A review by clairebartholomew549
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I love when authors don’t feel the need to drag out a fantasy series, and I think Ross made the right choice with making this a duology. I adored the evolution of Iris and Roman’s love story and individual character arcs, and I enjoyed getting more of a sense of Dacre’s world. These books aren’t the strongest on fantasy world building - a lot of how the gods work doesn’t make a ton of sense ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - but there’s enough information to make it work well enough. I wish we got more of the side characters - I loved what we got to see of Attie and  Marisol, and I really wanted more of them - but I liked how the story unfolded. Even though this story is presumably set in the 1800s (the god element of it makes the timeline very confusing), it feels contemporary because of the emphasis on warring narratives and people wanting to bury their heads in the sand to avoid the tragedy around them. I really liked these books!