Celestial Monsters

Everyone finished their arcs in suiting ways. It was all thought out and one really can see the love for the characters that Aiden has. I‘m looking forward to any other stories he might publish in the future.

I was foaming at the mouth when I saw this book. Even apart from the story, the cover once again is absolutely stunning and so incredibly gay that I wish my bookshelf had enough space to just present it with the cover facing the front. (Which I don’t. But I wish I did.) Following the events of The Sunbearer Trials, the trio made up of Teo, Aurelio and Niya make their way to the heart of Los Restos to stop the apocalypse and bring back the sun. You’d THINK with the sun being gone and all of humanity facing certain doom if the Obsidians aren’t stopped within 2 weeks, this would be a somber, serious book, but no, of course not. It features Teo being down bad for his best-friend-turned-enemy-turned-competitor-turned-fat-crush Aurelio, said Aurelio putting all his cooking hyperfixations and autistic obliviousness to good use by making amazing food and horrendous flirt comebacks, and Niya is having a harder time surviving these two idiots flirt than actually surviving the sun being gone. It expands on the world building and the people in Reino del Sol, and we meet amazing new characters and questionable old ones. With the obsidian gods being on the loose, Xio is torn between blood family and chosen family, all while trying to not feel bad for putting like half the cast in prison cells. This novel will leave you wanting more of this world and these characters, definitely a worthy second part of this series. Usually, with second installments falling a bit flat I was worried, but this was one of my favorite reads this year! While I’m sad that with this book, the Sunbearer Duology is over, I’m hyped to see what Aiden Thomas will get up to next!

Der zweite Band dieser Reihe entführt erneut in eine unglaublich facettenreiche und detailverliebte Welt. Die Beschreibungen sind so lebendig und farbenfroh, dass man sich beim Lesen wünscht, selbst Teil dieser Welt zu sein. Gerade die Atmosphäre und die fantasievolle Gestaltung machen das Buch zu einem echten Highlight. Auch die Charaktere sind wunderbar gezeichnet – nahbar, authentisch und mit viel Tiefe. Man spürt, dass in ihrer Entwicklung und ihren Beziehungen viel Herzblut steckt. Allerdings hat sich der Einstieg in diesen Band etwas gezogen. Es dauerte eine Weile, bis wirklich Handlung und Spannung aufkamen, was den Lesefluss am Anfang ein wenig gebremst hat. Doch je weiter die Geschichte voranschreitet, desto stärker wird sie – gegen Ende konnte sie mich dann wieder richtig fesseln. Schade, dass die Reihe an dieser Stelle schon abgeschlossen ist, denn die Welt ist einfach zu schön, um sie loszulassen.