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.

This is re-release of a previously self-published book. The editing could have been tighter, at times it felt like things were skipped and the writing quality was inconsistent throughout.

However, the story is intriguing and engaging. There is a lot of potential here.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC!

Oh my days, did I ever love this book.

First of all, Enzo?? Okay yes please, God this is the one I want, thank you. Him and Elara? Literally everything I could have ever hoped for. I devoured this book. The star crossed lovers, the fantasy, the gripping storyline? Truly everything I could have ever hoped for. The amount of longing in this book gripped my heart like nothing I have ever felt before.

I'll be waiting patiently in my enclosure until the next book because it was absolutely everything I could have ever hoped for and I desperately need more of them.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC!

There has been a significant amount of hype on Book Tok for Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu. While I enjoyed the book, the pacing felt a little unbalanced for me, and it felt like we were checking off tropes. Overall, it was interesting but didn't captivate me as much as I was hoping! Thanks to netgalley and penguin random house for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this because the star-based worldbuilding intrigued me. Unfortunately, the quality of the writing doesn’t meet the promise of the concept. Everything feels so clunky and clumsy.

I haven't sped through a book in a long time and I simply inhaled Heavenly Bodies. The premise involves a kidnapped princess with powers that is taken to her enemy's kingdom.

I enjoyed the development of the story and the characters. The world-building was good for a first installment of a fantasy series. I can't wait to read the next books in the series.

4.5

I absolutely loved this book, to me it had a perfect balance of romance and plot. It did get slow sometimes and had some things that didn't get fully explained or understood, and sometimes it even felt rushed with some of the romance and I was wondering if there was actually a connection more than just physical.
This book did have some flaws but I loved it and read it within one sitting having the best of times.

There couldn't be more separating Lorenzo and Elara. From different kingdoms and enemies, how can Lorenzo possibly teach Elara to use her powers? While the pick up for Heavenly Bodies was fast - I felt like before we got a sense of who Elara was she was kidnapped - it's a book that grows into a crashing wave. After I got over the brisk beginning, I settled into enjoying that Heavenly Bodies examines two kingdoms, and families, which have dealt blows to each other before Lorenzo and Elara were born. There's this history of animosity and how could their relationship, even friendship, ever blossom? It very much feels star crossed in a book about Stars!