Scan barcode
katharina90's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
Moderate: Death, Classism, War, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Classism, and Vomit
haley49's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Sexual content, Death, Vomit, Torture, Gore, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Classism
barda's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Classism
katievallin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Classism, War, and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Chronic illness
witcheep's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Let's begin my review with the things that made me hesitant, though: the main characters being separated and the plot taking steps backwards regarding the relationships built in the first part. Ruthless Vows continues the plot from where the Divine Rivals left off, but because of Roman's amnesia, it feels like the main couple has taken multiple steps backwards to the starting point when they didn't know each other yet. Moreover, the war keeps them apart and constantly in danger: Roman being held at Dacre's side of war and Iris staying at Enva's, it seems like their setting has expanded into an even bigger rivalry than at the beginning of the duology, when it was just professional rivalry between the two. This is a kind of setback that I usually do not like as a plot device, but Ross manages to write this kind of plot better than many other authors I've read a sequel including a similar premise from.
I tend not to like the main characters of a book being separated in a book, even if they had a means to communicate with each other. It's just too heartbreaking, especially when the separated people belong to each other's side as clearly as Iris and Roman are meant to be together. I would love to see more happy things going on for these two sweethearts already, or at the very least them allowed to get back together to each other
A great strengts of Ross's is making her characters form meaningful relationships that make each individual a stronger person. This is shown in Ruthless Vows, especially through Iris. Iris remembering everything of the events from the Divine Rivals makes her determided to get Roman back. She doesn't shy away from any means necessary to do so, and proves it time and time again by facing dangers, such as
Dacre believed he had the upper hand, grooming Roman to be his dutiful correspondent. But little did he know that he was not the only source of magic.
"You will regret ever taking him from me," she whispered through her teeth, feeding paper into her typewriter.
I'm in love with the beauty of Ross's writing! It's very descriptive with the use of imaginative metaphors, while the story advances in a great pace, and the overall feel of the text is captivating.
How could he mourn something that he couldn't remember? Roman wondered if there was a word to describe such a feeling, for the way it gathered on his shoulders like snow. Cold and soft and infinite, melting as soon as he touched it.
Even shower thoughts in this book are very eloquent and metaphorical. Or perhaps it's just Roman's character
After reading the book, I needed a couple of days to contemplate the contents of it and my thoughts about it before I could even begin writing my review. This usually is an indicator of a great book: it leaves a lasting imprint and isn't easy to separate from your mind. So, if you hesitate picking up this sequel, I urge you to hesitate no longer. You'll be heartbroken through reading the book, but it's very much worth it in the end.
Review written 17.3.2024
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Classism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement and Violence
r3ader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
On the other hand, this book did not live up to the first one. Especially the first half was veeery slow and not really interesting.
I do love the showing of the war. It's not the main theme, but it's still there. And due to current events (#free🇵🇸), it feels even more real and just overall more emotional.
The ending was intense and like I said, I liked it it was by far the best part of this book.
I would recommend this book only to those who REALLY want to know what Romans and Iris' fates are. If you are content with the ending of the 1st book and aren't that interested in the 2nd, you don't need to start this one tbh. 😅
Graphic: War
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Classism, Chronic illness, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
erinreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This book had just as much plot and just as high of stakes, but the pacing felt a bit rushed to me. I didn’t feel like the characters had much time to breathe and because of that, I’m not sure we got to see the characters develop as much as we saw in the first book. I wanted to see more character interaction with the lovely side characters like Attie, Marisol, Keegan, and Tobias. But because there was so much action, we didn’t really get to see much interaction, which made it feel a bit removed. I wasn’t as invested in this book as I was with the first.
I also missed the epistolary bits of the first book; I wish this one had more of that. I understand that Iris and Roman didn’t have much time to be writing long love letters but that is central to their relationship, a point we are reminded of at the end. If they were to be separated for practically all of the book, I wanted to see more of their relationship through letters. It felt a bit like two different stories for most of the book, and I missed the passion and longing from the first book.
All in all, it was still an entertaining story
Read if you liked Divine Rivals, if you like wartime stories, or if you like action-packed low fantasy.
Moderate: Terminal illness, Gun violence, Blood, Vomit, Violence, War, Classism, and Grief
aelytacchan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Gore, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, War, Body horror, and Confinement
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Medical content
themelodyofspring's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Vomit, War, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Classism