There are so many ways to start this review, and I’m not exactly sure how I want to.

First, let me say that I am Ross’ biggest fan. I am obsessed with Dreams Lie Beneath and Sisters of Sword and Song. Incredible books with unmatched voice and lyrical prose.

I went into this book with the knowledge of the insane hype around the series. You know it’s going to be amazing when Fairyloot editions are hard to come by, because no one wants to part with their edition. So I expected the book to be better than her previous, which just didn’t seem to be the case.

I’m happy she got the recognition she deserves, but I think the recognition should’ve come for her older works rather than this one. She was overdue, and I think if we revisited her older books, we would hype them up more than this duology.

That being said, it did some things super well. As always, Ross is a master of language and used that to elevate the plot with beautiful descriptions.
The idea of pairing gods with WWI was very lovely war-esque, and I felt that the mythology behind it was very well developed (although it was lacking in the story, in my opinion — dive into the mythology more for us!) However, I just don’t buy the whole enemies to lovers arc (they were barely enemies and then immediately got married???), and I hate the memory loss trope. It just feels like it undoes everything that the writer accomplished in the few hundred pages prior. The romance was very beautiful when it touched upon grief and comforting those who have been through trauma and loss.

So overall, I needed more tension (or us not to call it enemies to lovers), more mythology, and more tender moments between the heroine and her love interest.

This was such a beautifully written book, and Iris and Roman will definitely go down as one of my favorite literary couples ever. I loved reading the letters between them, and there was the perfect amount of yearning.

This would be a good book for anyone looking to dip their toe into fantasy. There's no complicated world-building, as it's basically an alternative World War I with gods. I'd also say that it's in the upper end of YA, so it never felt juvenile in any way. Overall, an excellent read that I think could appeal to many types of readers.

Excellent first book in a new series that both YA readers and older readers will enjoy. While I do wish the romance in the story was not so predictable, I was able to look past that to just enjoy the story.

I almost cried just from the prologue of this book, so it was a bold start. In Divine Rivals, Iris Winnow sees her older brother, Forest, off at the train station. He's enlisted in a war between two gods that she fears he won't return from. Forest made her promise two things, but to keep one, she must break the other. An avid student, Iris drops out of school in her final year to take care of their mother, who's drowning her grief and worry in alcohol and cigarettes. She's relieved when her entry in an essay competition gets her noticed by The Oath Gazette. A job there allows her to barely get by, but the electricity is still off at home, she skips meals to stretch her money, and her mom is selling things out from under her to maintain her addictions. Iris finds herself in intense competition with the other newest hire for a single columnist job. Roman Kitt is all she despises-- wealthy, arrogant, and talented. He's also receiving Iris' mail.

Let's back up. Iris has been writing letters to her brother, and her apparently magic wardrobe has been whisking them away... just not to Forest. They arrive in a second wardrobe across the city-- the one belonging to one Roman C. Kitt. He recognizes that they must be coming from Iris from the details she shares but at first declines to announce himself and then, when he does, doesn't reveal his identity. It begins a pen pal friendship, a place where both can spill their feelings without fear of repercussion and heal their wounds by feeling heard and less alone.

As Iris digs into what's happening on the war front, something the politicians in Oath claim is distant and unimportant, she wonders if the Oath Gazette is complicit in hiding what's going on in the West. Her brother was called by a goddess to fight, but who is the enemy? And what power does he have to bring to bear?

I love the old-timeyness of everything as people clack away on typewriters, take the tram, and curl their hair with rollers. It fits the newsie vibe. The reporters call each other by their last name, which makes it all the more striking when Roman switches to calling her Iris in intense moments. It also makes it a great joke when Iris insists on using unflattering adjectives to take the place of the "C." on Roman's byline.

Ok, but what about the romance? I believe it's the book's main draw, but it's a bit... rushed. I was promised rivals-to-lovers, and it lasted about 30 seconds along with the typewritten correspondence. The banter is definitely there. It's just a bit instalove for me even though they eventually have real things to connect them. Other relationships stand out, particularly Iris' familial bonds, stressed though they are. Roman's are more uniformly toxic. In terms of found family and friendship plots, those are just as rushed as the romance.

In terms of the war message... I'm not sure yet what the intention is. I think it would take reading the complete duology to know what, if anything, the author wants to say about violence, war effort, and the history of world wars that served as her inspiration. And maybe the answer is nothing-- it could be as simple as providing a high-intensity backdrop.

I loved the author's adult fantasy duology. I just think this dive into ya left behind a lot of the nuance and flavor I loved in that context. YA romance readers may find this more enjoyable since it hits a lot of genre notes. I can see why this is a popular book. It's just not ~quite~ my cup of tea. Thanks to Wednesday for my copy to read and review!

I am not immune to the hype, it seems. Rebecca Ross' writing in this is beautiful, and I loved the mix of World War I style world with the fantasy of a gods' war and a magical typewriter. Iris and Roman's dynamic - both the rivals aspect and the secret confidant aspect - were so well fleshed out, and beautifully done. The narrative did drag just a bit in the middle leading to the high stakes ending that brought it down from a five to a four in my personal enjoyment, but I'll definitely be picking up the sequel and anything that Ross writes in the future (plus, her backlist as well).

What a beautiful, historical fantasy story! I enjoyed the elements of the magical typewriters and rivals-to-lovers romance. I am very excited to see more of the war between the gods and the lovely atmospheric writing.

A great book, I loved the concept. It felt very "You've Got Mail" meets a magical WWII. I love a good enemies to lovers, and I love a good he falls first, so this was all around a good time for me!

I read this a while ago, and I can't actually remember what happened. I have no interest in reading the second book. I think the plot just took too long to develop.

I'll be honest, this starts ridiculously slow. And a little weird. I was caught off guard by the time and place and the bits about enchantments and warring gods and music and what not.

But then, as one does, I acclimated. I got to know the setting and the characters. And it all fell into place.

Iris and Roman now have such a dear place in my heart. I was initially sooooo annoyed that Iris didn't share her struggles with anyone, but with his perceptive nature, and the tidbit of them writing letters to each other, he was there to be a support and provide comfort as best he could.

The slow progression of their feelings? The way he FOLLOWED HER TO THE FRONTLINES TO ENSURE HER SAFETY. MADE SURE TO BUILD HER STAMINA THROUGH EXERCISE? THE WAY THIS MAN WAS OBSESSED WITH HER. THAT ENDING SCENE IN THE FIELD? OH MY GOD. Rip my heart out and stomp on it, would you? That would hurt less.

I don't think this would be for everyone. It's a little funky, heavy on war politics, and out of pocket, but still a thoroughly enjoyable story for me.

I enjoyed this one. I loved the characters especially the main female character. I think the storyline was also very intriguing.

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would! I ended up listening to it, and you CANNOT go wrong with this format - the accents are gorgeous, the reading is crisp at times, dreamy at others, and everything in between! Hugely recommend.

5/5 stars! I'm not breaking new ground here- everyone loves this book, and for good reason. Rebecca Ross writes romantic chemistry with such ease, she'll have you falling in love yourself. The underpinnings of hope and yearning in this one made it compulsively readable!

There isn't a couple more perfect than Roman and Iris. What a fun and unique enemies to lovers story, filled with tender words and the perfect amount of romance. I loved watching (reading?) them come together to conquer the evil god.

Am I getting to finally write this review very late? Like nearly a year and a half late? Yes.
Did this book reach it’s grubby little paws into my chest and take over my heart? Yes.
So here is a vastly under-needed book review for a story that went viral, but one that I still think is worth sharing.

Rebecca Ross has been an auto-buy author for me since I fell in love with her Queen’s Rising series. Which while the series came out in 2018, I didn’t find it until 2021 when I was starting to dive into audiobooks deeply–and when I started falling very behind on blogging. I loved the premise behind it but I loved her writing even more. Fast forward to when a friend was able to read Divine Rivals early, wasn’t legally allowed to tell us about it, but all she said was that it was one of the best stories she’s read… I was on tenterhooks waiting for it to be released.

And then… I got approved for the ARC, right before I moved, right before I got my new job. I started reading, got about 80 pages in, and knew it was going to emotionally devastate me. I didn’t have time on that trip to read the rest of the book at once, so I set it down. And after my life finally got settled again I was so intimidated by it, by the beautiful editions that arrived, I told myself to wait for the perfect moment. Friends I don’t know who else does this, but while I fully believe that the story will come to you at the right time, waiting for the perfect moment for anything is just depriving yourself. So after a friend came over and I sent her home with one of my copies. I finally just pulled it down and read it. All in one sitting. I think I read it in less than three hours? Or maybe just over. However, I was obsessed.

While I knew it was going to be vaguely magical realism, I didn’t realize quite how full of magic this story would be, how the world is full of magic, how the gods interacting with the war is much more real than I’d expected. Additionally for a war book… I don’t know what I was expecting, but the grittiness that this has was not it. Even though I’ve read books where she’s written battle scenes, this had a much different feel. Overall while I’d say the setting is dark, it’s not desolate. But the grittiness, the striving, the struggle of the characters bleeds through. While the setting is such a huge part of the story, at it’s core this is a love story and that gives the tale more whimsy, more hope, and I ate it up like it was a pan of brownies.

I loved the determination to prove themselves that both Roman and Iris have. I loved getting to see from both of their eyes and follow their relationship from rivals to lovers. The letters. TEAM THE LETTERS. They were everything. I am a sucker for an epistolary, for any kind of ephemera. So to have it within the text to be formatted so beautifully that you feel like you are reading over the character’s shoulders? Amazing.

Fair warning. It ends on a cliff hanger, and I was not ready. My heart was not ready for being crumpled up and then stretched out again. I immediately called my friend to freak out to her. I then went back and wrote down three pages of quotes that just hit my heart. I was already going to be a goner for this story but, not am I uniquely able to cosplay Iris as her features nearly match mine, but we find out in the story that her two favorite flowers are Lilacs and Irises… which are my favorite flowers and always have been. So this review of sheer gushing is probably a bit biased, but really when a book touches you this deeply, you need to share it with everyone else.

I've been sitting on this one for a while but omfg??? WHAT A RIDE. This book was absolutely amazing. I don't think I can actually put it in words. You just have to read this and then immediately grab the sequel because that cliffie will not let you rest in peace till you have!

4 star read

What?! The ending was brutal! I am eagerly anticipating the next novel.

I was able to envision most of the settings without too much description, which is something I enjoy. Too many 'flowery' words turns me off. I felt the cold. The desolation. The trenches of war. The beautiful scenery on the hill.

I did feel like the novel started out a bit too slow. The abrupt cliff hanger ending was rather undesirable as well since I don't care too much for novels that end like this just to get you to read the next one in the series. I have to reread to remember everything that happened in the first novel. And there are so many books to read out there, so it's hard for me to do a reread.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

From Goodreads:

This one was a DNF for me. I really tried, but over halfway in, and I'm falling asleep during the war with hellhounds bursting out? It was like reading another historical fiction about WWII (which I won't read any more historical fiction books about the war), but let's add some mythological element to it.

I know there are a lot of people that love this series, but I really didn't like the war element to this story. I think the market oversaturated us with war stories. I just don't want to read about wars anymore.

I am super late reviewing this title, but I just finished it this weekend. The characters are a delight! I loved how the story developed and even the cliff-hanger wasn't as bad as I thought. One benefit to being late is the second title is already out. I'm on a waiting list for it and can't wait to dig in!

An absolutely, breathtaking, tragic masterpiece...I’ll be feeling this one for a longggg time. I cannot WAIT to dive into book two!!

By turns spooky, otherworldly, and delightful, this is hard to categorize--a romance, a myth, and war story. Highly recommend.