Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Divine Rivals

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.

Content Warnings

annabananadel's review against another edition

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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.)

Content Warnings

readingduckling's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

The book is beautifully written but extremely sad an I would recommend to check trigger warnings and maybe being in a stable headspace and maybe already own the second book so you can continue reading.

Content Warnings