[Blog Tour] Book Review | Heavenward by Olga Gibbs (Celestial Creatures #1)

”You’ve managed to unlock the door to the library – now it’s time to learn how to read.”

★★★★✩

This review is part of the Heavenward blog tour organised by Melanie @ Fraser’s Fun House and the author of this book, Olga Gibbs.

I want to start with how amazing the synopsis already is (you can read it below). There aren’t many fantasy books out there that focus on celestial beings and I am glad there is a whole series in the making. I am not religious, but I find celestial lore very interesting (The TV-series Lucifer is a big fav because of this). Points for originality for that.

The main character Ariel is written like a realistic girl. She isn’t like all the other girls in fantasy that get dragged out of their normal lives, get told about their great destinies, grotesque powers, rare bloodlines, etc. and after a short moment of shock says something like “Where do we start?”. Ariel reacts like any girl that just wants to keep her head down. I really love that about her as it is nice to read about a girl like myself who doesn’t want to get waltzt over by others without having a say in the matter.

The book itself was even better than imagined. The book was 209 pages long on my e-reader and the pacing was absolutely perfect for the amount of pages. The book starts with how Ariel meets the ‘gorgeous strangers’ from the synopsis as new students on her school. I was really afraid this would be a long, dragged out introduction of the story before the ‘fun’ begins. This is because in most fantasy books where the MC is in the ‘normal’ world at the start and is oblivious of powers/destiny/true home etc. etc. the parts at school or the normal world in general are so long, I lose interest. But not in Heavenward, thankfully. The intro was well paced and not a page to long, but it wasn’t rushed either. This is goes for the entire book as all parts of the story had perfect pacing according to whatever was happening and made this book a real page turner.

The story itself was honestly so good. I am not going into too much detail as that will ruin the magic, but the course of the story was very unpredictable, which kept me surprised and curious at all times. Places and situations were described so vividly, you always had a good sense of the surroundings. I kept saying to myself how this book would be amazing as a movie, which is quite rare for me to say.

I gave this book four stars, as it was really good, but it wasn’t perfect. But that is okay, as debuts are never perfect. I do think Heavenward is one of the better debuts I have read so far. The level of worldbuilding, complexity of some story aspects and fluidity of the writing are at a point other authors reach in their second (published) book from what I have read so far.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is perfect for lovers of fantasy, magic, all things angels and celestial beings without the religious part, a realistic MC and an amazing worldbuilding. I included a link below, underneath the synopsis, to get a free e-copy of this book, so all my blogreaders can read it!

I can tell you I am very excited for book two and participating in the matching blog tour. Participating in this one was a really amazing experience and I loved working together with Olga Gibbs and the other bloggers. I want to give Olga a shout-out for being so involved in this tour and being so kind, I can’t wait till the next tour even though this one is still going.

Book two, HALLOW, is available for pre-order on Amazon, Bookdepository and several digital stores!

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Synopsis Heavenward

With the power to end the world, would you protect humanity when it broke you or would you take revenge?

Meet Ariel: a quiet, unnoticeable girl with an incredible gift…
Ariel never had an easy or pleasant life, but the arrival of three gorgeous strangers meant her measured life is turned upside down, as she discovers that angels exist.
Now against her will, she’s drawn into an ancient celestial conflict, where her powers will decide the fate of humanity.
Deceived, threatened, hunted and now on the run, who can she trust?

Get a copy of Heavenward for FREE as thanks for reading one of the Heavenward Blog Tour stops! (December 2018 only!)

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About the author:

Olga Gibbs lives in a leafy-green town, nestled amongst the green fields of West Sussex, England. She lives with her husband and their two daughters. She was writing from the age of fifteen, mainly short stories and novellas and was a guest colunmist for a local newspaper. When she is not dreaming up new adventures for her imaginary friends, she does outreach work with teenagers.

The second book in the Celestial Creatures series is coming out May next year and she is currently writing a stand-alone psychological crime thriller book.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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Tour Dates:

Perpetual Fangirl
Hannah’s Bookshelf
A Lovely Book Affair
Like Herding Cats
A Mixed Up Mummy
Fraternal Philosophising
Fraser’s Fun House
The Bold Mom (Second blog: The Forsaken Cellar)
Read Yourself Happy
Completely Chelle

The Writing Finch
Paperback Adventures
Booking Good Read
A Book Devourer
Rambling Mads
Rainy Days With Amanda
Lozzy’s Things
Books In The Skye
Floral Cars
Bookish Fawn’s blog is currently under construction. Link will be added when her stop is live.

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