It is a joy to give this book a well deserved five out of five stars. There is no doubt that this story is incredibly well written and well plotted; if this doesn’t rocket Rebecca Ross into every reader’s TBR list I would be surprised.

I do think the blurb is perhaps too simple, too short to encompass what this book truly is. The title and the book comparisons spin a story about an enemies to lovers romance set against a magical war. But this book is much more grounded and complex than those short words can describe. The bones of this book, giant gods and a war from the myths, could easily have been inflated into explosive action kaiju fighting and the humans trampled beneath. But that is not this book. This book is emotionally centered on humans and the human heart above all. It is more of a war book than I expected, with details that could be pulled from a BBC miniseries on WWI, but the peppering of magical elements kept me guessing at each twist. The book finds its roots in a character driven story; the early half of the book pulls you in with relatable, delightful characters that you root for. The emotional heart of this story is Iris and Kitt, and their chemistry is believable and lovely. This becomes important; with the heart of the book being the characters, it makes it all the more painful and heart wrenching when the greater looming plot, gods and wars, intrudes on the budding relationship.

I think this is a book better enjoyed the less you read in reviews. The plot beats are both as you expect and utterly unexpected. The ending left me with tears in my eyes. And, spoiler alert, the ending will leave you thinking about it for days, wondering and hoping what will happen to our beloved characters.

Overall, I think this was a super ambitious book with how it balanced the grounded “reality” of a war story, and the magical elements. The character focused heart of the book gave the story, and us the audience, a strong ground to stand on. I think some readers may not completely jive with the genre blending if they are strictly a fantasy reader or strictly a historical fiction reader, but I highly recommend giving this book a try to shake up your usual genre reading!

This book was wonderful! I have loved all of the authors books. I will recommend this book to everyone. I will purchase a physical copy when it releases!

This story has the same effect as seeing a glimmer of light whilst being held in a space immersed with seemingly impenetrable darkness.

Its amazing to me how RR has taken the horrors of war and crafted a narrative that guides the reader to focus on hope, new directions, and comfort. Just like that light. It’s really quite lovely, and its all because of the writing. there is such a light and ethereal quality to it, which helps lift the heavy and traumatic events of the plot. and the writing also really suits both Iris and Kitts personalities, as well. To me, this doesn't feel like an author telling a story about two characters, but rather two characters telling their own story themselves.

I am absolutely blown away by this book and know it’s one that I will come back to again and again.

A tremendous thanks to st. martins press/Wednesday books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I've liked everything Rebecca Ross has written so far and this is no different!
She really does take you on a journey. This novel transported me to the world she created, the time of war, along with the dueling gods. It was atmospheric and immersive. I loved the two leads. They came alive for me, and I could hear their voices in my head. I loved the banter and the back and forth, and the letters! Oh, the LETTERS! This definitely gave a You've Got Mail vibes, and I'm all for it. It also revived my interest in antique typewriters and I must have spent a good afternoon or two just browsing them. I may also have bought one (!!!) so yeah, that's a testament to the power of Ross' writing.

WWI vibes. Rivals-to-lovers and strangers-to-friends. Slow burn but with a suspenseful ending. There's so much to love about this book and everyone in it. I wish the POVs were a little more balanced (Iris gets way more than Roman) and the war between gods was a little more centered - I would call this a historical romance that happens to be set in a fantasy world. Also, whoever wrote the last line of the blurb needs a new job. This is not like Shadow and Bone, and it is not enemies to lovers. It's a great book, don't insult it by using the wrong phrases to describe it.

Once I saw “magic typewriters” in the description of the book, I knew I had to read “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross!

Iris Winnow is at the end of her rope. Her brother is missing in action, after he had enlisted to serve in the goddess’s army, and her her mother is drowning her sorrows over her missing son, Iris is the only one fighting to keep the family afloat on the home-front.

All of Iris’s hopes are pinned on her getting the coveted columnist position in her town’s prestigious newspaper, but she has fierce competition in the form of handsome but aloof Roman Kitt. The two are attracted to each other but have a difficult time reconciling those feelings with their rivalry.

When fate deals Iris another devastating hand, she decides to travel to the frontlines in search of her brother and to use her words to do more. She takes with her her magic typewriter, which connects her to someone Iris slowly begins to fall in love with as they exchange letters.

One of the last lines of this book’s description is “[an] epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.” That line succinctly describes Ross’s beautiful novel, “Divine Rivals.”

“Divine Rivals” is one of the most creative fantasy novels I’ve read in the past few years. The delicate blend of the in-universe mythology and subtle magic system with our world’s WWI was a fascinating idea and it worked. The use of WWI imagery helped to set a familiar scene for readers and also grounded the magic, giving it a unique sense of realism.

As someone who has recently done research on World War war correspondents for work, I was very impressed by how well Ross captured their experiences—even in a fictional world imbued with magic and gods. She shared with the reader what it was like for a civilian to see the action face by the soldiers in the trenches and was able to convey the horror of war without reveling in the gore and violence. The well-paced plot of the two magic typewriters connecting Iris and [redacted] was compelling enough that it created a beautiful love story in sharp contrast with such tragedy.

Ross has considerable writing talent to pull off “Divine Rivals” for not only did she have to write the book well enough to be published and win accolades—as it certainty will—she also had to develop multiple writing styles for her reporter main characters and write beautiful letters exchanged throughout the book by the two people in possession of magic typewriters. I admit that I was nervous the first few chapters of the book, because I wasn’t sure that having Ross could keep up writing for such gifted writers but i was soon embarrassed by my concern because she excelled at it.

Not only did Ross write letters and snippets of newspapers articles well, she also wrote her characters well. We spent the majority of the time split between Iris and Roman and get to know them very intimately. There could not be two people any more different, and yet…the connection between the two is transcendent. “Divine Rivals” is enemies-to-lovers done right. The pair have a fierce rivalry, but nothing so insurmountable as the true hatred many YA fantasy novelists write when they try the trope.

In truth, my only complaint with this book is that the sequel doesn’t come out until 2024! “Divine Rivals” was an amazing love story set against the harsh backdrop of a war between two gods. The interesting main characters, Iris and Roman, work past their rivalry and slowly begin to see beyond the walls each erected to defend themselves against more pain. As the reader watches the pair grow over the course of the book and the plot begin to unfold, they will stay up far past their bedtime to find out what happens next!

“Divine Rivals” is absolutely a five star read, so don’t wait to take it off your TBR!

Rebecca Ross has me for life after this book. I was a huge fan of River Enchanted and A Fire Endless. I am amazed at Ross's ability to create characters that just win your heart from the very beginning and her exquisite prose. I didn't think it would be possible to top that duology, but Divine Rivals is almost perfect. I was super intrigued by imagining a magical fantasy world with waring Gods with 1940's Agent Carter Vibes. Quite an original.concept. But the stars of this story are the main characters. It doesn't take long to fall in love with Roland and Iris. Enemies to lovers pen pals done romance done with slow burn pacing that made me unable to put this book down. I was riveted! Don't miss out on this wonderful book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for access to this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Divine Rivals takes place in a country besieged by two gods at war that humans are fighting on behalf of the gods.
Iris works at a newspaper and is desperately trying to win a position as a columnist while being pitted against Roman who is also up for the same position. Iris has not heard from her brother, Forest who is off at war, for at least 6 months. She begins to type letters to her brother and they magically disappear. One day she receives a letter in return and begins a correspondence with an unknown person that she believes might be from another time.
I absolutely loved this story. I think all of the characters were written well, I cared about all of them. It was a lovely read and such a sweet story to read. I am excited to read the second book in this duology and will definitely be buying a copy of this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martins Press/Wednesday books for the chance to read and provide an honest review of this book. I am giving it 5 stars as I loved it!

LOVE this one! Rebecca Ross is becoming a favorite author of mine. I dare say this is my favorite book I've read from her so far.
This book is set in the early 1900s with English vibes, but set in a fantasy world during a time when the gods are at war. The magic is this book is so fun! And Ross' beautiful writing makes it all the better!

Enemies to lovers, magic typewriters, an atmosphere evocative of WWI. I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I would like a bit more background on the gods and their war, perhaps we'll see some of that in Book Two? Overall, excellent.

Rebecca Ross just knows how to reach into your chest and grab you by the soul. This book was lyrical, haunting, and beautiful even as it deftly handles the horrors of war and loss. I loved Iris and Roman both individually and together, and the dual POV narrative braided them together so well that when that slow burn finally paid off I was on the edge of my seat. I loved how joy in moments of heartbreak and devastation were highlighted here along with the world building (so strong! I felt like I was there with them) and the role of storytelling and myths in propelling the narrative and pushing Iris and Roman together.

Once again, Rebecca Ross has completely blown me away. I read A River Enchanted in January of last year, and it ended up being my favorite book of the year. I feel like it’s gonna be the same with this beautiful book right here this year.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I had the chills throughout most of this book. I highlighted lines for the first time ever, because the writing is just gorgeous and I can’t even put into words how much I loved these characters. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK! I’ll be impatiently waiting for more in this series and will be ordering a physical copy as soon as it’s released.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital advanced reader copy.

Rebecca Ross has yet again enthralled me with one of her stories. She is fantastic at the slow burn and just a general slower pace that doesn’t become boring. While the setting and time are fictional, the tone gave me WWI vibes with the trenches and war front. The concept of a war between gods and the magic of the letters while still being very realistic in other ways gave it the story magical realism. The book is dual point of view between Roman and Iris.

Iris and Roman are quite a pair and the slow burn, epistolary build of their romance was so well done. The ending is gut wrenching and while I have some theories about where the author will take these two, I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here.

I received an advanced copy of the ebook and audiobook from NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

Romantic Content: Brief, vague open door

Rebecca Ross does it again- she has truly become one of my new favorite authors. I love the way she approaches enemies to lovers, which is gently, more grounded in growing understanding than true animosity. I’m glad that this will be a series because Ross has set a stage of personal stakes as well as divine stakes, human love against a Gods war, and the world deserves more time to unfold. Ross is an incredible writer. This is a great read for fans of found family, storytelling, letter writing, playing out like Ross’s other novel A River Enchanted, in a place that feels long ago but also out of time. It is a great read for lovers of fantasy and non-fantasy readers alike.

I fell in love with Rebecca Ross's writing early in 2022 when I read A River Enchanted. It became my first five start year of that year, and I've made it my duty to get through her older books and newer as this year moves forward. Well, I read Divine Rivals in less than twenty four hours, and I can honestly say it was worth the marathon. It's not that I didn't think Rebecca would wrench my soul in half, but I am still surprised with how much this book affected me.

For starters, Divine Rivals is a historical fantasy that's reminiscent of World War I. The gods of this world are warring, and the mortals are stuck in the crosshairs. Eighteen year old Iris Winnow dropped out of high school to start working at her local newspaper office, and now she's competing for the columnist promotion against her rival Roman Kitt. But at home Iris is relentlessly worrying about her alcoholic mother, and her brother Forest who ran off to war without any explanation and has not sent her a single letter like he promised to. Although, Iris continues to write him on her grandmother's typewriter, and those those letters mysteriously vanish—hopefully to her brother.

Well, the letters don't arrive to Forest and, instead, appear in the hands of Roman—said rival at her work.

Divine Rivals continues to unravel the story of Iris and Roman along with their mysteriously linked/ magical typewriters. Books about writing always snag my attention, but this one felt specifically raw and bittersweet. The love of not only the leads but their loved ones is a punch to the gut, and I saw my own family and friends reflected in the words Rebecca wrote. The yearning between Iris and Roman in particular was torturously beautiful, and I loved every minute of it. The ending for them both has left a hole in my heart, and Rebecca, it better get sewn up in the sequel. I don't think I can handle much more!

The most surprising part of this book actually lies with the setting. I read a lot of fantasy, but it is very rare to find a modern version of it that is not set within our own world. Divine Rivals specifically takes tons of inspiration from WWI, in my opinion, from the typewriting communication to trench/ gas warfare. The history buff within me was transferred back to my college days where I listened to lectures on the war, and I vividly saw all of the war scenes Iris experienced. There's something especially terrifying about WWI because of the gas and trench weaponry. When Rebecca describes the rolling gas coming towards us, my own throat felt pinched like a straw, mouth as dry as the Sahara. I'm both dreading and excited for Rebecca to show us more of this war in the sequel.

Now I saw Rebecca described this book as her first YA focusing on romance, even called it romantasy, and she excelled. I'm not a big romantasy fan, but if more of them are like this, then, I need to batten down the hatches and devour them ASAP. Divine Rivals was just a reminder that I'm a sucker for Rebecca's writing in any genres, any form. I'm really hoping the wait for this sequel will not be too terribly long because that ending, like I said before, HURT.

My only gripe with this book was the sprinkling of crumbs when it came to knowledge about the gods. Now I know based off of the end that Rebecca was withholding that information for a reason, but I was curious throughout the entire book leading up to that moment what the gods themselves had to do with this story. I'm VERY excited for the sequel just because the gods will finally be unveiled to us. It's gonna be great!

4.5 stars rounded up. I went into this expecting a cute rivals-to-lovers fantasy story and was not prepared for how emotionally devastating it would be (in the best possible way, of course). Rebecca Ross really takes the reader through every possible emotion, including hope, grief, longing, love, fear, a bit of laughter as well as sadness. It's a difficult balance to strike so that the darkness of the story doesn't become overwhelming, but Ross nails it.

There are so many layers to this story and each one is equally compelling. The story starts out with Iris and Kitt competing for the columnist position at their newspaper. Everyone around them realizes that they have feelings for each other, but neither recognizes it themselves. At night, Iris is struggling to deal with her alcoholic mother's downward spiral and "sends" letters to her brother -- a soldier in a war between two gods (similar to Greek mythology) who went missing -- by placing the letters in her wardrobe where they magically disappear. Those letters end up in Kitt's room through magic that is later revealed. Kitt starts to write back without revealing his identity, and the two begin to fall for each other based on their words.

The story shifts dramatically when Iris experiences a traumatic upheaval (to avoid spoilers) and decides to become a war correspondent to hopefully locate her missing brother. At the front lines, Iris learns the realities of wartime life and sees firsthand the impact it has on those involved. The traumas Iris and Kitt experience as wartime correspondents, both from their personal experiences as well as the soldiers and affected civilians around them, are counterbalanced by the seeds of hope that they see in the world. The powerlessness of those in the path of the war between two gods who don't care about the fate of the humans caught in the middle becomes clear, so they learn quickly that they must embrace happiness where they can find it. Although this is loosely inspired by WWI (trench warfare, etc.), the themes here resonate in any time period.

Fair warning: The story ends of an extremely dramatic and gutwrenching cliffhanger. I can't wait to read what happens next and am so sad we have to wait another year to find out!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

I love Rebecca Ross ability to tell a story and have you completely immersed in the world and it feels familiar even though you have never been there before.
This book felt familiar but not like something I recently picked up and rear.
I loved the whit and charm both Iris and Kitt had. I loved the side characters and how they started developing.
I am very excited to see where this duology leads and am so excited to learn more about these Gods and their myths.
I also NEED a magical typewriter  asap!

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley. But all the opinions are my own.

WOOW!!! I adore Divine Rivals. I absolutely love Rebecca Ross's books. I have not found one of her books that I didn't fall in love with. Just for a short summary. Divine Rivals is about two rivaling journalists. That is all I am going to say because there is so much to this world and the characters I really don't want to chance giving anything away.

My heart is completely crushed because this definitely will have a sequel and I will have to wait for it. I cannot stop thinking about this book or the characters. The world was so fleshed out and very unique. I feel like this is such a fresh book. I haven't read anything like it in a long time. I do have to say I got lost in the atmosphere and I am not mad about it.

This is one of those books you just go along for the ride and just enjoy what is happening. I will recommend this book to everyone. You need to pick this up! NEEED!

I will buy this instantly and if there is special editions I will buy them too. I think this is going to be my top read of 2023 and it is just February.

I could not put down this enchanting yet heart wrenching book!

It started off a little slow but I just knew it was going to be great by the writing style. The characters are rich and I found myself connecting with them right away.

I would recommend Divine Rivals to anyone who loves a slow build love story and historical fiction. I kept thinking this was real life!

Divine Rivals is a historical fantasy based in the fictional city of Oath. Though a time frame is not explicitly set, we appear to be taken back to the mid 1900’s, where we find Iris Winnow saying goodbye to her older brother Forest who has been called by the goddess Enva to come fight for her against the god of the Underworld, Dacre. Missing her brother fiercely, Iris tries to get back into the swing of things working for the local paper. She seeks relief from her overwhelming emotions by irritating her professional enemy, Roman C. Kit, as well as writing letters to her brother that mysteriously disappear when she places them in their shared wardrobe. Iris assumes the letters could be magically finding their way to Forest… after all, they live in a world where magic can be found tucked away in old homes and dark corners, but she never receives a reply. Not until, after having sent several letters through the wardrobe for weeks, she gets back a disturbing response: “I am not Forest.” Rather than becoming afraid, Iris is more curious as to who she could have been writing to all this time, and why they chose now to admit they are not who she thought.

The two strangers pass their typewriter correspondence back and forth, finding comfort in each other's words during this time of brewing war. However, unforeseen circumstances take place and drive Iris to make the rash decision to give up her dreams of making columnist at the paper and run off to write headlines on the warfront. She says goodbye to her mysterious penpal, whom she has grown to care for, and leaves Oath behind. But, she will find that some problems and some people cannot be left behind so easily, and they will follow her to the battlefield.

I enjoyed this first in Rebecca Ross’ upcoming series Iris at the Front, and though Iris is our main character, I have to say that I became more attached to Roman’s story. I am looking forward to the next book!