Divine Rivals
A Novel
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4.3 • 796 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Love struggles to survive in Rebecca Ross’ enthralling fantasy saga. In a fictional, mystical world that resembles World War I–era Europe, gods Enva and Dacre are at war with each other, thrusting armies of mortal soldiers into bloody conflict. Ross’ story follows war correspondents Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, whose competitive dynamic turns into something much deeper. Ross makes the horrors of war feel real and universal, even while she populates her battlefields with deadly mystical beasts. Her gripping prose and sharp eye for detail make the magic-filled landscape seem compellingly realistic. Romance and ruin, fantasy and grit—Divine Rivals is a study in contrasts…and a totally engrossing read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this affecting fantasy duology opener from Ross (the Elements of Cadence duology), 18-year-old Iris Winnow's life is upended when long-slumbering gods wake and begin battling for control of the fictional land of Cambria, using human armies as proxies. After Iris's brother, Forest, enlists to fight, and her mother is fired from her job for drinking while at work, Iris must quit school to help make ends meet. Her new writing position at local newspaper Oath Gazette doesn't pay much, prompting Iris to campaign for a promotion. That won't be easy, however, given the talent and connections of her 19-year-old rival, Roman Kitt. At night, Iris writes to Forest using an old typewriter and, since he has no mailing address, slips the letters under her wardrobe door, after which they mysteriously disappear. Iris hopes that Forest is somehow receiving her correspondence, but in truth, Roman is. Moved by her words, Roman responds under a pseudonym, triggering a chain of life-altering events. Ross elevates predictable plotting with inventive worldbuilding, nuanced characterizations, and prose by turns dreamy and atmospherically tense. The result is an ardent romance and a harrowing exploration of war's horrors and heartbreaks. The protagonists cue as white. Ages 13–up.
Customer Reviews
4.5
Writing style is beautiful. Word choice, beautiful. Main characters, love them. Ending, wild.
Meh.
I just didn’t like this book. It was so slow and felt aimless at times. The end was the most enthusiastic and left me annoyingly curious of where author takes the duology. I can’t commit to book 2 though, so I may never know.
Good Read!
Based purely on writing style, Rebecca Ross gets an absolute 5/5. Her writing style is poignant, striking, and literally breathtaking at times. There were moments that I had to reread time and time again where I felt my chest swell with the beauty of the words (cheesy, but true!).
However, plot-wise, I would give this book a 3/5. It is a cute romance story that straddles the line between young adult romance and adventure, but I found the fantasy themes to be necessary for only one aspect: the letters. Otherwise, this book could’ve been entirely without fantasy theme and likely had the same effect. For that reason, the world-building felt flat and lifeless to me, and I couldn’t quite picture it in my head.
Overall, I still enjoyed this book and will read some of Ross’ other works - she is a beautiful writer.