Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Divine Rivals

The romance is off the charts for me in this one. It's a good break from very physically driven romances as the main characters fall for each other through their

letters

. I cried multiple times.

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lee_s's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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andysanzz_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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_rowantree_'s review

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medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book touched on some really big themes. I felt like it was trying to be deep and poetic but it didn’t really land for me. I’ll probably listen to a future sequel if it comes to my library, as there were interesting ideas there that may be fleshed out more convincingly in the future

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readsbymoonlight's review against another edition

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emotional 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

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bluz19's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

This book turned out to be a lot better than I initially thought! I originally picked it up because I saw it on BOTM and had heard good things. This book comes from a place of family drama, magic, war, and enemies to lovers. They start off as rivals at the paper, gunning for the same job as columnist, though there is a lot of animosity there you can definitely see how the characters grow towards each other. It is a story of poor girl and rich boy with a slow burn story and a budding romance. It was so easy to fully soak this book in and I find myself pulling for their love story and happiness even though with a second book still left to read I knew it couldn’t be all rainbows for the characters. There are two main characters that we experience in this story, Roman Kitt and Iris Winnow. I think their story feels real and beautifully written. I think the way that the author allows us to experience the thoughts and emotions of both of these characters through both their letters to each other and their blurbs of thoughts and POVs really drive this story. We see from this story that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I didn’t hate the female lead, much like I usually do. She seemed relatable and strong for the story but still very compassionate and caring, especially ending up on the front lines of the war. This is probably the most similar I have felt to a character which is great to see. Even the side characters in this book added to it, they didn’t seem partially written. They gave more life to the book and really was there to enhance the already great story.

I think my biggest issues with the book is that I wish the story of the gods was flushed out more. We hear more as the story goes on but I did want to take more time learning and understanding the world. We get the myths here and there but considering the entire war is because of the gods, I think it could’ve better explained overall. I did find myself yelling at Iris’ stubborn nature and the acts of their families very often but there’s truly not much that I can say I would change about this story. I think the writing was beautiful and on point. I think with the inclusion of war, the book shows how precious life is and how important it is to appreciate life and love. It teaches us to find the flowers growing from the concrete.

I think the biggest focus of all is the letters they write to one another. They are so intimate, so personable, and full of emotion. In every letter you can feel their emotion, whether anger, frustration, or loss.

I think if you enjoy war stories, love stories, enemies to lovers, with slight mentions of gods or magic, I think you will enjoy this book! I generally love more fantasy but this was a cute and wholesome book with bits of darkness. Prepare to be heartbroken by the ending of this because I now need to pick up book 2 asap to finish out this amazing duology and see what happens to Iris, Roman, the rest of the family, and the outcome of the war. I’m hoping that the second book will be just as great if not better than the first!

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