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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
vidotson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
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.
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
charli03's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gun violence
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Sexual content, Child death, War, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, War, Blood, and Violence
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cursing and Violence
torij2000's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
jkneebone's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Divine Rivals takes place in a 1940s-esque fantasy world in which gods used to be real, before humans fought a war against them to take them down. A few hundred years later, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt are rival writers at a newspaper, competing for the role of columnist. A war between two newly awoken gods has broken out far from their city, and most in their community are still in denial. Iris's older brother has enlisted to fight, and she hasn't heard from him since; she sends him letters through the door of her wardrobe, which disappear as if by magic. Unbeknownst to her, Roman is the one receiving the letters. He writes back to explain that he isn't her brother, but they begin corresponding and strike up a friendship - the only problem is that Roman knows he's writing to Iris, but Iris doesn't know the identity of her mystery pen-pal.
Eventually, Iris decides to take the search for her brother into her own hands, and takes a job as a war correspondent for a rival paper. She travels to the war front and sees firsthand the toll the war is taking as she helps care for wounded soldiers. She becomes close with Marisol, who runs the B&B correspondents stay at, as well as Attie, a fellow war correspondent. But the dynamic shifts again when a familiar figure from her past arrives as the newest correspondent.
I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about this book, especially the ending, but I'm also definitely planning to read the sequel. I was really enjoying it up until about 60% of the way through, but the second half lost me a bit. I really liked when Iris and Roman were getting to know each other via letters, as well as the mythology about the gods and worldbuilding that we got through their writing. Iris was an interesting character, and I really felt for her as she was trying to do her best without her brother when so many circumstances were conspiring against her. I also liked the glimpse we got of Roman's life and how he is torn between his own desires and guilty obligation to his family.
However in the second half, I felt that the romance plot became too dominant, and a lot of the things I had found interesting fell by the wayside. I didn't dislike the idea of Iris and Roman as a couple, but the romance became so genderedespecially after he arrived at the front - all of the stuff about him wanting to protect made me cringe and rushed why did they have to get married like three days after confessing their love?? I know it was the middle of a war but this made absolutely no sense to me and I didn't like it . It felt like a lot of the past trauma that both characters had been dealing with in the first half got glossed over and became a non-issue as soon as they fell in love. I disliked the ending because it did one of my personal least favorite things an ending can do. It's a pet peeve of mine when stories end up back where they began (literally/metaphorically), so I already wasn't loving the end of Divine Rivals - wtf Forest? - but then I looked at a summary of book 2 and saw that Iris and Attie go back to the warfront, and Iris and Roman begin corresponding again, which makes me even more skeptical - why have them go back to the city if they're just going to leave again? However, I am still intrigued enough (and the audiobook narrator was very good) that I've already put a hold on book 2.
This would have been more stars for me if it had leaned a little more on the mythology and worldbuilding - because it's a fascinating premise! - and a little less on the highly gendered romance. That being said, it was well written and had enough of interest that I'm willing to keep reading. There is a lot of violence and death, by virtue of it taking place during a war, as well as some minor cursing and one very mild but technically on-the-page sex scene (no explicit language is used but you can tell what's happening).
Eventually, Iris decides to take the search for her brother into her own hands, and takes a job as a war correspondent for a rival paper. She travels to the war front and sees firsthand the toll the war is taking as she helps care for wounded soldiers. She becomes close with Marisol, who runs the B&B correspondents stay at, as well as Attie, a fellow war correspondent. But the dynamic shifts again when a familiar figure from her past arrives as the newest correspondent.
I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about this book, especially the ending, but I'm also definitely planning to read the sequel. I was really enjoying it up until about 60% of the way through, but the second half lost me a bit. I really liked when Iris and Roman were getting to know each other via letters, as well as the mythology about the gods and worldbuilding that we got through their writing. Iris was an interesting character, and I really felt for her as she was trying to do her best without her brother when so many circumstances were conspiring against her. I also liked the glimpse we got of Roman's life and how he is torn between his own desires and guilty obligation to his family.
However in the second half, I felt that the romance plot became too dominant, and a lot of the things I had found interesting fell by the wayside. I didn't dislike the idea of Iris and Roman as a couple, but the romance became so gendered
This would have been more stars for me if it had leaned a little more on the mythology and worldbuilding - because it's a fascinating premise! - and a little less on the highly gendered romance. That being said, it was well written and had enough of interest that I'm willing to keep reading. There is a lot of violence and death, by virtue of it taking place during a war, as well as some minor cursing and one very mild but technically on-the-page sex scene (no explicit language is used but you can tell what's happening).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, War, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
jooniethemoonie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
if you liked The Cruel Prince (as I did), you'll probably like this book! the voice actors really did their thing with this one, nothing to complain about 🤷♀️ Iris and Roman are my babes 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
a lot of descriptions of war and injured (and dead/dying) soldiers, bodies lying around (stepping over them), quite graphic.