Scan barcode
glowingrabbits's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? N/A
5.0
I'm not great at writing book reviews, and even after finishing this I am not sure exactly what to say that would be any help to someone looking to pick this up, but I don't think I can just put this book down without talking about it. My God, this book is beautiful. There is something so deeply touching and human about this story. It's beautifully written, and in many ways I think it touches on the ugliness and desperation of war without forgetting that there is beauty to be found even when it seems like the world is ending. It has also got to be one of the most genuinely romantic stories I've read.
YA books aren't normally what I go for, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the kind of story I didn't know I needed. I finished it in one day!
YA books aren't normally what I go for, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the kind of story I didn't know I needed. I finished it in one day!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Vomit and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content
lawbooks600's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Score: Six out of ten.
I own this book.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross was overhyped. So overhyped. I wanted to read this one ever since it won an award for the Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction book in 2023. No library had it at the time so I had to buy it. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing, but when I closed the final page, I thought it was only okay.
It starts with Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, living their separate lives amid a war between two all powerful beings, with Iris sending letters to her missing brother while working as a reporter at a news company. Unexpectedly, Roman, intercepts those letters, which is eventually the start of a relationship between the two, even though he was Iris' rival. The story promised an enemies-to-lovers romance set in a historical urban fantasy setting akin to World War One, but it felt more like a typical romance. Divine Rivals tried to do too much, detracting its plot with so many subplots I didn't know what it was about. Focusing on one storyline would've improved the reading experience.
Roman wasn't a rival nor an enemy, nor did he have any grudges with Iris, making the blurb slightly misleading. The characters are okay, but lack depth, and I didn't feel like Roman and Iris had any chemistry and the relationship felt shoehorned, not genuine. If Ross wrote more depth into them, she'd convince me that the two central characters have chemistry. I prefer to read fantasies with little to no romance and not a romantasy, which may explain why the worldbuilding felt like a wasted opportunity. The fantastical aspects were barely there, and how could Roman and Iris live like the war doesn't exist? Plot armour? Perhaps. Expanding the world would've made me enjoy Divine Rivals more. The conclusion is abrupt, leaving me hoping the next and final instalment, Ruthless Vows, will be better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Panic attacks/disorders
Full trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, explosions, blood, grief and loss depiction, death of a sister in the past in a body of water and a mother, physical injury, conscription, hospitalisation, panic attacktheinkedpath's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
ES:
Hacía meses que un libro no me transportaba tanto a una historia. Me tiemblan las manos mientras escribo...pero qué bonito, qué atmósfera, la magia y madre mía, qué personajes (sobre todo los protas). Me he visto reflejada en Iris un millón de veces.
Y el final me ha dejado destrozada. Directa al segundo.
Reseña: Me encantaría que fuera pronto.
EN:
I an in love with this story and this world. It evokes in me the spark of writing (as a journalist and as a writer, when both flames died years ago).
I loved the atmosphere, how vivid and real it was (while including glow of magic in between). However, I do believe the characters are the best aspect of the novel. I loved both protagonists but Iris has a special place in my heart (she reminds me of myself most of the time if I am honest). The characters are human and I believed them. As I said before, Iris has a special place in my heart, but Roman has stolen...so points for the journalists!
Directly to the sequel. I cannot wait.
Review: I hope it can be soon.
Hacía meses que un libro no me transportaba tanto a una historia. Me tiemblan las manos mientras escribo...pero qué bonito, qué atmósfera, la magia y madre mía, qué personajes (sobre todo los protas). Me he visto reflejada en Iris un millón de veces.
Y el final me ha dejado destrozada. Directa al segundo.
Reseña: Me encantaría que fuera pronto.
EN:
I an in love with this story and this world. It evokes in me the spark of writing (as a journalist and as a writer, when both flames died years ago).
I loved the atmosphere, how vivid and real it was (while including glow of magic in between). However, I do believe the characters are the best aspect of the novel. I loved both protagonists but Iris has a special place in my heart (she reminds me of myself most of the time if I am honest). The characters are human and I believed them. As I said before, Iris has a special place in my heart, but Roman has stolen...so points for the journalists!
Directly to the sequel. I cannot wait.
Review: I hope it can be soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Death of parent, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, and Violence
amy_q13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, War, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Classism, Car accident, and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Physical abuse
cturn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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
4.0
Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 8
Plot - 8
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 9
CAWPILE score - 8.3
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 8
Plot - 8
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 9
CAWPILE score - 8.3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Blood, War, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
readingduckling's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? No
5.0
The book is beautifully written but extremely sad an I would recommend to check trigger warnings and maybe being in a stable headspace and maybe already own the second book so you can continue reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, and Classism
Minor: Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury
almendraa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Ha sido una lectura exquisita.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Classism and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content
abbey_marie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
Stunning. This book is such a whirlwind of emotions, so real and raw and beautiful. I haven’t read a book that has moved me so much in so long. I will treasure this book so much. I am proud to have it on my shelf and hope to one day share it with my children. I don’t even have kids yet but I’m convinced that this will be on my shelf for a lifetime, it’s so beautiful and I never want to let it go!
It started out slow and I honestly quite liked the pacing of that. In the middle and end is where it really ramped up, many emotional scenes that had me needing to take a break from reading because they were so raw and well written. It’s truly moving.
If you’re looking for a high fantasy book, this isn’t it. It doesn’t have a lot of the fantasy elements, though I’ve heard the second book does. It has more magical realism I think than fantasy. But if you’re looking for a beautiful love story, a book with elements of what feels like historical fiction (it seems to be set in the 1910s or 20s), an atmospheric novel, an emotional adventure of a read, this is it. This is everything I didn’t know I needed and I am beyond excited for the second in the duology! (And so glad that it isn’t a trilogy because my heart might explode if I had to wait for a third book!)
It started out slow and I honestly quite liked the pacing of that. In the middle and end is where it really ramped up, many emotional scenes that had me needing to take a break from reading because they were so raw and well written. It’s truly moving.
If you’re looking for a high fantasy book, this isn’t it. It doesn’t have a lot of the fantasy elements, though I’ve heard the second book does. It has more magical realism I think than fantasy. But if you’re looking for a beautiful love story, a book with elements of what feels like historical fiction (it seems to be set in the 1910s or 20s), an atmospheric novel, an emotional adventure of a read, this is it. This is everything I didn’t know I needed and I am beyond excited for the second in the duology! (And so glad that it isn’t a trilogy because my heart might explode if I had to wait for a third book!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Excrement
This book has several intense war scenes in it and graphic scenes of violence and death. If you are sensitive to those, you may want to read this slowly, take breaks, or this may not be the book for you. It also has some elements of alcoholism, grief, death of a parent, and PTSD. It does have one sex scene, but it’s tastefully done and not graphic.luna_lovelace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book exceeded my expectations, it was such a unique story that I had no idea what would happen next. It's probably the sweetest love story I have read out of all the enemies-to-lovers tropes thus far.
My only concern was not knowing whose point of view it was, but it wasn't hard to figure out.
The MCs are so lovable, including the friends FMC makes along the way. I wasn't fully prepared to read some sorrowful moments, so it caught me off guard!
The chemistry between Roman and Iris is unlike any other. It is a slow-burn but it's worth it. I loved the idea behindthe magical typewriters, it made the love story that much sweeter!
It made this book so joyful to read. I can't wait to read the next book,I am dying to know what happens to Roman!
My only concern was not knowing whose point of view it was, but it wasn't hard to figure out.
The MCs are so lovable, including the friends FMC makes along the way. I wasn't fully prepared to read some sorrowful moments, so it caught me off guard!
The chemistry between Roman and Iris is unlike any other. It is a slow-burn but it's worth it. I loved the idea behind
It made this book so joyful to read. I can't wait to read the next book,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, War, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
mrs_gale's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
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
4.25
What an interesting story!
Historical war fiction is not my usual genre at all but this was an enchanting adventure with a little bit of romance and a touch of magic.
Historical war fiction is not my usual genre at all but this was an enchanting adventure with a little bit of romance and a touch of magic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, and Alcoholism
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Death of parent, Classism, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders