Due to the constant cascade of political hellfire raining down on my For You Page every time I open any app, I’ve decided it’s a good idea to spend more time offline. The best antidote to “don’t think about how shit the world is” is finally putting a dent in my To-Be-Read list. Topping that list was Aiden Thomas’s “Celestial Monsters,” the long awaited sequel to his previous book “The Sunbearer Trials.” With his signature cheek and charm, Thomas hits it out of the park again.
“Celestial Monsters” follows our former protagonist Teo, joined by his giddy friend Niya and quiet love interest Aurelio, as he seeks to stop the risen Obsidian Gods from destroying the world. Intercut with Teo’s doomed quest is Xio’s journey from vengeful outsider to lonely 13-year-old as they face the consequences of their actions from the first book.
Thomas’s writing is at its peak here; wit and charm drip from every line of dialogue and internal monologue. Conversations are captivating and effortlessly funny. More often than not, I was giggling along with the characters during the outlandish situations they find themselves in. Shining bright as always was my favorite character, Niya. It’s refreshing to see such a well-written female character in novels, and Niya is so funny and tragic at the same time. Niya plays the part of comic relief and more often than not will start cracking jokes at inappropriate times. She’s bold and brash but doesn’t tear down other women in the process. Yet she’s not afraid to express emotions. Most male writers approach “strong” female characters as unemotional or dismissive. Thomas allows Niya to embrace her emotions—both good and bad—and never shames her for having her down moments. She grew up only training for the Trials featured in the first book, and now that her whole future was thrown into uncertainty, she struggles to remain true to herself as she carries on her mission with her friends.
Another Thomas specialty is his worldbuilding. While “The Sunbearer Trials” and “Celestial Monsters” share a lot of overlap with other mythological series, such as Percy Jackson, Thomas’s mythos is entirely original. “The Sunbearer Trials” masterfully introduced how normal life is on Reino del Sol, and “Celestial Monsters” shows us the outskirts of those normals. He does an excellent job of expanding the world we already know, bringing us into the unknown and merging both settings seamlessly.
On the downside, “Celestial Monsters” moves at a breakneck pace. It’s not always bad to push characters through the plot, but I typically prefer a bit more downtime with the characters. Thankfully, we’ve already had a full book to sit and explore these characters in the previous book. We do get the necessary downtime to explore our main characters’ feelings about the oncoming apocalypse, though not much more than that. The fast pace also comes as a symptom of being a Young Adult novel, so it’s more of a personal preference.
Additionally, this book is written in dual perspectives, switching between Teo and Xio’s narration. Teo deals with the usual “teenagers have to go save the world again” plot while Xio handles a coming-of-age journey. The majority of the book is written from Teo’s perspective, leading the story to feel a bit unbalanced. Still, Xio’s perspective does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of emotional storytelling. While the execution is a little off, including Xio’s thoughts makes the book end cohesively.
Thomas has long been one of my favorite authors, with both “The Sunbearer Trials” and “Cemetery Boys” making permanent homes on my bookshelf, but “Celestial Monsters” brought something refreshingly new: relevant political commentary. The book offers a profound lesson on overcoming outdated social structures for the greater good of society. Both protagonists realize the system they live in is fundamentally broken and that it might be time to consider moving to something new and better; Something startlingly similar to conversations online about our modern political atmosphere. There are many things to take from this book, and the idea that it’s time to band together with one another and build something better resonates.
Some people might get to this part and ask, “Why can’t we keep politics out of books?” The answer is, you can’t. Reading, writing and art are all inherently political. We’re entering a rather scary future for the next few years. The best way to combat that is to learn from each other and strive to understand each other better. Engage with art from Queer, Black, Indigenous and other marginalized voices: It might not fix the world, but it’s a step in the right direction. And “Celestial Monsters” might just be the place you start.
8.5/10
