Book Review: Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu
Published: January 14, 2025 (Traditionally published version)
Series: The Heavenly Bodies #1
Genres: New Adult // Romantasy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Quick Thoughts: This star-crossed lovers story is 100% worth reading for the heart-aching romance and gorgeous celestial world-building.
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Abuse (including past child abuse and neglect)
Mental trauma
Torture of main characters
Death/loss of life
Murder and executions
Weapons violence and magical violence
Nightmares
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Enemies to Lovers
Celestial Magic
Prophecies
Starcrossed Lovers
Royal Court Politics
Forbidden Love
ABOUT THIS BOOK
A runaway TikTok sensation, Heavenly Bodies is the first book in a dazzling new romantasy series that blends Greek mythology and shadow magic with a tantalizing enemies-to-lovers romance that will rewrite the stars.
“You know the most dangerous kind of villain? A woman with nothing left to lose.”
In a world ruled by the cruel and merciless Stars, Elara has been cursed by fate. A prophecy promises she will fall for a Star, but that it will kill them both.
So when Ariete, Star of Wrath, War and Chaos, descends to wreak havoc on Elara’s kingdom, she flees her home—the Kingdom of Night—for the neighbouring Helios, Kingdom of Light.
And strides straight into the arms of an enemy prince.
Fearing that Ariete might turn his sights to Helios next, Prince Lorenzo is forced to train Elara as a weapon—one worthy of battling against the tyrannical reign of the Stars. But there are shadows even within the Kingdom of Light—and they threaten to reveal the darkness in Lorenzo’s past and the ancient magic that slumbers in Elara’s veins.
And with it all comes an undeniable, star-crossed pull between Elara and Lorenzo that neither can seem to resist...
INITIAL REACTION
I judged Heavenly Bodies by its cover and it paid off. This book absolutely wrecked me in the best possible way.
MY REVIEW
It's been a while since I've read a romantasy that made me truly feel what the characters were feeling — and Heavenly Bodies delivered on that front in spades. I actually forgot how much I love a good star-crossed lovers story, and this one had me rooting for Elara and Enzo from the start.
The celestial world-building is gorgeous. The Stars as cruel gods and the whole magic system was explained really well and super easy to follow.
One thing I always crave is a strong found family. All the side characters felt like real people with unique powers and clear purposes in the story. Throughout the book, every character became ride-or-dies for each other and throwing themselves in dangerous situations to save each other. They were such a heartwarming group and I can’t wait to see more of them in the next book.
The romance definitely lives up to the hype. The yearning and tension between Elara and Enzo is absolutely delicious — it's that perfect kind of slow burn that makes you physically ache for the characters. The whole light prince/dark princess dynamic is surprisingly poetic, and the fated mates element actually feels earned rather than forced. Plus, the spice level hits just right without overshadowing the emotional connection they build. Thank goodness there was no miscommunication trope either — the communication between Elara and Enzo was refreshing and realistic. They had challenges, but they were pretty open and honest with each other.
I'll admit I didn't love Elara for the first quarter of the book, to the point where I felt secondhand embarrassment at some of the things she said. But she really grows into herself and doesn't rely on Enzo like so many other FMCs do, which I appreciated.
The one complaint I have is how messy the pacing was. It took a while for the plot to really get going, and then the ending was absolutely chaotic. The final chapters had so many twists and rapid scene changes that I lost track of what was happening and had to reread sections. The book honestly felt like it could've ended three different times. I wish the author chose one big plot twist to end with and worked the other smaller ones into the plot earlier to keep the book interesting in the middle.
Despite the pacing issues, this is 100% worth the read if you're looking for a heart-aching love story with gorgeous prose and a romance you can actually root for.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
HEAVENLY BODIES FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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Yes. Heavenly Bodies is the first book the Heavenly Bodies series.
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Imani Erriu has stated via Instagram Stories that the overall key plot remains the same but so much detail has been added that if feels like a new book.
Many readers on Reddit note that the changes between the traditional and indie versions are significant.
If you read the indie version of the first book, it’s recommended you go back and read the traditionally published version before reading book 2, Fallen Stars, that comes out in November 2025.
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Yes, Heavenly Bodies is spicy. It’s a 3 🌶️, on Romance.io which is open door. Open door means we’re present during the spice scene, but it doesn’t going into explicit details. Euphemistic language is often used.
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No, Enzo does not die in Heavenly Bodies.
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After Enzo is stabbed and wounded by Ariete, Elara pulls him into her dreamscape which saved him from death. He’s now in a deep sleep-like state. Ariete steals Enzo’s tether to the dreamscape before fleeing. The tether is what connected his soul back to his physical body.
This scene sets up the next book where Elara needs to find a way to awaken him.ion
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Yes, Elara and Enzo are together and in love by the end of Heavenly Bodies.