lot happening that really made this book play with your emotions. Guess I’ll be patiently waiting till the next one comes out.

Oof, unfortunately this very much did not work for me. The world building was very cool, and showed a lot of promise, but the plot and the characters were soooo cookie cutter that I could not stand it!

Heavenly Bodies is a romantic with enemies-to-lovers tropes featuring a light-wielding prince, Enzo and a shadow-wielding princess, Elara, from different fractions. Elara is on the run as she is fated to fall in love with the King of Stars, and both are fated to die after….As such, Ariete, the designated King of Stars, wants to kill her off to avoid this fate. She ends up being kidnapped by the kingdom of Helios, who designated her as a weapon to use, and she requires training. Enter the prince of Helios, Enzo who is her designated trainer…will she be able to kill the King of Stars and take back her kingdom?

From the get-go right until the 40% mark, this book got me hooked! The meeting between Elara and Enzo was delicious from the get-go, with the sharp and humorous banter. I was snickering my way through the book because of it. Being enemies while being forced to get along for a common goal makes these characters' banter all the more fun. The story is only told in Elara’s POV. Because of that, it was great to see her character grow throughout the story, and she fought to overcome her fears and adversities. I also enjoyed this book because of the “found family trope” and female friendships. Elara has a female bestie that she grew up with, Sophia, and she later meets Merissa and Isra, who support her throughout her journey at Helios along with Enzo and Leo, the general of the King's guards and Enzo's friend.

While it did give me some ACOTAR, GoT, and CC flashbacks, the worldbuilding is immersive and solid. In a world ruled by the patron of Stars, the Celestia world is divided into multiple kingdoms, with one patron star overseeing each kingdom. Most of the story takes place in the Kingdom of Helios, the light kingdom and Enzo’s kingdom with a play on Greek mythology and Zodiac signs. The magic system in the book was interesting and unique, and it was a good play in Greek mythology.

As such, this gives off more romance than fantasy, given the bigger focus on the character development and slow burn with some yearning moments.

After the 40% mark, where Elara and Enzo became sort of friends and understood each other better, I felt the story got somewhat stagnant…the pacing fell off in some moments where the focus on romance was too much, especially on a scene where they urgently needed to get something done to accomplish a goal (Masquerade-Carriage scene). I understand that the book's premise is pretty standard for a romantasy, it felt like the author had a checklist of top things that needed to happen in the book. Although kudos to the author for making the scenes appear at the right time and moment…

Of course, like all typical romanticizes, it ended with a cliffhanger! I will have to wait for book 2, which will be out later this year.

Overall, I recommend it to readers looking for a typical romantic book with a heavier focus on the romance portion and character development with a play on Greek myth and Zodiac-inspired elements.

A sweeping romantasy with warring nations, jealous gods and star crossed lovers, this book really should have made me feel more than it did, but I just wasn’t as moved as I thought I would be. It’s possible that the structure and character arcs are becoming too familiar, or that this story in particular didn’t have the gravitas needed to bring emotions high enough to propel the story forward, but whatever the resonated, the slow burn romance could not keep my interest and the political theatrics didn’t inspire my outrage. The strong FMC was well drawn and the mythology interesting, but I won’t be continuing this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

I'm not a fan of this being written in third person, I feel like first person would have been more impactful for me. I also thought this was going to be more fantasy than it was. It was like a romance book that they threw a prophecy at so that it could be classified as "romantasy". However, the romance in this book was top tier. If this had been a straight romance book, it would have been an instant 5 star for me. The enemies to lovers aspect with no miscommunication is all I ever want in a romance. While I will be reading the next book, I hope that the balance between plot and romance evens out.

The longing and character development is so beautiful! Add a wonderfully magical world and I am sold. The fmc was relatable even in her struggle

This book was not for me, unfortunately. I do love a good romantacy, but the writing has to keep me hooked, which this one did not. I found the writing to be hard to get into from the first, and unfortunately, it did not improve as I progressed. I think that genre fiction can and should have just as good writing as its more literary counterpart, and this one felt like writing was sacrificed on the altar of "but it's such a good story." I do recognize that I had an ARC of this book, so potentially the writing improved after some rounds of editing, but the draft I got was not it. The characters were fine, but they felt very cookie cutter. The story was exciting and unique in some ways, but felt like it had already been told in a lot of other ways. The tension dragged on a bit TOO long, which I rarely find to be a problem, but in this instance it felt like the plot leaned too heavily on the "when will they get together" aspects of the story. It was fine, but it was not great. There are way better romantasies out there.

a solid fantasy romance book! the plot was interesting, but i wasn’t a huge fan of the mmc (some of the comments he said we’re cringy). but overall i had fun

This takes Star crossed lovers to a whole different level and it was awesome. It did get slightly difficult to read at points due to the amount of tropes thrown into it, but it was a solid read.

HEAVENLY BODIES by Imani Erriu has a delicious slow-burn romance, a well-rounded world, and a unique magic system. The vengeful star Ariete overthrew a kingdom, and the outcast queen Elara fights to regain her power. Seeking help for her country, Elara seeks refuge in the neighboring country to find an ally with Prince Lorenzo, the Lion of Helios. With some training, Elara gains strength and hones her powers while discovering prophecies and fates and that the stars are reincarnations of the zodiac. You'll find all the fantastic romantasy tropes within this adventure: Star-crossed lovers, forced proximity, and he falls first.
Spice: 3