Synopsis:
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross’s Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
My Review:
I was actually expecting this book to be much less readable than it was for some reason, which goes to show even more than her other books that I shouldn’t underestimate Rebecca Ross. I loved A River Enchanted and its sequel, and, although I liked Divine Rivals less, I enjoyed it too.
First, characters. I don’t have much to say on this front, but mostly just because I don’t have objections. I liked the side characters, I liked the main characters, and I felt a little less disconnected from them than i did when reading A River Enchanted. Were they better? Not really, but I got a bit more invested on that front.
With relationships, I thought the friendships were a bit underdeveloped, and the main romance seemed a little quick to me, but I saw a lot of chemistry and liked Roman and Iris together a lot. They just really fit! I will say I wasn’t expecting some elements, but it’s normal for the time period the book is based on.
Finally, for plot and worldbuilding, I got confused about the war a lot, but frankly, I’m used to being confused about war in fantasy novels, so I’ll give it a pass. It did seem a bit underdetailed in that regard, but not to a hurtful point. The plot very much went by piece by piece, not necessarily having That One Climax for me, but I liked it.
I feel like my words make it sound like a 3-star based on my recent reviews, but I really liked Divine Rivals. I’m not sure I have quite enough enthusiasm to read a sequel, but Rebecca Ross is so productive I’m sure I won’t have to wait long. I’d recommend this to fans of her other books and of YA fantasy romance as a whole with classic romcom elements and a serious spin on them.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
The Fiction Feature 