A review by readwithmekt
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Since the war of the gods started Iris has only had herself to depend on. She is working to hold her family together, from her mother struggling with addiction to her older brother being on the front lines. She believes that her only way of doing this is to get a promotion to columnist at the new paper where she works. Iris has no other outlet than to write letters to her brother that she cannot deliver. Only there is magic at work, her letters once slipped beneath the door disappear. She hears nothing back for a long time until she gets a letter that only says “This is not Forest”. What follows is a beautiful tale of self-discovery and found family.

I can honestly say that I believe this is one of the most beautiful books I have read. I loved everything about this with the exception of the ending, a cliff hanger. The story unfolding not just through dialogue but through letters was the perfect way of telling this story. 

Iris as the female main character was everything that I wanted her to be and so much more. Reading through her growth and how she progresses throughout the story made me not want to put the book down. I found myself constantly rooting for her and hoping that she would be able to get everything that she wanted in life. Roman as the male main character was the perfect counterpart. It was so much fun reading through their differences and how their differences brought them closer together. 

The way that magic was used in this book was different from most other books that I have read that deal with the same topic. It was so much fun that while there were gods as characters in the story, they were not the primary focus. It was also fun that the magic that was focused on was the ability of the letters to travel to where they needed to go. 

There are so many things that I love about this book that if I listed them all I would spoil the entire book. The pace was medium to fast, and the chapters varied in length. I found that it was the banter and the elements of found family that had me continuing to want to do nothing but read. I cannot wait for book 2 to come out in the near future. This will also be a book that I will definitely be adding to my personal collection once I am purchasing books again. 

Have you read Divine Rivals? Did you like it?