Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by vrstal
Celestial Bodies: The Black Arts of Vexora by Blane Bellamy
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
3.5/5.
Content Warnings for book: Parental abuse, homophobia, torture, sexual assault, body horror
Kink: N/A
This is an ARC review.
Celestial Bodies — an interesting and heartfelt romance between these two Romeo and Juliet-esque lovers. Julen and Dacian both are sweethearts and just caring people, so it was nice to see them come together. The characters are young and appropriately read that way, both in their strengths and flaws as people.
The writing is choppy, and the pacing is a bit rushed. I can tell it’s Bellamy’s first book because there’s some parts of it that need to be smoothed out and get into a better flow. Otherwise, it’s not that bad. This is where the stars are subtracted from for me.
Story wise, the world building isn’t overwhelming and there was interesting aspects and explained throughout versus lore dumps in the beginning. The “grand plan” however, I struggled with. I don’t want to get into spoilers but I’ll say this: while not intentional, the parallels between “Morab” and real-life freedom fighters/resistances painted as terrorists feels a little raw. Using them as a possible ‘solution’ in the way this book suggested — even when the characters should realize the immense danger it puts those people in who were still living there, including Souzie — well, quite frankly it was very irresponsible. I get they’re young, but good lord.
The last 40% is stressful (not in a bad way — it’s lots of action and high stakes!) that I admit I was peeking through my fingers at times and unsure how they’d ever make it out. I loved the new side characters we get to know during the time too, and see lots of fun potential for future books in this series.
Content Warnings for book: Parental abuse, homophobia, torture, sexual assault, body horror
Kink: N/A
This is an ARC review.
Celestial Bodies — an interesting and heartfelt romance between these two Romeo and Juliet-esque lovers. Julen and Dacian both are sweethearts and just caring people, so it was nice to see them come together. The characters are young and appropriately read that way, both in their strengths and flaws as people.
The writing is choppy, and the pacing is a bit rushed. I can tell it’s Bellamy’s first book because there’s some parts of it that need to be smoothed out and get into a better flow. Otherwise, it’s not that bad. This is where the stars are subtracted from for me.
Story wise, the world building isn’t overwhelming and there was interesting aspects and explained throughout versus lore dumps in the beginning. The “grand plan” however, I struggled with. I don’t want to get into spoilers but I’ll say this: while not intentional, the parallels between “Morab” and real-life freedom fighters/resistances painted as terrorists feels a little raw. Using them as a possible ‘solution’ in the way this book suggested — even when the characters should realize the immense danger it puts those people in who were still living there, including Souzie — well, quite frankly it was very irresponsible. I get they’re young, but good lord.
The last 40% is stressful (not in a bad way — it’s lots of action and high stakes!) that I admit I was peeking through my fingers at times and unsure how they’d ever make it out. I loved the new side characters we get to know during the time too, and see lots of fun potential for future books in this series.