4.5

Is this objectively a 5 star book? No, probably not. But I love this world and these characters so much. Celestial Monsters picks up right at the end of The Sunbearer Trials, so I'm glad I reread the first book before jumping into this. The sequel also transitions to a dual POV story as we continue to follow Teo as he goes on his quest with Niya and Aurello, but also have Xio's POV, which I loved.

I think I struggled a bit with the pacing in this one because it is very much a quest book which for me left the plot feeling a little aimless at times. The characters have a clear end goal, but some of the adventures along the way feel a bit fluffy and meandering. But that could be my general disinterest in traditional quest stories. That being said, the end of this book absolutely had me tearing up and I will absolutely be returning to this series again and again.

Overall this is such a fun series full of Latine culture in a queernorm society. It has a lot of the traditional young adult tropes but plays with them in a fun way. Along the way Teo and his friends begin to question the structural inequality in their society. I also love the casual queerness in this world. Queer love is accepted without question throughout the story, Teo mentions how cool he thinks his top scars are, and Xio is questioning their gender and everyone is super cool when they say they're trying out they/them pronouns.

André Santana's narration is lovely as always. I really appreciate the distinction he makes in the voices of characters. I will absolutely be picking up this audiobook when it's released in September!