A review by mannythenanny
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

1.75

war is over.

everything that annoyed me:
  • feel like everything progressed so fast
  • no ones actions acc have consequences
  • theres no chatacter development, character arcs, any character progression
    • roman was engaged but he randomly broke off his engagement??? and ran off to find iris?? but its cool. 
    • its constantly hammered in at the start that bro has responsibilities as the sole heir and son of this controlling mildly abusive man but none of that is relevant after like chapter 6
    • and the characters are lowk the exact same at the start as they are at the end
    • its disappointing

  • side characters are completely void of any significance 
  • literally if u cut them out nothing would change in the plot bro

  • telling over showing
  • mid writing- not anything particularly special 

  • the war barely got any screentime which is crazy bc this whole book is abt a war 😭😭
  • and then how do u make the 2 chapters of story at the front lines boring 
  • im amazed

  • the pacing was also weird? idk how to explain it
  • back to the telling over showing - we're told sm things and sm things are implied, but i as a reader didnt find them believable
  • we're expected to believe iris and roman are traumatized from the war they witnessed on the front lines
  • i want to see it 
  • show me the change they undergo
  • show me the trauma
  • show me instances where iris encounters war thru the impact it has on ppl
  • the only person i can think of where she has this interaction w war is thru that one captain guy who eventually dies

  • smthn else were expected to believe - the bonds between characters πŸšΆβ€β™€οΈ
  • why does iris have like 3 conversations w this girl whos supposed to fill the role of the "friend" character and suddenly theyre besties
  • like why are they embracing crying after iris escapes the front lines acting like theyve known each other their whole lives
  • i dont believe this shit

  • the dual pov:
  • its just not my cup of tea sorry πŸšΆβ€β™€οΈ
  • also the abrupt change in setting was so jarring - from an office workplace type to this little town to a whole battle 
  • the settings are also simply not vivid

  • the romance:
  • i read that they love each other, i witnessed their romance, yet why am i not convinced
  • why is it so lackluster to me smh
  • i think bc the romantic tension was not good
  • why did they confess so fast πŸ’€
  • i want to see it simmer between them, i want it hovering in every interaction, i want it to be this unspoken nebulous thing that crests higher and higher until finally they cant take it anymore
  • like j recently i read a fragile enchantment and it did this so well
  • the plot felt disjointed. the way things slid from one plot beat to the other was awkward
  • felt like it was trying to be many things at once but ended up committing to one halfheartedly
    • it wanted to be a war story, a mythical fantasy, a historical fantasy, a rivals to lovers romance ughh

  • also the letters. what is going on.
  • this is an excerpt from like the third letter roman writes iris

β€œI rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel, because I feel safe with you.

I had a little sister once.

My parents can hardly speak of her these days, but her name was Georgiana. I called her Del, because she liked her middle name Delaney best. I was eight when she was born, and I can still hear the rain that poured on the day she came into the world.She grew up in a blink, as if the years were enchanted. I loved her fiercely. And while I had always been the obedient, reserved son who never needed discipline, she was full of curiosity and courage and whimsy, and my parents didn’t know how to raise such a spirited child in society."

  • WHO WRITES LETTERS LIKE THIS??? AND WHY R U TRAUMA DUMPING TO A STRANGER SO FAST? PLS RELAX
  • "a glint of falling steel" im shitting
  • another thing - the whole time the author is yapping on about how beautiful and stunning both iris and roman's writing is
  • but it's ... technically the author's writing
  • LMAO
  • bro is j patting herself on the back 

  • and my final grievance:
  • why is the brothers name forest. 
  • i shouldve known when i saw his name on page 1 it was gonna be mid
  • smh