Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

88 reviews

kiwij96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Easily one of the most captivating books I've read in a while. The story was written effortlessly and I loved the letters and the way that Iris and Carver developed their relationship without ever having met. It was also an emotional read, heavy on the grief and the war. It had me hooked as a reader for a solid 85% of the book.

However, where it eventually fell short was after that 85% mark. It got to a point where the plot - though already quite fast paced in some places - felt rushed, as if this 14-chapter-per-part aesthetic was what limited the author to progress the plot further in less time. Also, I know it is a YA, but Iris and Roman definitely felt a lot older. 18 and 19 just wasn't believable after a point, and the Young Adult genre still would have held if they were in their early to mid 20s.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, War, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content and Classism

katemcm2'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Although this book does have a secret identity trope and a fair amount of mutual pining for each other the pace doesn't make it seem excessively drawn out, like it does in other YA novels. The characters are likeable and the magical typewriters were my favorite part. I want to know more about the grandparents and their friendship and backstory. I also think the addition of the dieties and lore was a little much because we don't get a resolution at the end but maybe it will all come together in the sequel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Blood, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

unboundbooklover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Addiction, Medical content, Gore, and Blood

myahthebookfiend's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

A good book. Really. I throughly enjoyed the storyline, characters, and romance. In all honesty, I have zero critiques, but that might be the problem. I like a book that's not perfect, and although I wouldn't go so far to say this book was perfect, it maybe fell a little short from my expectations. Everyone, and I mean everyone, talked this book up everywhere, swearing it was the best story ever. While it was great, I can't say it was the most amazing literature to grace my eyes. But yeah, I adored the writing and concept, so there isn't much wrong. I suppose the only thing "wrong" is a feeling I have. Kind of hard to explain that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Violence, War, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse

saskiahill's review against another edition

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, War, Death, Gun violence, and Medical content

gpfot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, War, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, and Abandonment

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. 

---

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

renee_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

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.

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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

4.75

I loved the epistolary elements of this book, and the writing was absolutely beautiful! The love story felt very Pride & Prejudice-inspired. I liked the setting, but I thought there could have been a bit more worldbuilding. The fantasy elements (other than the magic typewriters and Kitt's magic house) felt too abstract. I don't feel like I got a good sense of the gods and the monsters, but I'm assuming that will be explored more in the sequel. Still, for most of the book, I felt like I was just reading a WWI historical novel instead of a different fantasy world inspired by WWI. I didn't understand the main characters' decision to

stay and defend the town even though they were not soldiers and had no fighting training or equipment. They didn't accomplish anything at all by staying, so the decision felt contrived for plot reasons.

. Another thing that seemed contrived for plot reasons is

Forest not revealing himself sooner and instead deciding that waiting to kidnap Iris during battle was the best course of action.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content and Stalking