This narrator really does keep you focused and interested! The story itself was intriguing and well written. I’m running off to find the next book.

Thank you Netgalley for this audiobook!

I liked this way more than I expected! This 100% has Zodiac Academy vibes but focuses more on Angels & Demons living in a post apocalyptical world. I Really hope I get to listen to book 2 soon!

In the backdrop of a post apocalyptic world, Wen, a servant to a demon, has an unusual ability to steal essence from an angel, which people use like a drug. Selling the essence - with a goal to raise enough money to buy out her and her best friend Sarah’s indentures - eventually gets her in trouble with the big bad law angels, the insanely hot Godric being one of them (actually a nephilim). Wen is expecting to be punished but instead is enrolled in the celestial academy where her cohort includes demons, archangels, and other mythical creatures. With wen’s unique powers, Godric the hot daddy angel is tasked with figuring out WHAT she is… besides an abomination.

This is your typical enemies to lovers, sassy (obnoxious) FMC, fantasy story. The idea seemed cool but unfortunately there was a lot I didn’t like. The relationships made little sense, people just hate each other instantly for no reason (or love in Sarah’s case… seriously what’s special about her). The love interests interactions were dry and the only reason you knew they liked each other is from them thirsting for each other at the weirdest times. I just knew early on this wasn’t for me and I started getting really lost about 70% in. The trials dragged out with very little action and lots of long unnecessary dialogue. Will not be continuing the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance listener’s copy of the audiobook.

3.5 🌟

While I enjoyed the overall plot, there were a few areas where the story could use some improvement. It felt unnecessarily long in some parts and the distribution of time throughout the story felt bizarre. Some days spanned several chapters while literal weeks would go by in a single line. The world building wasn’t my favourite, and the information dumps could have been handled better.

Wen goes on some intense internal monologues that feel unnecessary, and she’s overly snarky. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sass queen, but some of her quips had me cringing.

Everyone’s obsession with Sarah was also mind boggling. She’s as useful as a rock and contributes nothing to the story. She’s the equivalent of Elain from ACOTAR. I said what I said. Her only personality trait is that everyone thinks she’s nice (but nothing she does is actually mentioned in the story?)

Notes on the narration: I wish this were a duet, in the newer style where male characters are narrated by a man and female characters are narrated by a woman.

Format: Audiobook ALC thanks to NetGalley and the publisher-all opinions and thoughts are my own.

This is for the people looking who love Paranormal, Academia dark romance! The beginning takes a little to get going but once it does, it’s very fast paced and a lot of action. I enjoyed the main character’s snarky attitude and dark humor but can see where some people mind find her off putting at first. Keep reading though!

The tension between Wen and Godric was so fun to read and I enjoyed the friendship between Wen and her best friend.

Some of the Tropes:
- Forced Proximity
- Enemies to Lovers
- Greek Mythology
- Paranormal Romance
- Morally grey characters
- Slow burn
- Hidden powers
- Academy
- Angels and Demons
- Friendship/found family
- Amazing banter
- Training sessions with MMC
- Trials

The narrator does a great job with each character but I did struggle at times remembering/understanding the hierarchy of supernatural beings with the audiobook-it was a lot to take in at first. But otherwise, the audio performance was very well done!

I love a good academy book, which this was.
The FMCs feistiness and sarcasm was a bit annoying in the beginning. She was a bit too much but I feel like she toned down a little throughout the book or I just got used to her.
The story felt new, fresh and fun! A lot of mystery and a super slow burn.
I would classify this as romantic fantasy so far but I think it will turn in to fantasy romance.

I absolutely loved this book. It started a little slow for me, but it worked out. The relationship between When and Sar threw me for a bit. I didn't understand the root of the devotion to her friend. I liked the constant questions from FMC and the balance of characters.

Thank you, NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have been in a reading slump since last October and I saw this and decided to give it a chance. I can say without a doubt that this was worth the chance.
I was 100% entertained by Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos. Now, for some... it might be an issue because It does have a lot of other book ideas within it. For me, I have no issue with that. Celestial Academy is perfect and amazing. It was so amazing for me that I went out and bought it and the second book.
*Cough* I'm gonna need that third one soon. *Cough*

Anyway...
Content Warnings/Trigger Warnings that I remember off the top of my head for those that need it:
Cursing
Mentions of rape (Chp. 3)
Talks of sex
Depictions of violence
Mentions of Death (lots of it)
Religion (for those who have religious trauma or might be easily offended because there is a religious aspect to this book.

Ummm... I might be missing some but I got too caught up in the story to keep track of them because it was that good. LOL. Sorry.

So... within the first chapter, we jump right into the story and it takes off running. The Female main character is extremely snarky and humorous. I found myself laughing a lot due to her dark humor and the banter between her and the rest of the characters.

The Narrator was.... one of the best Narrators I have listened to in a while. Very expressive and read at a... good pace. She even did the different tones and voices for different characters. It was a very enjoyable listening experience. Well done.

I'm not usually one for audiobooks, I get myself confused with the story and the characters and almost always, end up forgetting what happened because my son has grabbed my phone and turned it off with his grubby little paws. HOWEVER, this did not happen with this audiobook. This story has it all, demons, angels, Nephilim, magic, elements, forced proximity and hate turned into love. I chose this one because as soon as I saw that it was for lovers of Zodiac Academy, I knew I had to read it. Zodiac Academy is one of my favourite series. This debut novel from Olivia Pharos is masterpiece and a brilliant entry into the world that she is creating, I loved the slow burn between the two main characters but the main thing I really loved was the mix of Greek Mythology in the story. As a Classical Studies student, anything that incorporates myth, I must read and this definitely did not disappoint. I did feel like this was a little like Zodiac Academy meets Good Omens meets Supernatural. So if you like anything like this, then please give this a go!

Summary: When Wen is hauled off to Celestial Academy as punishment for her crimes she must learn how to work with her dorm mates. She's also required to train with Godric, an "arch angel spawn" who has immense power and dangerously good looks.

My thoughts: I almost DNF this one at 10%. But I'm so glad I pushed on because I soon got sucked into the story and even found myself laughing out loud when Wen started getting snarkier. The tension between Wen and Godric was great and her love for her best friend was sweet. Some parts were hard to follow what was actually happening, but it didn't intrude on the overall flow of the story. I found myself laughing at her wit and not being able to stop listening. There was some forced proximity and some claiming "mine" but not much romance.

Overall - 4.5 but I rounded to a 5
Spice level - No spicy scenes but some hints
Book type - Audiobook (received as an ARC)

Olivia Pharos writes a very entertaining book. Don't believe me? Go listen for yourself. You won't regret it.

Celestial Academy: Essense is the first in a series and I hope there are a ton of books to come. She takes the main character with a unique talent and catches her in the middle of breaking a law that lands her in an academy where she doesn't really belong. She suddenly goes to struggling to make ends meet and protect her roommate to the lowest of the low at the most amazing academy for angels. The twists and turns of this book will have you begging for the next audio book in this series!

Narrator Amanda Leigh Cobb brings this story to life and will have you loosing yourself in this story!

This fast moving urban fantasy is set in a post semi-apocalyptic world filled with Christian mythology with elements of Gnosticism, Jewish Mysticism and the Book of Enoch.

The laugh out loud snark and dark humor of the FMC was delightful and the banter between her and ALL of the rest of the characters is hilarious!

This was an outrageously fun and entertaining read with just enough mystery and slow burn romance to make me want more! apocalyptic world filled with Christian mythology with elements of Gnosticism, Jewish Mysticism and the Book of Enoch.

The laugh out loud snark and dark humor of the FMC was delightful and the banter between her and ALL of the rest of the characters is hilarious!

This was an outrageously fun and entertaining read with just enough mystery and slow burn romance to make me want more!

I both listened to audiobook and read the digital version. The audiobook narrator was expressive and read at a good pace. I usually speed audiobooks up to at least 1.25 speed but I didn’t have to speed this one up.

In the Afterworld, Heaven and Hell are on earth, literally. Wen, a demon owned orphan, is working to buy back her and her best friend’s freedom by selling Angelescence, a drug only Wen can make. When the angels track down Wen, they send her to Celestial academy until they can figure out how she is able to make the drug. Grodic, heavens most ruthless soldier, is charged with discovering Wen’s unique ability.

The world with angels and demons and other creatures roaming around was very interesting, though could have been developed more. The plot itself was intriguing. There were so many questions I wanted answered that kept me reading the book!

The book did start somewhat abruptly and I had trouble keeping up with the hierarchy of supernatural beings. It did come together in the end. I had trouble relating to the main character. She has a snarky attitude which I usually love but her stream of consciousness started to get old. I did love a lot of the side characters, especially Lorcan.

Overall, this book was a promising start but some parts really dragged and other parts I didn’t feel we had enough information.

Celestial Academy audiobook was definitely an entertaining 🎧 listen. The narration of this book was great, the only caveat would be to have duel narration on the next audiobooks. 📚

The banter between “Angelhole” aka Godric and Wen had me cracking and kicking my feet, however, the slowest burn 🔥 ever. So was agonizing.

Wen is reminiscent of Alein (tog) or Bryce (cc) to me, absolutely loved her badass and quick witted banter. The side characters also interesting side storylines can’t wait for this to unravel in the upcoming books.

You will enjoy this book if you love a fast pace action packed book and the below tropes interest you.

Tropes:
- Forced Proximity
- Enemies to Lovers
- Greek Mythology
- Paranormal Romance
- Morally grey characters
- Slow burn
- Hidden powers
- Academy
- Angels and Demons
- Friendship/found family
- Amazing banter
- Training sessions with MMC
- Trials

Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers for this audiobook.

In Olivia Pharos' Celestial Academy: Essence, Wen is a drug dealer in a post-apocalyptic world that has been overrun by angels and demons-like the demon who owns her. Branded for her ability to find and sell a famous serum called "angel essence", she is living day to day until she's caught by an angel in the fact of selling - Godrick. After he takes her for judgement and they discover a monster growing inside her, there is nothing they can do but try to hide it - even if it kills them both.

The first thing I want to say is I listened to this book via audio, and it wasn't super great at the start. While the voice actor wasn't phenomenal and didn't really get better, her skill did grow on me over time. I found the story to compelling, intriguing, and steeped in folklore from the Bible. It was an incredible take on the trope of demons versus angels, and what terrible things would happen if they worked together.

I've never read Pharos, and I'm already hooked on her work. I hope to eventually read more of her novels and see her progress. She's an author that is definitely going to make a mark!

First of all the narrator for this book was AMAZING!! She did a fantastic job with this book. She had different tones and voices for different characters. It was a very enjoyable listening experience. The story was so good too. I got wrapped up and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I am very much looking forward to reading more from this author!

A quite interesting new fantasy series. As far as I remember, I have never read a fantasy book where angels are one of the main focuses. So that was quite refreshing.
Our MC, Wen, is very likeable and has an interesting background/-story. At last what we know so far. She is saved from her fate of being enslaved by a demon drug lord by the angel Godric. Not sure I vibe with the name, as it doesn't feel quite fitting for celestial / angelic being - to me at least.

Some parts of the book feel a bit too long winded and could probably have used a bit more editing (or rather shortening), but it is an engaging first book in a series and I'm looking forward to reading more.

4.5⭐️ for the narration!
2.5⭐️ for the actual prose.

I am thankful to have gotten the Audio/ ALC for free from Netgalley and the author so I can leave my voluntary review.

I’ll be honest, I needed an audiobook and didn’t feel like searching for one. This has been as a “listen now” in Netgalley for a while and I always passed it by. Why? I had a feeling it wouldn’t live up to its description and would be a copy of other current popular fantasy books and I was right.

But I’m going to focus on the audio part of it as that’s what I am tasked to review.

The narration is great! The way Amanda Leigh Cobb handles the material is great. At first I chided myself for putting this off so long as I got completely engaged with the FMC because of the narration. She was funny and spunky and her energy reading the character just drew me in. So A+ for the narration which makes this a better book than it is!

Sadly once the FMC gets to the academy itself it just doesn’t have the power to keep one hooked. That’s not the narrators fault at all. It’s like when you have a fabulous actor working with a bad script, there’s only so much they can do.

So if you haven’t read any other popular fantasy of late that are similar or have a real penchant for angel and demon content then you may really like this.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Thank you netgalley and Olivia Pharos for the audio book arc in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was an almighty surprise!
So as I started listening to this I got major zodiac academy vibes.
This was all action, all banter and all consuming slow burn from the start.

Wen is a demons slave and her bestie sarah is also a slave together it’s a struggle to just get through every day without drawing attention to themselves.
Wen has started saving her money from selling angel essence on the side to get them out of the slavery. Until she is tracked down and arrested by Godric an archangel son.

Wen is then thrown in the celestial academy by the archangels to discover what and who she is.
Godric is forced to become her mentor and train her for the trails.

This is an extremelyyyyyyy slow burn enemies to not lovers (yet)
Not quite yet but possibly found family
Major action packed
Hogwarts meets zodiac academy with their bestie fourth wing.
It’s definitely worth a read/listen for sure.
The narrator is top she’s so good and I’ve listened to some of her narrations before and she is great.

My only gripe on this is there is a whole lot of info and action so at some points it was over whelming and I had to go back and re listen.

But 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Join Wen on a heavenly adventure filled with magic, romance, and unforgettable characters.

Olivia Pharos' debut novel, Celestial Academy: Essence, is a captivating and splendiferous (IYKYK) read that will leave you breathless. With its fast-paced plot, witty humor, and dynamic characters, this book is a must-read for fans of fantasy and romance.

Why you'll love it:
* A unique and magical world: Step into a realm filled with celestial beings, ancient magic, and breathtaking landscapes. Pharos' world-building is both imaginative and immersive, drawing you into the story from the very beginning and taking you across multiple realms.
* A sassy and unforgettable heroine: Wen is a witty and snarky protagonist who will quickly win your heart. Her sharp tongue and quick wit add a touch of humor and relatability to the story.
* A slow-burn romance that will keep you on the edge of your seat: The enemies-to-lovers romance between Wen and her celestial mentor is a slow-burn that will leave you longing for more. Their banter, tension, and undeniable chemistry will keep you captivated.
* A diverse and lovable cast of characters: From the mischievous Jinny to the cinnamon roll Lorcan, the characters in Celestial Academy: Essence are well-developed and full of personality. You'll find yourself rooting for their friendships and love stories.

Genre: The line between YA and New Adult (NA) can sometimes be blurry but, this first book in the series feels more YA to me especially with the book cover art. I expect more adult themes to surface as the series progresses.
Perfect for fans of:
* Powerless
* Mortal Instruments
* Crescent City
* Crave

Grab your copy of Celestial Academy: Essence today and embark on a celestial adventure you won't forget!