Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on April 4, 2023
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Library
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 have heard so much about this book and was on the fence about it. I am unsure why I was on the fence about it, but I was. I decided the best course of action was to take it out from the library. I did just that, and now I wish I had just bought a copy for myself. This book has become one of my new favorite books and it definitely will be making my top books of the year come December. I know that is a huge prediction, especially since I will be reading many more books throughout the year, but I am confident that this book is everything.
Reader, you are probably thinking, ok enough already. Tell me what the book is about. Stop rambling already. Am I right? In this story, we are following Iris a poor eighteen-year-old girl who dropped out of school, whose brother has gone off to war, and whose mother is an alcoholic. Iris did not want to drop out of school, but once her brother had gone off to war, her mom soon lost her job, and they needed money, so Iris went to work. She is a talented writer and works for one of the top papers in the city. Oh, did I mention this story takes place in the eighteen hundreds, and there is a war going on between two gods? Either way, back to Iris, she works at this paper, and there is a columnist position that has opened up that she desperately wants but has some competition. That competition comes in the package of one Roman Kitt. A rich kid who has graduated from school dresses super nice and has killer good looks. He, too, is an excellent writer. He has a way of getting under her skin, but she also does the same to him. The competition for the columnist spot is real and they both desperately want it. Iris needs it for the money, and Roman needs it to impress his father. Who is going to earn the position?
Iris often spends her nights once at home writing to her brother Forest, who is off fighting in the war. She uses one of her few prized possessions to do so, which is the typewriter that her grandmother left her when she passed away. Iris has no idea where Forest is, so therefore she has no idea where to send the letters she pours her heart into. One day, she decides to put the letter in her wardrobe, and oddly enough, it disappears. Where does it go? She has no idea but continues writing and placing the letters in the wardrobe. Forest never writes her back, which has Iris worried that something has happened to him in the battles. One day, though, everything changes, and she receives a letter back, except it is not from Forest. The letter reads This is not Forest. Well, who the heck is it, she wonders. This does not stop her from writing, but now, rather than to Forest, she is writing to an unknown person. Eventually, the person on the other side admits to being a male and gives her a name to write to, and that is Carter. He doesn’t say that Carter is his middle name; his first happens to be Roman, her competition. They continue to write for months and begin to develop feelings for one another through their letters. How sweet, right? It doesn’t last forever, though, because life happens and takes Iris away to the front lines of battle, where she becomes a war correspondent. She brings her trusty typewriter with her but does not believe she will be able to contact Carter because she does not have her wardrobe, and Iris believes that the magic is in the wardrobe.
Carter, or should I say Roman, is beyond worried for Iris. He hasn’t heard from her in such a while, and he has no idea where she has gone. Meanwhile, his life at home and the paper are not all that he wants them to be. Besides the terrible ache he has because of Iris being gone, he has guilt over what has happened in the past and the frustrations of living up to his father’s expectations. The man is entirely unreasonable. One night, while Roman is up in his room, he receives a letter from the wardrobe and immediately picks it up to read. Happiness washes over him because it is Iris. He finally discovers where she has gone, and fear sets in. One night, after speaking with Iris, he heads down to the kitchen, where he has sought comfort in the past to gain some perspective. Somehow, the kitchen knows what he wants without him even knowing. On this particular night, his grandmother is sitting there, and he has a surprising conversation with her that will change his life and his priorities forever.
Does Iris survive the front lines? Does she ever find out what happened to her brother Forest? What has been life-changing for Roman, and does he ever confess to Iris who he really is? In this war-torn world, does goodness trump evil, and more importantly, is true love ever found among the characters? This story is so beautifully written that I was utterly absorbed in it, and even still, days later, I can not get it out of my head. Iris’s smart mouth, faithfulness to her family, and bravery in going to the front lines are astounding. The internal and outward conflicts that Roman must deal with really had me feeling for him. I am eager to get onto the next book in the series, Ruthless Vows. I am really hoping that it has a way of transporting me like this book has done.
Reader, I hope that if you have not read this book yet, maybe this review will prompt you to check it out from your library, borrow it from a friend, or even go out and buy it for yourself. I can not sing enough praise for this book. I ABSOLUTELY loved it. If you have read it, please tell me what you think of it. Did you love it as much as I claim to have loved it here? I hope this post finds you well, and until next time, Reader, Happy Reading.
Trigger Warnings:
- Alcoholism
- War
- Parental Death
- Blood
- Emotional Abuse
- Missing In Action Solider
- Death
- Talk of Sibling Death
- Drowning