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!

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. 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.

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

This book took me awhile to get into. I would start and stop and eventually had to sit down and just focus on the story. I felt the beginning was slow and choppy. We would get a small peak of background information about the world and the “higher beings” and then be thrown back into the main characters thoughts. So for the beginning third I was confused about the stars and really wanted more structure and background about them. I also didn’t enjoy the style of writing where the characters would be talking back and forth and then suddenly it stops and a paragraph narrates their inner thoughts and feelings. Now saying all of that, around page 150+ I started to get more invested and felt the story flowed better. Towards the end of the book I loved how obsessed he was with her and their chemistry together. I felt attached to the supporting characters (which sometimes is difficult when authors write them as more or less replaceable). In the original indie version, there was an additional chapter about his POV which I enjoyed and felt that it should have been included in this new publishing. I am excited to see how this series continues but I rate it a 3.9/5 ⭐️ with that rating mostly relying on the later half of the book. I also enjoyed it enough that I hope to reread it when it is published in January and hope that a second read through will help solidify the background of the fantasy world.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All thoughts and comments are my own.

I enjoyed Heavenly Bodies! I do have a few issues with the pacing and the similarities to a lot of popular tropes/characters within current popular Romantasy books. I do feel that the author did an amazing job adding twists and turns while utilizing the unique magic system and lore.

Erriu’s romantasy debut is divine!

“Heavenly Bodies” follows Elara Bellereve after she has been cursed by fate. A prophecy promises she will fall for one of the stars that rules her world, but that it will kill them both. When the Star of Wrath and War descends to hunt Elara, she has no choice but to seek refuge in the neighboring kingdom. Something dark brews within her and with it, an undeniable star-crossed pull between her and the enemy prince training her to become his weapon.

It was not hard for me to become completely immersed in the stunning world of Celestia. Erriu’s vivid descriptions are alluring and her magic system equally intriguing. I especially love how the twelve gods who lord over the kingdoms of Celestia are inspired by astrological signs. Their characterizations very much align with the zodiac they embody and the lore surrounding them adds depth to Erriu’s world-building.

I really enjoyed reading from Elara’s perspective as she faces her fears, comes into her power, and exacts her revenge. Her relationship with Prince Lorenzo is strictly forbidden, making each moment of pining chock-full of sizzling tension that made my heart melt. I’m convinced their love is written in the stars!

The only issue I had with this book are the amount of tropes incorporated in the storyline. With so many crammed in, they become the driving force of the plot and leech it of its substance. Additionally, the majority are concerned with shaping Elara and Enzo’s relationship. As a result, the pacing is thrown off and Elara’s interactions with the secondary cast are minimal at best. It was hard to stay invested in the side characters’ storylines when they were underdeveloped in comparison to the leads.

Though I got bogged down at times, the twists and turns at the end made it all worthwhile! Believe me when I say that the last 50 pages will leave you completely floored.

I think this book had a lot of great potential but not the best execution. I feel like this could have been revised and gone through a couple more rounds of editing in order to make the fantasy aspect of the book more immersive. I think there are a lot of things that people on tik tok and such will eat up tho!

3.5 stars rounded up and my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Well. I read it. I hadn't realized it was a rerelease from a self-published book years prior. I still enjoyed it enough to probably pick up the next book in the series (and 3rd?)

To say I'm obsessed with this book is an understatement. Move over SJM, the works of Imani Erriu are my new personality. I was up pacing around my house screaming "HOW IS THIS ONLY HALF" at 50% through the book. I audibly gasped many times, cursed aloud, cried, and laughed throughout the story. Enzo is my absolute kryptonite MMC, warrior-but-secret-teddy-bear, touch-her-and-die (to the EXTREME), enemies-to-lovers.
I am going to try very hard to wait for the ARC of the official pub of book 2 but I'm not sure how long I'll make it without more Elara and Enzo in my life.
Super interesting and unique world, not Fae but Stars as gods who have blessed the mortals of the world with specific powers.

*Thank you Netgalley for the E-ARC of the traditionally published version of this book*
This book is more of a 3.5 because I really did enjoy it, just not enough for a full 4 stars. I really got into the romance of this and was really loving reading about Enxo and Elara and did even let out a squeal at a few parts. Enzo was down BAD for this woman and I ate it up.
I also adored most of the side characters, the ones that Elara meets at the palace in Helion. They become a sort of found family and that is one of my favorite tropes in a book. I loved seeing Elara slowly start to trust the people around her and become close with them as the book progressed.
The main thing I can't get over however, is the pacing. I felt like things moved way too fast, and we jumped over a few things that seemed important and I would have liked to see more of. The major one of these being the beginning. We are thrown directly into what seems to be the middle of a scene in the first chapter. We see the main character start mentioning all these things that happened and these people from her life but we have no idea who these people are and don't actually see any of these things happen. I felt like my copy was missing the first 50 pages with how confused I was. We also never get an explanation for these characters she mentions besides one is supposedly her best friend (how? who actually is she? why is she your best friend?) and one is her ex-lover who also was betrothed to her (did you want to be engaged, was it forced marriage what was going on?). We also see Elara spending the whole book grieving her parents and her home but because we never got to see her life at home or with her parents I struggled a lot to empathize with her or really feel sympathetic for her.
and then in the last 30 pages like 10 different things all started happening at once and it just felt super rushed and things weren't developed or explained as they should. I understand the idea of focusing more on a romance plot, but if you're going to have this fantasy world and all of these other side plots then those need to be developed and fleshed out as well. The romance was great, don't get me wrong. I loved that part of it. I just wish we got more world building and character development outside of the romance.
I understand this being a debut indie published book, but I feel like a lot of these things could have been tweaked in the few years since before being traditionally published, which should in theory come with editors and proofreading.

Overall, the romance was great while unfortunately the rest kinda fell flat for me. I'm unsure whether or not I will pick up the second book when that gets re-released.