Review: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Blurb:
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
Review:
Stepping into this light fantasy, with all its Second World War Europe and transatlantic newsroom vibes, you’re met with a heart melting love story and complex family dynamics that will leave you wanting to jump into its sequel, Ruthless Vows, as soon as you read the last page.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t necessarily excited for this book. I tend to struggle with super hyped books, I let my expectations get the best of me and have found that the formulas that draw a lot of people don’t tend to be my thing. But when this was the pick for Book Club, I went in hopeful that if nothing else we could all have a good laugh. Instead I was so pleasantly surprised. Rebecca Ross is an amazing writer. Her prose is saturated with emotion, in a way that’s accessible and tangible, not overdone or cheap. The tension built into this story wasn’t just satisfying, it was compelling. A hug your kids, call your mom, snuggle a little close kind of cozy not many romantasy authors I’ve read have been able to achieve.
“It’s not a crime to feel joy, even when things seem hopeless.”
The story was intriguing, following Iris who’s struggling to balance her tumultuous family life with her new job at the Oath Gazette. With two warring gods who have been using humankind as their pawns in battle, Iris is left alone with her alcoholic mother after her brother leaves to fight. You’re met with some cliche tropes done well, which is exactly what I hoped for a book like this. Ross captured the experiences of living in a war torn country, making choices one step at a time while the world changes at the drop of a hat.
I loved the potential depth of world in this story, but I do wish we got a little more lore and insight into the political landscape than we ended up with. I think we’re set up nicely to dive much deeper in the sequel. That said my attention was thoroughly held throughout the book and it didn't rupture my curiosity for the rest of the story. The politics we got were captivating. I loved the settling, so familiar and yet so quirky and magically complex. I feel quite set up for an intriguing finish to the duology. Especially in the dynamic of the war, where there are manipulations working beneath the surface to do the gods’ bidding, which removes, or at least makes you question, their soldiers’ free will.
“I love the words I write until I soon realize how much I hate them, as if I am destined to always be at war within myself.”
Iris and Roman were great classic lead characters. I loved how, in many aspects, they were foils of each other. The letters they wrote helped their relationship grow organically in a really sweet way. That said, I did struggle with their logic in the beginning of the story, face to face as competitors. There were times where ignorance of pretty basic emotions were used to mask what could have been much deeper and more compelling, which left me with things falling a little flat when they allowed themselves to realize they were actually attracted to each other. Once the pretense was waded through though, the romance of the story was quite palpable. There is one openish door intimate scene, though in my opinion it was done very gracefully and felt fairly spiceless, instead focusing on its meaning instead of actions.
“I think we all wear armor. I think those who don’t are fools, risking the pain of being wounded by the sharp edges of the world, over and over again. But if I’ve learned anything from those fools, it is that to be vulnerable is a strength most of us fear.”
All in all it was a really enjoyable, very easy read that spurred the hopeless romantic deep within this war weary heart of mine. I would definitely recommend it, especially to someone that loves a more YA feel while still having a decent world depth, a bit of lore, and fairly dramatic escapades. I hope it warms that little heart of yours as much as it did mine.
