SPOILERS AHEAD
My most recent read was Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. This is not my first introduction to Rebecca Ross, as I have read The Queen’s Rising back in 2020. I liked it but it wasn’t anything special.
Now I must confess, I wasn’t going to read Divine Rivals at first. It was one of my FairyLoot books and I only knew of it vaguely. One of my friends started it and finished it within a couple of days and insisted I had to read it. I believed it to be an alternate history fantasy (one set in our world but with magic or something different that happened). It wasn’t until my friend recommended it that I learned it was a new fantasy world… And it did not disappoint!
Keep writing. You will find the words you need to share. They are already within you, even in the shadows, hiding like jewels.
Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross
I started Divine Rivals as soon as I could. It took the first 100 or so pages before I was devouring the book. That’s not to say it was slow or bad, just that I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. As soon as I got past the first 100 pages, I was flying. I finished the book in 24 hours!
First and foremost, I love the main characters, Iris and Roman. It was easy to understand Iris and her turmoil with her brother, Forest, leaving to join the war. I had no questions as to why I shouldn’t sympathize with her or root for her actions. She was likeable, kind, and had a certain clarity to her – all that to say, she was human.
Roman was no different. I was so excited when we got the first chapter from his POV. He was the one who I wanted to hear his POV. I wanted to know what he thought of Iris, and her letters, and why he seemed so mercurial when speaking to her. Ross did not disappoint with his chapters.
The rest of the book kept me on my toes and even had me crying (yes, I’m talking about Marisol, Attie, and Iris’s reunion). This isn’t even mentioning the excellent worldbuilding and mythology crafted around the warring gods. I didn’t expect to like this WWI/WWII-inspired book so much.
I cannot wait to dig into Ruthless Vows when it drops in December. I want to know more about Dacre and Enva, and why everything is happening. I can’t wait for Iris and Roman to write each other more letters, this time with Roman not knowing who he is writing too.