💫FIVE BRILLIANT STARS💫
"You can rewrite this story a million different ways, Celeste, but it will always end the same. It will end with you and me."
While Feather shattered my poor heart, it's sequel Celestial took those shattered pieces, grinding them more and then managed to piece whatever was left of it together.
Believe me when I say that it brought me tears of pain and tears of joy although the fact is that I'm a sensitive person but very few books manage to bring out the tears.
Thank you Olivia Wildenstein, I am emotionally wrecked.
I am delighted to have been gifted an early e-arc of Celestial and my excitement pushed me to read this as soon as I was done with the book I was reading at the time.
I did not expect to have such a strong attachment to this fictional world, but my attachment stems from the deep connection I formed with the characters while reading Feather.
Four years and a half after the events of Feather, Celestial follows none other than the hybrid angel and the much beloved character: Celeste.
20-year-old Celeste had cut off her affiliation with the Angels since that tragic event that had left a hollowness in her heart that soon was filled with guilt and bitterness. The target of her vicious bitterness in particular was the Archangel known as Asher, one of the seven Archangels of Elysium, the Seraphim.
Still a Fletchling, young angels who haven't completed their wings, Celeste is months away from the date when she should have by then completed her wings and make her Ascension to Elysium. However, Celeste cares little for Elysium and doesn't mind settling for the mundane lifestyle she had been enjoying even if it meant marking her as Nephilim, a fallen Angel.
When another tragic event strikes and unsettles her life, Celeste comes face-to-face with the man she despises the most. Asher, out of a sense of duty to a certain person, is determined to make Celeste collect her feathers and ascend to Elysium.
Celeste calls it help-a-fletching-earn-her-wings-crusade
Little does Celeste know that Asher holds the secrets and the answers that may break her heart or mend its deeply engraved wounds.
Through the guilt and pain both share, they form a deep bond brought about by new deep feelings and a powerful attraction neither can resist.
What would become of a mere Hybrid Angel whom her kind consider inferior and one of the most powerful Archangels? Can their blossoming love and the secrets they both hold lead to their happiness... or destruction?
I must say that the first book was devastating, but this one was intense in many ways.
The world-building maintains its magnificence and its even more lush as it expands beyond the borders of New York and Elysium. I'm glad to have had a glimpse of the other Angelic guilds especially the one at Vienna.
I adored Celeste from the very moment she was introduced in Feather and oh my how much I love her. She is such a fiesty character but I resonate with her emotions. Her characterization was excellent and I'm very pleased to see different layers to her characters and not only the best parts of her but also her flaws.
Asher I must say was very interesting to me, but in this book he turns out to be such a complex character and oh how I deeply felt his anguish and the heaviness of the guilt he had carried for years. He viewed his actions as if he was destroying the honorable Angel and awakening the flawed man within.
"To remind before being an archangel, I was a fletching. A fletching who dreamed of changing the human world before he dreamed of changing the celestial one."
What I loved about Celeste and Asher's relationship is that it developed organically. From intense dislike from Celeste's side, to a tolerant companionship, to a blossoming friendship that transformed to a blazing love affair. Although it took a while to witness the culmination of their love but oh boy when it happened I could feel my raging heart almost combust.
We're introduced to new wonderful supporting characters that each had a fantastic role in the story: the sweet Naya, Tobias and his halfsoul Gabriel, Michael and the mysterious little boy Adam.
My reading experience cannot be described other than it was a whirlwind
The story gripped me from the very first page. I was easily immersed into the world that I was familiar with from the first book yet I can feel the grief and sorrowness haunting from where we left off.
Throughout Celeste's missions, I'm glad that we got some deeper insight into the lives of the sinners she was assigned to. Some were mischievous and others were vicious.
I enjoyed seeing both Celeste and Asher challenge question their own system and take matters into their own hands. Angels in this world are not flawless nor they are virtuous. It's quite refreshing to see that Angels, whom are supposed to be the epitome of goodness and purity, have ambitions tainted by greed and a ridiculous sense of superiority. It's through that very system that have caused misery to many, including both humans and angels.
Olivia Wildenstein crafts such a compelling story that left me emotionally wrought. She kept me on edge, made my heart burst with happiness and turned me into a sobbing baby a few times.
I can't describe how ecstatic I am for the third book titled Starlight and until then I think I'll store some tissue boxes as I'm sure I won't be emotionally ready for that book but I'll happily allow it to wreck me.
if you believe that Feather left you with so many questions, trust that Celestial will answer them all. So be prepared to have your heart either broken or mended.