Scan barcode
ju_harue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Uma escrita envolvendo combinada com uma história maravilhosa. Agora entendi (e endosso) o hype. Foi tudinho. Em certos momentos me lembrou um pouco a história de O Estranho Sonhador, então li empolgada.
A forma como a magia se mistura com o cotidiano dos personagens é muito interessante. E eu amei que a ideia norteadora da autora - descrita nos agradecimentos - foi pra frente de forma magistral. Fiquei completamente rendida aos protagonista e demais personagens. E já estou empolgada pra ler o segundo volume.
A forma como a magia se mistura com o cotidiano dos personagens é muito interessante. E eu amei que a ideia norteadora da autora - descrita nos agradecimentos - foi pra frente de forma magistral. Fiquei completamente rendida aos protagonista e demais personagens. E já estou empolgada pra ler o segundo volume.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Violence
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 attackrenee_fae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Gore, and Blood
ladyheatherslibrary's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society meets Little Women, but make it fantasy and add a war between gods and voila, you have this tender-hearted little read that has captured my heart even more the second time around 🖤
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
fantasycorner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, and War
kermittuesday's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Used the word raiment far too much. Just say clothes every once in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Vomit
Despite the amount of triggers I listed, this is not a horror book but it does involve war so it has this stuff. The sexual content is very minimal but because it’s a YA book, you might want to know it’s there.abbypeekreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, War, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
katierucki's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
For a slow reader I ate this book up when I first picked it up. The romance, the world, the tears I shed all just made my heart happy.
The way Iris handles grief really resonated with me as someone who spent so much of last year grieving. I loved how raw it felt and also how she still had to push through.
Rowan is nearly a dream besides the whole not telling her thing. He is patient and kind and honestly one of my favorite book boyfriends. He has a special place in my heart.
I was so incredibly excited to meet Forest. He did let me down but in a truly realistic way. No one is the same after war but he almost killed Iris trying to get her away. It made me really upset because she’d been praying for the day she’d get to see him again and turns out he’s kinda an ass.
Overall loved all the characters and their relationships. I already miss being in this world.
The way Iris handles grief really resonated with me as someone who spent so much of last year grieving. I loved how raw it felt and also how she still had to push through.
Rowan is nearly a dream besides the whole not telling her thing. He is patient and kind and honestly one of my favorite book boyfriends. He has a special place in my heart.
I was so incredibly excited to meet Forest. He did let me down but in a truly realistic way. No one is the same after war but he almost killed Iris trying to get her away. It made me really upset because she’d been praying for the day she’d get to see him again and turns out he’s kinda an ass.
Overall loved all the characters and their relationships. I already miss being in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
melist6's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Blood
jessnotjen's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Grief