A review by thexwalrus
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

4.0

 what a satisfying conclusion for iris and roman’s story. 

ross once again does not pull punches in writing the war - it’s brutal, and we get plenty of examples of the cast of characters experiencing something akin to ptsd from what they’ve seen. losses happen across the board. it’s a bittersweet end to the story, but that’s the beauty of it - expecting everyone to make it out alive in a war is unrealistic. 

it wasn’t as enchanting and delightful as divine rivals was, but i think that was mostly because we watched iris and roman fall in love in that book. this book lacked that thread because they were already in love and together, so it was at a disadvantage. it’s much more focused on the war itself, and how the characters are acting in the new scenarios we find them in. it works! it’s great! it’s just not a 5 star read for me bc that spark and magic of two people falling in love slowly wasn’t there.

i’m so glad i read this duology and i will be soft over roman and iris for a long time to come.