Calling all “Sailor Moon” fans: Read this book immediately!
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Steph’s Rating:
“You’re the most beautiful woman anywhere. But that wasn’t enough to say. To tell you that you look beautiful seemed a lazy, easy thing to do to describe the way you look. Because I can barely put it into words.”
- Imani Erriu, Heavenly Bodies
It has been over a month and I have still not emotionally recovered from reading Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu.
As a super-fan of Sailor Moon my entire life (my childhood bestie even included it in her speech at my wedding), anything to do with celestial beings is my jam. So when one of my favorite Fable bookclubs made Heavenly Bodies the book pick for April 2025, I was all for it. Plus, Amazon coincidentally presented me with a good deal on it that same week, so it was a no-brainer purchase for me.
I can’t judge my reading experience based on the first couple of chapters, because frankly, I was dealing with a lot of personal distractions. Between work and kids, stress and anxiety, sometimes it can be difficult to turn my brain off, even when I’m trying to lose myself in fantasy worlds. For a good 50 pages, I didn’t think I was liking this book much, but now I’m chalking that up to not being able to engage with it. A re-read is definitely warranted here.
When I finally did engage…oh. My. Gosh. I devoured every morsel of this star-crossed tale.
Our FMC Elara, the Queen of Asteria, was kidnapped and taken to Helios, her enemy nation, in order to be used as a weapon against the King of Stars as she’d been the only person known to survive an attack. Forced to train with Prince Lorenzo to harness her waning magic, the pair eventually uncover truths about their world that go against everything they’d been taught.
It is rare to read a book labeled as “enemies-to-lovers” that actually feels like that statement rings true. But these two characters go through all the emotions from loathing each other to being willing to die for each other. They have depth, allure, and vigor that becomes indestructible once they’re finally together.
Not to mention that our FMC is an absolute champion of feminism:
“A woman can be anything she wishes. Soft and fierce. Deadly and kind. She does not have to choose.”
- Imani Erriu, Heavenly Bodies
This book is Romeo & Juliet meets Sailor Moon, featuring a power couple that defies time and space–literally. We’ve got Stars incarnated as walking (and often wicked) gods, kingdoms facing magical warfare, and a scrumptious slow-burn romance that builds tension and teases the reader in the most infuriatingly delicious way.
“You overestimate my compassion, Elara, and underestimate how deeply mine you are. I would let the whole world burn if it kept you warm.”
- Imani Erriu, Heavenly Bodies
Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?
The book summary reads, “A prophecy promises [Elara] will fall for a Star, but that it will kill them both.” As prophecies go, not all is as it seems. I audibly gasped at least four times throughout the book, and by the end of it, I was crying actual tears.
You need to meet Elara and Enzo right now. Stop what you’re doing and go grab a copy for Kindle, paperback, or hardcover, whichever format you prefer. The sequel, Fallen Stars, releases in November 2025 and is available for pre-order.
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Heavenly Bodies
Fallen Stars
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