Scan barcode
bookcheshirecat's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
3.75
“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.”
➽ Divine Rivals is about Iris and Roman, who are competitors at the Oath Gazerre Newspaper. I liked the premise, as there is a war between two gods going on and some people - like Iris' brother - end up recruited for their cause. While cold, arrogant Roman has a wealthy family with lots of connections, Iris and her mother are struggling, especially since her brother left. Both of them are clashing at their workplace in order to get the best stories. Iris takes a chance and becomes a wartime correspondent. It's a dangerous job right at the front, but maybe she'll finally find out what happened to her brother, ever since they lost contact with him. I liked that there's also a magical typewriter involved, that Iris uses to communicate with someone - though she has no idea who it is!
➽ I debated giving this 4 stars, but the ending really put me off
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Kidnapping
josxphinchen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Death of parent, Grief, and Medical content
skillyillian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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.
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:
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, War, Death, Blood, Gore, Murder, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gun violence
Minor: Vomit
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
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
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
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 theromance 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.
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
Speaking of the second book, it was quite an intriguing cliffhanger Ross has left readers with! I can't wait to read more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
n0elle's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, War, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Sexism
kaitlynnnng's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
3.5
I enjoyed this book because it blended together romance, history, mythology, and fantasy. There was a little bit of everything!
Like several other reviewers have said, my feelings shifted at some point between the middle and the end. Roman and Iris’s romance went from 0 to 60 slowly (which I enjoyed), but then it seemed like it went from 60 to 100 almost immediately. It got to the point where it felt rushed and unrealistic. I kept trying to tell myself that, in times of war, timelines are very different, but still. I wish it packed a heavier punch.
I enjoyed the writing style!
I will be reading the second book when it comes out, because I am dying to know what happens next!
Like several other reviewers have said, my feelings shifted at some point between the middle and the end. Roman and Iris’s romance went from 0 to 60 slowly (which I enjoyed), but then it seemed like it went from 60 to 100 almost immediately. It got to the point where it felt rushed and unrealistic. I kept trying to tell myself that, in times of war, timelines are very different, but still. I wish it packed a heavier punch.
I enjoyed the writing style!
I will be reading the second book when it comes out, because I am dying to know what happens next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Blood, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
More...