Heaven’t You Heard? – Reviews

 

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5 STARS – Natasha den Dekker, THE UNITED KINGDOM

An absolute joy of a read.

I think more so because of Grace’s journey from not quite sure, to fully realised was wonderful to read. I know that there are some authors that specifically write so their books can’t be placed ‘in a time’ but I love that Culbertson makes it super clear when her books were written with a million and one pop culture references that make the characters come alive for me. 

I think the relationship Grace has with her mum was one of the lynchpins of this novel and while I can take or leave family type things, I thought this was handled really sensitively and not a ‘family is everything’ type thing. I’m wondering if there will be a love triangle (I’m here for it if so!) AND dear gods the diversity in this stories is always great! And the way faith is tackled is really well done as well. Ahh excited for the 2nd one already!

5 STARS – Rutuparna Chhatre, USA

Another page turner from Geanna Culbertson!!

Geanna does it again! Another amazingly original story with a strong female main character that we need more of! My daughter was genuinely sad to finish the book, more please!!

5 STARS – Jessica Long, USA

I absolutely loved this book and hates putting it down…but everyone needs a little sleep. My favorite part of this book would have to be the world building..everything was so descriptive and detailed that I had no issues imagining it in my mind. The characters were amazing too…but I have no qualms saying that I do not like Solange at all. This is a book that I would recommend to everyone!!!

5 STARS – David, USA

Heaven’t You Heard is the prefect example of in-depth creativity.

Every page turned revels unexpected twists as the characters evolve and grow in their awareness of the meaning of life and that which comes after, in this original and very well written book. I highly recommend it.

5 STARS – Cassandra Grace, HONG KONG

Divinely Amazing 

“Grace, being pure of soul doesn’t mean any of those things. Purity and goodness aren’t about being flawless or beloved; they’re about acting in the name of virtue even if it isn’t easy or popular. Sometimes, that even means looking like the bad guy or putting yourself in harm’s way.”

When Grace Cardiff is found dead after a car crash with her mother, she isn’t turned into a ghost. Nor erased out of existence. She is assigned as the Guardian Angel and protects her charge – a teenage boy called Henry Sun, who could potentially impact the world greatly, if he isn’t dead. With the serious identity and family crisis, can Grace defend Henry against different blows?

The author again has impressed the readers with this new book. Falling in love with the book, I am riveted by the book’s ingenious world and its properties, strong and realistic characters, enthralling plot, suspense and exciting cliffhangers, and inspirational messages. I am totally invested in the series and cannot wait to read the next book.

I love the world this time the author is toying with – afterlife. Heaven, Purgatory (Middleground) and Hell are tricky areas to write with, but I am blown away by how the author excelled in building her own world. The sight of Heaven is gorgeous as Hell is horrible. The Soul Pulse, halo, Wonder countless others are creative and amazing ideas. The idea of Guardian Angels is ingenious – plus the plot twists following that. I look forward to the significance of the number that Grace is referred to. I cannot wait to spend more time in this divine world.

I was captivated by the complex and endearing characters in the book. The story is less female dominated, in which I can see more male characters such as Leo, Monkonjae, Henry, Oliver and so on. The protagonist is flawed and realistic, who is relatable and admirable. Grace Cardiff can be insecure and weighed down by expectations, but at the same time she is honest, resourceful, noble, sassy and passionate (or aggressive). She grows and improves, and that is what I look up to and appreciate. Since it is still the first book in the series, I cannot wait to see the character development in the future. All the characters are great and I look forward to learning about, with and from them.

I especially enjoyed the entrancing plot, starting from the breaking news of death and Guardian Angel assignment, identity and relationship crisis, plus the threat from antagonists. I am glued to the book and read it on the edge of my seat constantly. The intertwined fates of Henry, Dr Wang, Naomi Joseph remain exciting and unsettled as well as their three guardian angels. The suspense is unparalleled and I am dying to read the next book. The bomb the author dropped right in the end only made the waiting time pleasantly insufferable.

I feel that the author is extremely strong in delivering her messages. Although the themes are slightly different, the story is full of soul and wisdom. I am motivated and inspired by the story and its characters. Grace is the protagonist of the story and she has her weaknesses. She has a lot of self doubt and is unnerved by the long list of expectations. But she doesn’t back down. She strives to improve and become stronger. I admire her strengths and her qualities encourage readers to grow just like her. I am enthused by the fact that it takes afterlife to teach humanity about living and life – the heartfelt messages are pure awesomeness.

Moving on, I passionately encourage everyone to read Heaven’t You Heard? – The book is a sight for sore eyes and I hope my reasoning has successfully talked you into reading this book. I highly recommend people from all walks of life and all ages to savour the awesomeness of the book and be captivated by it. Reading enthusiasts of all genres will be thoroughly compelled by the book. Although the book blurb compares the book with the brainchild of The Good Place and Good Omens in Shadowhunters universe, I strongly believe the book is unrivalled. Well-written and inspiring, this book is undoubtedly a must-read among all people.

I sincerely hope that you will pick up Heaven’t You Heard? after reading this book review. It is my utmost wish that you will be captivated by the greatness of the book and love it as much as I do. It is gorgeously one of a kind and awe-inspiring. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the author for writing this book. Your inspiring charm is unmatched.

“I know humanity has a ton of flaws, but despite the madness and cruelty and foolish conflict, our world is beautiful and human beings have the potential to shine as brightly as any light in Heaven. I fight for them.”

4.75 STARS – Lexxi Kitty, USA

This is the third book I’ve read by this author, and like the others I’ve read, I quite enjoyed this book. There are many other books published by this author, but all of the rest of them have been part of the same series. So, to cut myself short: read first book in that Crisanta Knight series, then the stand-alone The Present. 

Crisanta Knight series, at least the first book, involves young adults in a fantasy world that involves them attending a school so they’d eventually become protagonists in fairy tales (more or less, I mean, at least two of the main characters are “legacies”, daughters or sisters of fairy tale characters – Snow White & Little Red Riding Hood). 

The Present involves a young woman working with a team that have been assigned Scrooges to see if they can turn the Scrooges lives around. 

This book here, Haven’t You Heard, combines elements of both books in that it involves a young adult (i.e., a teenager around 16) and a ghost (the main character in The Present is a 20-something ghost going on 120-something). This book opens with the main character, 17 year old Grace Cardiff, in a car with her mother – in the middle of an argument. During which they have a minor little crash . . . wherein both died. 

Grace is “shaken awake”, so to speak, to find herself no longer in that car. Next to a mentor. She’s in heaven, and has such a pure good spirit, 98% good, that she’s going to almost immediately be turned back around and sent back to earth – to work as a guardian angel. Naturally . . . Grace feels like she is in “The Good Place” (she makes a ton of references to pop culture, and builds friendships with others, dead and alive, based on pop culture), because she never felt like she was 98% good. Heck, with all the trouble she’s gotten into at school and with her mother, she can’t possibly be, say, even at 51% good. Unlike Eleanor Shellstrop, Grace immediately points out that there must be some mistake. She’s not 98% good. The mentor type says that, nope, Grace Cardiff – the one in front of her, not someone with the same name or looks, or whatever, is the 98% person. Right, so – that becomes their nickname in heaven, 98% (“there’s 98%!”).

Book follows Grace and two other brand new Guardian Angels as they guard their charges. Okay, I knew this was wrong even as I was typing. Book follows Grace. But there are two other new guardian angels she trains with and who she befriends. So. Whatever you might think of when you think of “Guardian Angel”, here that means that Grace joins her …. English has just escaped me. Charge? Client? Target? Person she’s guarding in high school. Befriends him and his gang of friends. Defends him against stuff, etc.

Meanwhile, naturally, Grace has to deal with being dead (being detached from her father and sister), with being dead with her mother, and other stuff. The mother stuff is complicated. See, unmentioned yet is that heaven works a certain way, I’ll only note: depending on different factors, a specific individual could spend 24/7 in hell, 24/7 in heaven, or, more likely, some mixture of heaven, hell, and middle. Grace’s mother has a day in hell, something like five days in middle (a moderate bland place), and a day in heaven. Grace, herself, spends time in heaven, hell, and earth. But only because she’s a guardian angel and has access to it all (though I don’t recall her ever visiting middle). Or, more accurately, she’s one of those 24/7 in heaven people. 

Fun book. 

5 STARS – Leandra Williams, GERMANY

Aaarggh. Geanna has done it again! Created a world and set of characters that I just absolutely fell in love with. No seriously, even from the very first chapter (although the page number was already a teensy tiny giveaway!) I just knew that I’d better buckle up because some serious worldbuilding was about to unfold.

“I’d like to preface this that as a Christian myself, obviously the views on the afterlife and God illustrated in this series are not my own or or what I consider to be theologically accurate. That being said, I absolutely loooooved Heaven’t You Heard? and practically devoured it. I really loved the worldbuilding, especially how everything we consider to be “mysterious” or spiritual about heaven made sense and had its own cute or appropriate explanation (e.g. pets crossing the Rainbow Bridge). It all felt incredibly magical and yet also really down-to-Earth.

“Grace was a really interesting character to follow, especially as I found myself relating to her in many ways. I appreciated her stubbornness, that she was so willing to stand up for herself and others and how she ultimately stayed true to herself. It was incredibly touching to see her relationship with her mom evolve and how she wrestled with it. I can honestly say that I actually learned quite a bit from that myself and I often caught myself doing some own deep self-reflection triggered by certain emotional events that took place in this book. What I especially appreciated was how Grace also questioned her own preconceived notions and her own pride in growing into herself. I kind of feel like in these times, especially with what I see going on in social media, I feel like a large culture of finger-pointing has developed that goes on between people who dislike each other. I often see people touting a large sense of entitlement to feeling superior when someone has hurt them in any way without any kind of self-reflection. I loved that in this book, Grace actually challenged her own opinions and attitudes as much as she challenged those of others in order to work forward in a relationship with them, such as with her mom.

“The plot itself was a great mix of fast-paced action, some drama on Earth with Grace’s mission and some more laid-back times in Heaven. I honestly didn’t see a lot of the plot twists coming and often just sat there with the book on my lap and my mouth hanging open. I genuinely cannot wait for the second book and believe that this will be a world I’ll find myself loving just as much as the Crisanta Knight one (which is sadly coming to an end soon *sob*). So a huuge thanks to Geanna Culbertson for creating this beautiful series, which I will now title my Crisanta Knight Hangover series as it’s the only thing that will be able to pull me out of my major incoming Crisanta Knght hangover will will ensue once that series is done.

4.5 STARS – Susan Ballard, USA

Okay, this is a chonk of a book at 600 pages, but I flew through it. Grace Cardiff, only 17, and her mom passed away in a car accident. Grace finds herself in Heaven in the presence of Akari, the senior Guardian Angel. Of course, Grace asks where her mom is, only to find her mom stuck in Middleground. But at least she can magic “facetime” her.

Grace is given the job as a Guardian Angel, and her charge is a teenage boy named Henry Sun. Grace must go back to high school to keep an eye on Henry. Not only from earthly dangers but demons as well. Yeah, it’s those demons you need to watch out for. 😉

I can’t possibly fit all the great, diverse characters, as well as the fun aspects of the after-life, into this review. So please take my word that you will be delighted at every turn. I mean, Akari has a pet angel panda, and Grace’s mom is mad that Middleground doesn’t have Splenda. Seriously though, this is so entertaining, and I love that Grace has a second at life and maybe love… even after death. I’m looking forward to reading book two.

4 STARS – Jacqui Eden, AUSTRALIA

This was a really fun and interesting read! The characters are very diverse and hilarious as the story takes them on a fun journey very reminiscent of The Good Place. The author has created such a fun spin on Guardian Angels and a very creative and fascinating take on the afterlife. Geanna really knows how to create a wonderful, layered, vibrant world in any book she writes.

5 STARS – Elena Meneses, CHILE

Tengo que decir que por la portada nunca habría tomado este libro, pero estoy super agradecida de haberle dado una oportunidad a este libro.

En primer lugar, me encantó el mundo que creó la autora. Estaba super enganchada conociendo más detalles de cómo funcionaba el Cielo en este libro, y además cómo funcionaba el Infierno. Estaba super la idea de los ángeles guardianes y de los demonios y su enfrentamiento para lograr que las personas que tienen el potencial para cambiar el mundo logren hacerlo, o no.

Los personajes estuvieron bien, pero sobre todo me gustaron Grace, Akari y, obvio, Oliver. Me gusta la dinámica que tiene Grace con estos otros dos personajes, cómo los va conociendo y en base a eso puede conocer mejor las condiciones en las que ahora tienen que vivir. Creo que la protagonista está super bien, cae bien y uno puede empatizar con ella. Akari no me cayó bien porque siempre andaba ocultándole cosas a Grace cuando eran importantes para ella, pero creo que es un personaje genial y super interesante. Y bueno, Oliver es el demonio que obviamente no pude quitarle el ojo de encima porque soy débil con estos personajes jajajaj.

No me esperaba lo mucho que este libro me hizo pensar sobre mi propia vida y sobre lo que va a ocurrir después de ella. Es una lectura bastante ligera (además me tenía tan enganchada que llevaba el libro a todos lados y leía cuando podía), pero que también me dejó muchas cosas para pensar.

Y realmente espero que haya una continuación o algo, porque el libro termina perfecto para poder seguir con la historia, y mejor aún, para poder conocer más a Oliver.