Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Divine Rivals

Okay first things first about this book, I want to address how a lot of people are saying the romance was too fast and unrealistic: yes and no. Yes because they did move fast, I absolutely can't argue that. No because I think it is realistic. The time period is based on the WWI/WWII era. They lived like that, even without magic love letters. People fell in love and got married literally because they didn't know what was going to happen to them next. So, keeping that in mind, I'm absolutely not surprised at how quickly the MCs fall in love. It fits the setting.

Speaking of setting, holy shit I am absolutely obsessed with the dark academia vibes. The rainy city, the typewriters, the research, the outfits, the time period, all of it. Perfect vibes. I want more books just like this IMMEDIATELY.

Moving on, I absolutely adore Ross's writing style. It's very prosy and flowy and beautiful. The love letters were absolutely wonderful, they will make you wish someone talked to you like that. I ended up highlighting so many quotes that were well-written.

Iris was great, I liked her character a lot. The way she holds determination close to her chest with everything she does is really admirable. Roman being an actual sweetheart looking for his autonomy made me smile. The two of them together made me laugh.

The reason this wasn't five stars for me was mostly the war and how some of the logic of the story worked. It's not a ton but it was enough to lose points? The worldbuilding didn't feel super built out, like we have Oath, and I basically pictured old-timey New York the whole time? And the place Iris ends up was fine, if not kinda vague. But point A to point B? Was totally blank. She travels 600 kilometers and there was almost nothing between the two, at least that was memorable? And she makes the whole trip by train. How was there a great, empty swathe of land with nothing but 600 kilometers of railroad?

Now, the war and other things:

The war didn't really...make sense? Or at least it wasn't explained very well. The myths that Roman sent to Iris added some context, but it was unclear how the gods were manifesting, like if they were just powers possessing people or if they were corporeal or what. It seems like with the ending that we'll get more of the gods' side of things in the second book, so I hope that makes up for this one's lack of context. The way the town got stormed and everything also felt really fast, like "Okay we've got our happy moment, now let's fuck it up real quick so we can have the cliffhanger for the next one" and like, I don't totally hate it or anything, but it was noticeable.

Next, another reviewer pointed out that Iris just got hired for the correspondent job without any real effort or a portfolio or anything. I'd say that Helena had read her work before, except that when Iris introduced herself, Helena didn't show any sign of recognizing her name.

The most important gripe besides the gods' side of things is Iris's brother, Forest. She spends the whole book touting him as this amazing guy and then we meet him and he fucking sucks. Changed by war, so understandable, bc that shit completely alters your brain. Trauma be like that. So the plot twist of us meeting her idol and only living relative and then he turns out to suck real bad makes sense. What bothered me was his whole "deserter" deal. If Dacre stopped Forest from dying and had him under his control, why didn't Forest say something? If they rushed the trenches, why not at least try to find a way to tell someone, anyone, what happened? That he's stealing people and turning them into his soldiers, thus making Enva's people fight their own? Unless Dacre made it so they can't say anything about it, but Forest could've explained that to Iris. Anyway it also bothered me that his idea was just to,,,, go home??? Like usually deserters in the WWI/WWII era had warrants out for their arrest or were straight up put to death, soooo??? Not a great idea to just leave and go home and pretend everything is normal when you're now considered a deserter on both sides of the war.

I feel like Iris should've fought harder to get Forest to tell her what the circle in the dirt meant. Like maybe it's just me but if my husband was gone and a circle was drawn in the dirt I'd be kicking and clawing and screaming until Forest told me what it meant.

Anyway all of that being said, this book is wonderful. I enjoyed the writing style, the love letters, the characters, the suspense of the war, the rivals-to-lovers workplace romance, and the dark academia vibes. I'm absolutely reading the second one as soon as I can after it comes out.

The last thing I'm adding is a content warning that has some spoilers, but here it is:
CW: alcoholism, parental alcoholism

Iris's mom is a severe alcoholic. Literally 20-something pages in, it's revealed that Iris is late to work when the book opens bc she found her mom in a pile of vomit on the floor.

Content Warnings

rdmoreland0801's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

I think this may be my #1 book of the year. I experienced an entire range of emotions. I caught myself - on multiple occasions - giggling like a little girl. At other times, I was shedding tears - happy and sad alike.

I am going to have to read it again just to highlight every snarky nickname Iris came up for Roman C. Kitt.

Watching the bond form between the two, and Roman’s unwavering need to protect Iris, was so beautiful. Theirs is a relationship to withstand time and distance.

I will definitely be rereading when the sequel comes out. I wish I could experience for the first time again.

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

2.5

this book was...fine. the pacing was alright for the most part but it really fell out near the end :/ only a few things of significance happened in the beginning, it was quite boring in the middle, and then in the end EVERYTHING seemed to happen in the span of only a few chapters. the lore could have been expanded upon SO much more and really ended up boiling down to heaven and hell just being remade, which is fine, but certainly isnt what i thought the book was going to be about. overall, it could have been a lot better and was quite a let down.

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.5

I stared at a blinking cursor for several seconds before I started typing this sentence.

Divine Rivals has left me speechless with awe. I've now read several of Rebecca Ross' books, and all of them have been good, but this one is her best so far.

Without exception, the writing is exquisite - sparse, delicate, and elegant.

The writing style and subject matter reminded me vividly of Julie Berry's Lovely War, a comparison I'm surprised no other review I've read so far has mentioned. Berry's novel deals with a historical war and real mythological figures, and Ross has created something just as powerful - but entirely fictional.

The way Ross draws you into the world of Rivals is beautifully done - she doesn't give away too much in one go, instead introducing characters and worldbuilding slowly and carefully, giving readers time to absorb the details without feeling overwhelmed.

I also give Ross props for her invented mythology, which felt really convincing. At first, it was hard to conceive that the gods in the story actually walked and lived among humans, especially as the society around them felt so modern - and I didn't really get a sense of them as physical beings - but in the end, it somehow worked. Don't ask me why.

I did read this in a slightly fragmented fashion, meaning that I perhaps didn't feel the intensity and impact of the

romance between Iris and Kitt

as Ross clearly intended. I did love the idea of the

enchanted typewriters able to send letters between their respective owners. The fact that only a limited number of them were manufactured made it even more intriguing and heartwarming

. I do plan to read it again in the future before the second book in the duology comes out, so hopefully the issues I had won't seem as big of a deal (they aren't already!).

Speaking of the second book, it was quite an intriguing cliffhanger Ross has left readers with! I can't wait to read more.

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dianaschmidty's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Roman C. Kitt 🤝 Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy

THIS BOOK. AMAZING! This book is for all of the girlies that have been looking for a series to fill the whole left by Hunger Games in 2012!

Do you love academic rivals to lovers? If so, READ THIS BOOK!

Did you grow up wishing that you were Kit Kitteredge (which I just had a theory may have been the reason for Roman’s last name?) and could spend your days typing on a typewriter? If so, READ THIS BOOK!

Are you a history buff? If so, READ THIS BOOK!

Do you like an adorable MMC who follows around his crush, basically begging for her to notice him? If so, READ THIS BOOK!

What I’m trying to get at is: READ THIS BOOK! That’s it.

Thank you so so so so much to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Rebecca Ross for providing me access to this book.

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n0elle's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

After her older brother goes off to fight in the war between the gods and her mother loses her job, Iris Winnow has to drop out of school and work at the local newspaper. There, she becomes rivals with her coworker, Roman Kitt, as they compete for the promotion to columnist.

At home, Iris has been writing to her brother. She has no address to send her letters, but she discovered that her letters disappear when put into her closet. She hopes that, somehow, her brother is receiving the letters, until one day she receives a letter back, and she discovers that she is somehow connected to a stranger.

This book starts out strong, and is able to maintain interest through to the end. While I was able to guess some things before they happened, I was always kept curious about how they would happen. There is also a twist at the end that I did not see coming, and added and entire new layer that has me impatiently waiting for the next book to come out in December.

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