Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Divinos Rivais

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Divinos Rivais by Rebecca Ross

154 reviews

icarusnote's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Where do I even begin? Writing was sublime ;) and quite magical. As soon as you begin the book, Ross hits you with strong imagery, setting the scene and immediately begins world building, which I enjoyed. The strong imagery throughout the entire book, along with Ross' poetic writing, just makes this story come to life and become so vivid. I've read so many romances, but I think this might be one of the most romantic books I've ever read. This book honestly feels like a story I've been waiting my entire life to find and read.

The plot itself is amazing. As someone fond of writing, I love that the main character is a journalist, writing to inform the public of unbiased news to make a difference. I love that magic exists in this world, but the typewriters (something no one uses anymore) carry their own magic in this story. Especially in today's technological world, where everyone interacts with a quick text or a quick swipe, a quick dismissal - having writing and typewriters as a central piece in this story, really created that connection the main characters have feel so much stronger

and romantic because I wish I also received letters from an anonymous penpal who ended up being my crush in real life, how lucky is Iris

. I loved the allusion to greek mythology with the gods, but the gods still carry different stories and are interwoven with the current war in the story. And I appreciate Ross' depiction of war. In her acknowledgements, she states a few of the books and movies she read for research, and I think it really shows in the book. War in the book is depicted as gruesome - a horror to civilians and soldiers, and isn't glamourized or romanticized. It was very real in how brutal, anxiety- inducing, life changing it can be - both present and post

even with Iris as a war correspondent, someone who is supposed to be neutral, but is not treated as so. Whether thats due to control of censorship, which is touched upon while Iris works at the Gazette as a writer, or when Dacre's forces are simply trying to kill everyone when she was at the frontlines. I appreciated Ross showing how easy it was for bias and negligence to occur when one isn't informed

. And I simply adore the banter and vulnerability and humor and sadness depicted in the story. Ross' ability to weave emotions so poetically, so seamlessly into her writing and characters really made them come to life for me.

I do think the pacing for the main character's relationship was a little fast

although, understandable because this takes place during wartime

, but I would've liked a bit more build up in their tension, rivalry, and competitiveness in the beginning. Furthermore, the world building was great. The closest semblance in my head would be to the anime, Violet Evergarden (partially why I hold this book so dear. Completely different plots, but a few similar points that I loved can be found in both), but I would've liked a bit more world building about the gods themselves.

It can be seen as intentional in not saying too much about the gods, creating a parallel, so the readers have the same knowledge as the people in Oath, which is essentially none due to negligence of war arriving and insistence on propaganda and fear mongering (realistic reactions during wartime which I appreciate), but I would've liked just a bit more in the beginning

. And I would've liked a bit more characterization for the side characters like Attie and Marisol. The urgency because of the war was very present and realistic,

but I would've liked to know more about Attie and seen Iris and her bond a bit more together before Roman enters the scene and we basically never lean into Attie's character again after

.

Overall, very strong fantasy book. Magic, poetic imagery, importance of war and writing to inform, how communication can really invoke that sense of trust and introspection one might need for clarity, and just a beautiful romance. I truly loved meeting Iris Winnow and Roman C. Kitt, it was an honor.

Content Warnings

hannahkearney's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

jessiecc's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

omcruz's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

fpgreviews's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jessspeake's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

fayeelizabeth's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Roman Kitt is so pathetic and I love him

Content Warnings

literatewitch's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the cliffhanger ending. This book is a love letter to the transcendent power of writing, how words touch us, connect us, move us. Oh, and did I mention enemies to loves with a solid dose of pining. One of my new favorites.

Content Warnings