Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

116 reviews

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, Medical content, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

seattlehols16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, War, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

A captivating story. While I loved the description of everything at times there was something off about the dialog. I was between a 3.75 and a 4 and went with 4 as will say that I enjoyed the book and story overall. It was a different take then normal which I enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, War, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Genocide

lanna_aud's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma

lizzydreadful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, War, Medical trauma, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Classism, and Alcohol

hycinthos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Death of parent, Gore, and Alcoholism

Minor: Child death, Classism, and Panic attacks/disorders

aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Violence, War, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content

emmylux7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

will add my review after the boycott is over.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and War

alibrarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

I didn’t think I was one for historical fantasy until Divine Rivals. With its World War I vibe and epistolary aspects, I’ll be the first to admit I was so skeptical of how it would all play out, but, honestly, Ross’ world works. 

Iris is plucky, determined, and loving underneath the bluster she has to present to the world. While Kitt is someone looking to make up for his mistakes and find who he really is after. It would have been so easy for their characters to deviate in deference to the plot and overarching themes of the book as a whole, but Ross was amazing at keeping them consistent and creating a story that works with who they are while still being engaging and interesting. 

The warring gods storyline is something I hope to see more of in the next book since we’ve gotten a glimpse of their mythos, and I hope to see more answers to some of my guesses and questions. However, as a first book in this duology, Ross beautifully builds expectations, hopes, and the story in such a way that it’s clear this is a romantasy taking place in a fantastical war. The deviations and twists were stunning, and the emotional buildup and release were perfection. This book made me cry over characters we literally had met only pages before, and is one of the most respectful to its soldiers and their accounts. 

What I truly appreciate is that, while graphic, Ross didn’t go grimdark. It would have taken away a lot of the nuance she gave to her characters and  the situations they found themselves in. Overall, this is definitely worth the hype. 

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Content Warnings

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