Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Divine Rivals

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

28 reviews

jkdollinger's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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

4.0

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llychu's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

would i recommend this? yeah sure, keeping in mind that this is barely fantasy, and def heavy on the romance

great read and i gobbled it up but it was
however i felt like it was missing SOMETHING but i cant put my finger on it which is the reason for my 4 stars

overall it was a sweet story and it was pretty sad at some parts but not so sad where i felt like crying
also there was a bit of a cliffhanger but idk it was barely giving anything

their relationship for thr first half of the book was so sweet and fun to read dint get me wrong
but after that they js started giving into their impulses and js doing anything like BRO SLOW DOWN and if you dont plan on reading this book:

TELL ME WHY THEY GOT MARRIED SO QUICKLY??? 😭 like it was sweet but it was also js so rushed like how can you say you love her when in reality you love the idea of her cs of her writing 😕

like you CANNOT convince me that he fell in love over her letters to her brother??? like hello????

anyway the war aspect of the story i really enjoyed and thought it was rlly interesting and so were the magical typewriters but i wish there was more detail to the history of the typewriters

also ik fantasy is one of the tags but this was like historical romance w just a tad of fantasy js to make it seem like it has a plot soooo 😅😅😅

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blessedbamboo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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gambizzy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The writing of letters with the enchanted typewriter and the connection was an awesome element to the story. I wanted more of the story behind them though! I also felt like the romance was rushed once the characters were physically together. This book has great and original ideas but I don’t feel they were executed as well as they deserved to be.

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joygarcialim's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

This wasn't a book which I could give a straightforward rating. At the core of it, it was a fun plot to uncover, an imaginative concept to dissect, and an interesting setup for romance. However, the writing was inept. I wanted to find out what happened, and yet I couldn't stop putting the book down. It was a very oxymoronic experience in that sense.

The plot was what really made the book so damn interesting. The magical channel of two potential lovers sending love letters was at the heart of the story, and it possessed an abundance of charm and mystery.

The whole history about the typewriters as well was brilliant.

There were so many well-delivered plot twists and that were well placed so they weren't overwhelming nor absurd, and even the predictable ones were good.

Although there wasn't enough details to evoke a powerful imagery of the sceneries, such as how Oath looked like, there was a sense of an antique world. There could have been a lot more done to contribute to the world-building other

than the magical typewriters, as there wasn't a lot of magic until Iris went to Avalon Bluff

(and I'd still say it was really close to bare minimum to be considered a fantasy). There was a scene where

Roman was talking to his magical lights but it just came across as powered Google home. It didn't make sense when other appliances and objects seemed to sense Roman's needs and fulfil them without his command.

I questioned my own ability to understand emotions and relationships many times throughout the book, whilst simultaneously questioning Rebecca Ross's.

Iris grieving her mum didn't seem authentic. Then she quits her job for a day before she started to miss Roman, her supposed enemy, and their relationship hadn't been built up enough to reach a point of missing or longing. The only way it made sense is if Rebecca was lonely, but she did have a friend.

She started to see Roman as a romantic partner a few days after he arrived in Avalon Bluff, after he straight-up lied(by omission) about his identity as Carver. There was a real missed opportunity to write a romantic conflict and working towards conflict resolution, which would have made the relationship seem a lot more romantic and wholesome. They got married within a few days of starting a relationship, which is just a bad message to young readers, since this is YA after all.

It would have been a lot more palatable if the romance had been fleshed out, if the characters got to know each other so much better, especially

after Roman went to Avalon Bluff. and a lot of it just served corn and not roses. It would have been a lot more interesting if there was more fleshing out of Roman's arranged engagement/marriage.

It's just a shame as there were so many missed opportunities.

The stylistic choice of writing gave me a lot of uncertainty about what Rebecca Ross was trying to convey. Whilst the skeleton of the writing was fabulous, the flesh had been severely starved. It was not good and honestly is what took out a lot of enjoyment.

For instance,

“This was one of the finest restaurants in Oath, where Roman’s parents had fallen in love over a long candlelit dinner.” The average time for men to fall in love is actually 88 days and it's longer for women, one dinner doesn't cut it unless this long dinner was 88 days.

“Iris watched her bolt down the hallway, knowing she was probably going to wax vengefully poetic to the professor who had once dismissed her writing.” I'm not even sure what this means.

“What marks would it leave on them, shining like scars that never faded?” But don't all scars fade, even if not completely? And do scars shine?

“So many loose pages, fluttering like snow down to the floor.”

“He continued to hold their stare, deadly serious. “If I asked you, would you say yes?” I was so confused. Did Iris become enby during that one sentence?

“She ran to Keegan with a shriek, weeping and laughing, leaping into her arms.” Was Marisol was happy to see her wife amidst an impending war zone?

“This was the life she wanted—slow and easy and vibrant, surrounded by people she loved.” People she hardly knew.

Finally, the book gave left a lot of unexplained situations, which I hope are hints for things that are to come in the second book.

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