I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Aiden Thomas could write a phonebook and I would read it and ask for more.

I really loved Sunbearer Trials, and knew Celestial Monsters was going to be a wild ride from start to finish- it did not disappoint.

Every single hero's personality shone so clearly in this continuation, and I love all of them as if they were my own annoying children. They're all hot headed and slightly self centered, but they have pure hearts (and mostly empty heads) so it was easy to root for them in this journey.

I'm also a HUGE softie so I knew this was gonna pluck at my heartstrings, but man. Thomas got me good a few times, and when I tell you my favorite character might be the one with the least on page. time, I mean it.

Thomas excels as taking real world issues and making them both relatable and nuanced enough for younger audiences to digest without losing the heart of the issues. You can feel the love and care that went into these characters and their story and I cannot recommend this duology enough.

I really liked this sequel to The Sunbearer Trials! I think the author does a brilliant job of writing for youth (so very readable in terms of lexile level) and also never talking down to that age group. The story line is very fast paced with constant action (reminiscent of Rick Riordan), but the complexities of the issues these young characters are dealing with are difficult and nuanced, which shows respect for the critical thinking skills and moral development of tweens and teens. As always, Aiden Thomas normalizes gender fluidity in a way I wish we could all do in real life, and I appreciate that so much. I think this duology will have a place in school libraries and children's fantasy literature alongside RIck Riordan and all the other great writers of this mythology-fantasy-action genre.

I will highly recommend this to all readers of YA fantasy adventure!

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Aiden Thomas continues to get better and better with each book. Celestial Monsters up where The Sunbearer Trails ended. Teo and his friends need to retrieve the sol stone. Xio is struggling with who he wants to ne after reviewing everyone. Thomas does a brilliant job showing how nothing is black and white in life. There is not purely good and evil. Everything is a spectrum and I loved it. It had me laughing and tearing up!