Recent Reads: Divine Rival by Rebecca Ross

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross 
Series: Letters of Enchantment #1
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date:  April 4, 2023 

 

Format: Audiobook
Source: Borrowed from the Library

Rating:


Goodreads 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 this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Review: 

I picked up Divine Rivals from the library after being very disappointed with another book, really hoping it was worth all the hype it has gotten. It has also been on my To Read list. I feel like books lately have been either love or loathe for me...

I loved this book. It was such a refreshing read.

Iris works for a newspaper and is trying for a promotion. She isn't very well off and the promotion would be great for her and her mother, whom she now supports. However, there is another person vying for it as well, her enemy, Roman Kit. Roman is a pompous ass, wealthy, gets everything he wants and needs, doesn't really need the job or the promotion, and also hates Iris... or so she thinks. 

In this world, a war of the Gods is occuring and many have been called to one side or the other to fight. Iris' brother was one of those. She hasn't heard from him in a long time and her mother is barely keeping it together, drinking all the time. Her one solace is her typewriter, given to her by her grandmother, she writes on it and sometimes she gets messages back - she isn't sure where they are coming from or what kind of magic it is, only that it helps her through her day-to-day, even if she doesn't know who/what is on the otherside.

Circumstances change and Iris decides to go to war as a correspondent, hoping to find her brother. Then all the real fun begins.

The book is told in dual POV, Iris and Roman. There was wonderful banter throughout and that kept me wanting to listen, that said their wasn't as much world-building information as I would have liked to have. No mention of how the typewriters work, but just that they do... I wanted more about the God and the war. (Prequel maybe!?). I was really enjoy the book though. I liked Iris, she was strong, determined, and sometimes a bit too dramatic btut in the best ways. Roman was so oblivious at times that you have to laugh at him.

Then... you get a kind of happily ever after... with 2 more hours left of the book and you know everything is going to implode and BOY DOES IT EVER IMPLODE. 

The whole thing ends on a cliffhanger, so thank goodness the 2nd book is already out.