Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

20 reviews

spaghettii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Any words I can find to describe this book would be an understatement. To put it simply, this was a beautiful and emotional book that reminded me why I love historical fantasy.

I found the plot endearing. It could be considered predictable, but I think the best written stories are where you know inevitably what will happen, but watch it play out anyways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Murder, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Classism, Cursing, Gun violence, Medical content, Death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death of parent, War, Vomit, and Violence

vj_thompson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This was just beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Child death, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Misogyny, Cursing, Bullying, Kidnapping, Vomit, and Classism

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Right after I read the prologue, I knew this book was going to tug on my heartstrings.

I went into this book not knowing much other than two teenagers write letters to each other with magical typewriters, and I came away with so much more.

Most of the book takes place in a war zone and gives me WWI vibes. There is an added layer of fantasy because the war is between two gods, and, as Iris says, "a war between two gods is not what you would expect it to be."

Rebecca Ross is an expert in lyrical prose, magical worlds, and well-developed characters. The setting draws you in, but it's the characters who keep you invested and engaged. Even in all of the darkness surrounding Roman and Iris, they are able to find the light and hope to keep going.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. Rebecca Ross can do no wrong in my eyes, and I cannot wait for Ruthless Vows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content and Cursing

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Cursing, Death of parent, War, Death, Car accident, Classism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

lizzye33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, War, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Gun violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Genocide

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Child death, Confinement, Abandonment, and Car accident

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Vomit, War, Addiction, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cursing, Gore, Body horror, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

gingerbooknerd3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Cursing

Moderate: Vomit, Child death, Classism, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

aplain's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Blood, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, and Infidelity

readwithria's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Divine Rivals wasn’t what I expected, but it swept me off my feet nonetheless. Rebecca Ross crafted a beautiful story full of spellbinding prose and a lovely cast of characters.

I was so excited to read this book! I love Rebecca Ross’s writing, and this book is no exception to that. She has crafted a beautiful story and I’m so glad I got to read it. The epistolary elements really gave us a look at the characters’ writing style, and as reporters I think that was a really important element of the book.

I loved Iris. She really took it upon herself to do what she thought was right, and do what she needed for herself. I really appreciated her strong sense of self, and how much she was willing to step out of her comfort zone.

Roman was also lovely, and the growth of their relationship was so adorable. I do think his POV sections felt a little bit unnecessary at times, but there are bits and pieces that definitely added to the very end of the book. I know that she added his POV later in the writing process, but this definition feels like Iris’s story and his sections didn’t feel as important or as necessary.

There were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. I don’t think all of the side characters were flushed out enough for me to care about them individually, especially Attie. I also think that sometimes the book suffered from too much exposition and tell vs show. This was especially true in the first half, but improved later on. This last one is a tiny nitpick, but the time period of this fantasy world is definitely based on WWI, and at one point Iris mentions wearing a bra, but bras didn’t exist yet. This is a fantasy world so it’s not the biggest issue, but she would definitely be wearing a corset.

Even with those few complaints, this really was a beautiful book. I appreciate the fact that wow this book definitely had historical inspiration from World War I, Ross created a world without patriarchy, and it felt more queernormative than our own. It was so refreshing to read a book taking place in a time that feels familiar without the usual trappings of historical fantasy and misogyny.

I am definitely excited to read book two when it comes out! This was an adorable fantasy romance, and I’m looking forward to learning more about the gods. 4 stars.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me a review copy. All thoughts are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Cursing, Classism, and Alcoholism