Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

53 reviews

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

This book is a dark fantasy romance. It is set in an alternate earth around the time of World War I. It is set in the fictional city of Oath. It stars Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt. They are 18 at the beginning of the book. The are two reporters at a local paper who are in a competition to become a columnist at the paper. They are fierce rivals. There were 5 gods in this world. It was thought that they all died. Two of them, Dacre and Enva were actually asleep. They wake up. Before they went to sleep, they were at war with one another. After they wake up, they continue the war. The war is fought by humans who join one or the other side. Iris's brother Forest enlists in the army of Enva. This breaks Iris's mother who loses her job. Iris has to quit school. She gets a job at the paper to support her mother and herself. Roman is a child of wealth. His father is new wealth and wants to be respected by old wealth. The story goes from there. I enjoyed the fantasy elements. I thought there was good world building. I thought the romance developed in a way that was realistic. The book did a real good job of presenting the horrors of war. The book is beautifully written. I did find it was a little too poetic at points. I recommend this book for someone who is looking for a dark fantasy romance with appealing lead and supporting characters. Look up content warnings if you find graphic descriptions of war upsetting. I will definitely read more books from the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death of parent

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Holy shit..... Well Rebecca Ross it's on sight girl! Iris is a reporter competing for a columnist spot against fellow reporter, Roman. As Iris writes letter to her brother who's away at war, she tucks them away inside her closet. These letter end up in the hands of her rival, Roman, who begins to write her back. As war tears across the country and propaganda and misinformation reigns supreme, Iris and Roman create a magical friendship through letters. I adore this story! It's just magical enough to be not realistic but not too crazy as to be hard to understand and follow. Iris is a strong and yet logical and likable character. She makes normal choices and thinks through her issues before jumping into action. Roman is adorable and this conclusion makes me mad af. Like gotta go read Ruthless Vows brb. My only issue with this book is that the start is slow and the world building isn't explained very well until later. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Alcoholism, Classism, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Addiction, Vomit, War, Alcohol, Violence, Gore, and Sexual content

filipa_maia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was such a surprise! I was not expecting to become so invested in this characters and a story about war.

I like how strong Iris is, I like how fearless Kitt is, I like Attie, and Marisol - this book has bunch of interesting and unique characters.

I loved all the twists and turns the plot took, just when I thought I had everything figured out, something completely blindsided me and I was caught of guard.

I can't wait to read the second book, find out more about these Gods, about Forest and how it will all end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Classism, Violence, War, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Addiction

lars702's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Grief

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Roman Kitt my beloved, you hold my heart in your hands <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, and War

annabananadel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

“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. It takes courage to let down your armor, to welcome people to see you as you are. Sometimes I feel the same as you: I can’t risk having people behold me as I truly am. But there’s also a small voice in the back of my mind, a voice that tells me, “You will miss so much by being so guarded.” 

This is worth the hype for sure. I can see why people kept picking this book up and recommending it because it really is an amazing story. It's been awhile since I read a YA romance fantasy and even though I usually steer clear from YAs, I've been brought in by the book community to try this book. I wasn't disappoint. Although it was slow at first - duh! It's world building so it not unusual, but I would have loved for the world to be built more. I did not really have the backstory of the world and how it came to be. I think that's what made me slow in the beginning but once I've hit a quarter of the story, it was just smooth sailing from there. I was just immediately hooked.

I love the war setting where this couple should conquer war for their love or something in that sense. I love the banters and I really wish there was more of it. I love the typewriter form of communication and how these two just write the loveliest letters to each other. It makes a lot of sense why they wouldn't fall for each other. The side characters and their stories as well was a good addition to the book. I really do love the story and was just devastated for the last quarter of the book where I just need to know what happened to the main characters. I wish the twist at the end had been made a little bit more sense but that's just me, I guess. I was heart broken for that last 50 pages and I'm so glad I bought the next book last weekend.

(Please let it be a fast reunion between Roman and Iris.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, and Blood

Minor: Vomit

sarahsaurusrex's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

It was…. Fine. Quick read, but world building was lacking, and it didn’t feel believable , even for a fantasy read. Things felt rushed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, War, Blood, and Violence

llcardenas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Blood, War, Violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcoholism

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Alcohol, Classism, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Death, and Death of parent

jessversteeg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

I super enjoyed this book! I enjoyed the old-timey vibe and that there wasn’t a whole lot of world building necessary. Can’t wait to read the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Child death