Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

60 reviews

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Roman Kitt my beloved, you hold my heart in your hands <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, and War

ctara2123's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Vomit and Gun violence

amy_in_the_city's review

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.

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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

annabananadel's review

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.

(Please let it be a fast reunion between Roman and Iris.)

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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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gun violence

llcardenas's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Blood, War, Violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcoholism

picaresquedreamer's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Child death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Alcohol, Classism, Medical content, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Death, and Death of parent

veylixx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

my first impression is that it's way too filled with descriptions and things like metaphors or similes. also, its not really enemies to lovers.. more like ✨🥺enemies rivals to lovers🥺✨
i still enjoyed it once i got into it though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, and Death

Minor: Violence and Gun violence

katelynndzindzio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

Roman C. Kitt and Iris Winnow are rivals, competing for the columnist position at the Gazette only to have their worlds completely changed. Iris's brother goes to war, her mom died, and Roman gets engaged. Roman wins the columnist position and Iris quits, determined to find her brother she heads to the war zone. All the while, Iris has been sending letters from her magical typewriter... Unknowingly, not to her brother. 
Kitt and winnow's journey is magical to say the least. Through a series of unfortunate events they fall in love. Can true love save them? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, War, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Violence