Reviews tagging 'Death'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

448 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, War, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, and Classism

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

readyforit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, War, Violence, Classism, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Vomit

I think this book is loosely based on WWI war tactics so if that’s triggering for you, skip it

m_elisabeth's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and War

micahhhh20's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Violence, and Death

jkdollinger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Alcoholism, War, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Blood

iaminlovewithmichaelcera's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Child death, Blood, War, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, and Violence

glowingrabbits's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? N/A

5.0

I'm not great at writing book reviews, and even after finishing this I am not sure exactly what to say that would be any help to someone looking to pick this up, but I don't think I can just put this book down without talking about it. My God, this book is beautiful. There is something so deeply touching and human about this story. It's beautifully written, and in many ways I think it touches on the ugliness and desperation of war without forgetting that there is beauty to be found even when it seems like the world is ending. It has also got to be one of the most genuinely romantic stories I've read. 

YA books aren't normally what I go for, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the kind of story I didn't know I needed. I finished it in one day! 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Vomit and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content

ju_harue'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Uma escrita envolvendo combinada com uma história maravilhosa. Agora entendi (e endosso) o hype. Foi tudinho. Em certos momentos me lembrou um pouco a história de O Estranho Sonhador, então li empolgada.
A forma como a magia se mistura com o cotidiano dos personagens é muito interessante. E eu amei que a ideia norteadora da autora - descrita nos agradecimentos - foi pra frente de forma magistral. Fiquei completamente rendida aos protagonista e demais personagens. E já estou empolgada pra ler o segundo volume.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Violence

lawbooks600's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Six out of ten.
I own this book.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross was overhyped. So overhyped. I wanted to read this one ever since it won an award for the Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction book in 2023. No library had it at the time so I had to buy it. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing, but when I closed the final page, I thought it was only okay.

It starts with Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, living their separate lives amid a war between two all powerful beings, with Iris sending letters to her missing brother while working as a reporter at a news company. Unexpectedly, Roman, intercepts those letters, which is eventually the start of a relationship between the two, even though he was Iris' rival. The story promised an enemies-to-lovers romance set in a historical urban fantasy setting akin to World War One, but it felt more like a typical romance. Divine Rivals tried to do too much, detracting its plot with so many subplots I didn't know what it was about. Focusing on one storyline would've improved the reading experience.

Roman wasn't a rival nor an enemy, nor did he have any grudges with Iris, making the blurb slightly misleading. The characters are okay, but lack depth, and I didn't feel like Roman and Iris had any chemistry and the relationship felt shoehorned, not genuine. If Ross wrote more depth into them, she'd convince me that the two central characters have chemistry. I prefer to read fantasies with little to no romance and not a romantasy, which may explain why the worldbuilding felt like a wasted opportunity. The fantastical aspects were barely there, and how could Roman and Iris live like the war doesn't exist? Plot armour? Perhaps. Expanding the world would've made me enjoy Divine Rivals more. The conclusion is abrupt, leaving me hoping the next and final instalment, Ruthless Vows, will be better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Panic attacks/disorders

Full trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, explosions, blood, grief and loss depiction, death of a sister in the past in a body of water and a mother, physical injury, conscription, hospitalisation, panic attack