Absolutely yes! I really enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were fun, it held my interest, and provided an escape from reality. I would definitely recommend!

This book is exactly why I love to read. Rebecca Ross has conjured such real characters, and her beautiful writing drew me in from the start.

Divine Rivals is like a book out of time. Mixing the mid-twentieth century with lore, it feels truly magical to read. Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt work at the same newspaper and are quite literally each other’s competition and rivals. They come from two different walks of life, but are drawn together by higher forces when the letters Iris writes to her soldier brother somehow end up in Roman’s hands. One day, Roman decides to respond and thus my absolute favorite trope: anonymous penpals, is born.

I could not put this book down. It has consumed me. For the first time ever, I’m sad to have read this early, because now I have to wait even longer for the second book. I will be thinking of Roman and Iris every day until then.

Rebecca Ross truly has a way with words. Her writing is so romantic and lush. Her world building is just beautiful and her characters are so rich and real. I get lost in all her stories and devour them in a day. Divine rivals is no different. If you like folklore, beautiful prose, war and romance, you won’t want to miss this one.

I really enjoyed this one!

Having adored Rebecca's other books, of course I jumped at the chance to dive into this one as soon as I could, and it was as addicting as the rest. I wasn't sure what to expect; I admit I hadn't even bothered to read the premise, but as usual, I was pleasantly surprised.

I will say-it took me a while to feel settled. It seems like we're in a 1920-1940 setting, which I struggled to pick up on in the first pages. I couldn't tell how modern it was until little tid bits of world building became more obvious. That aside, I loved being thrust right into the rivalry between Iris and Roman. Basically, they are rival writers at a newspaper, both clamoring for a promotion, to which there's only one spot. Delicious! Though,I wish the hate-to-love aspect had been drawn out a bit more. I also adored Iris as a main character, especially with how hard her life was (and how it reminded me of some aspects of my own). I think readers will find her highly relatable.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we dove into the war. I have some mixed feelings, in that the lore of the warring gods felt very unexplained. It took until almost half the book to even get a description of them, and I'll admit I'm still quite confused as to the political landscape and how these recently resurrected gods got people to fight for them in this manor. Even so, though, once Iris arrives on the frontline, I felt quite gripped, even more so when you-know-who shows up after. Definitely tense, maybe more so than I would like (the reason I avoid war movies - my heart can't take death on that scale) - and this definitely had WW1 vibes. Still, the romance that blossomed amidst it all was quite lovely, and after the end, I'll definitely have to pick up the next book!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Oh my heart! Do you ever read a book and you're mad that you read it because it was so perfect, but now it's over and you have to wait ages for the sequel? All I can think about is how MUCH I loved Iris and Roman, how they made me smile, and laugh, and cry, and just feel so many feelings. This is both a tough book about war and loss and heartbreak, but it's also a freaking adorable "You've Got Mail" style romance with magic typewriters. Becca Ross is just a magician with words and I really can't emphasize how many times my heart was squeezed in both delight and anguish throughout the story. Everyone should just read literally everything she writes at this point.
I'll just be over here, waiting impatiently for the sequel, yelling at everyone to read this book now so they can wait on tenterhooks with me.

Iris Winnow loves her brother more than anything. When he enlists, Iris spends every waking moment worried about his safety. Even though she hasn’t heard from him in months, she writes him letters, letters that she slips under her wardrobe, letters that disappear each time, like magic.

Iris spends her days working at the Oath Gazette where she and her rival, Roman C. Kitt, are both in the running for columnist. Iris does all she can to earn the coveted post, channelling all her energy into her work. But soon she is distracted when a letter appears under her wardrobe door. A letter that is not from her brother. Iris discovers that what links them is not the wardrobe but a very special, magical typewriter, of which only 3 were ever made. Iris exchanges letters with the mystery pen pal all while her life falls apart around her. She makes the difficult decision to head to the front as a war correspondent and she is furious when her rival follows along after her.

Words cannot express how much I adored Rebecca Ross’ Divine Rivals. I haven’t been so enamoured by or devastated by a book since I first read Clockwork Angel twelve years ago. I am looking forward to reading more about Iris and Roman in the future. This was indeed the right book at the right moment.

Please note, I will post this to my instagram and amazon review pages on publication day. It is already on Goodreads.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Divine Rivals" by Rebecca Ross
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
✈️ to: a fantasy world
TWs: war

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and have not been able to start anything else since. "Divine Rivals" completely took me by surprise me and threw me for a loop. It's an unlikely enemies-to-lovers story about two competing journalists who communicate via magical typewriters set during a war between gods. This is a truly one-of-a-kind tale that has very common/popular tropes, i.e. enemies-to-lovers (as I mentioned), as well as office romance/competing for a promotion, penpals, and found family.

Sometimes the best books require the simplest reviews: I loved "Divine Rivals" and think you may too. It's subtle, lyrical, memorable, and I would already bet that it will be one of my top books of 2023. Read it, read it, read it!

This book started off a bit slow and it took me a while to grasp the concept, but once it picked up I really enjoyed it!

*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of Divine Rivals in exchange for a fair and honest review*
Divine Rivals was absolutely... divine! This book was charming, witty, completely captivating, and superbly written! Ross drew me in early, sunk her claws in, and did not let go! I am days out from finishing this book and it is still impacting my thoughts and feelings.
This was an enchanting tale about Iris. A girl that was forced into womanhood due to a series of unfortunate events that life dealt her. However, Iris met these challenges head-on with stoicism and grace. During this time she discovers magic in writing letters to a mysterious stranger/pen pal. This unlikely relationship helped her to find her true self and discover a courage buried within her to change the course of her life from that point on.
The characters were incredibly well-developed. I fell in love with Iris and her wit, stoicism, and heroism. She was so very relatable and my heart ached for her and her hapless circumstances. I became enamored with Carver and even Roman eventually. I love the POV for both of our main characters and the peak into their lives and innermost thoughts and feelings.
While the world-building was good it fell slightly shy of great. I could tell this was loosely based in a British-esque setting with strong WWI vibes. My only real mark against this book was the lack of elaboration on their gods, customs, beliefs, etc. This book was spun to contain magic but there was very little to speak of. I was expecting a bit more. Otherwise, I have no real complaints against this novel.
This was a truly well-written, joyous, gut-wrenching, absolutely emotional tale. I am a bit upset with myself for not realizing it was a part 1 before devouring it and am EAGERLY anticipating its sequel. Bravo, Ross. You have gained a fan!

Divine Rivals was a surprising masterpiece. Every part of the plot meshed so well. The magic woven into the plot easily could have become messy and confusing and taken away from Iris's story but it didn't, it was perfectly balanced. Iris and Roman were such great characters too. The tension and the rivals to lovers was well-paced and the pyseudo-WW1 setting worked well to stoke the flames of their affection. I was worried I wasn't going to like this after DNF'ing A River Enchanted, but that worry was for nothing.

I can't wait to read the sequel and I'm thoroughly upset that I have to wait until 2024 for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

10000/ 5 stars
This book made me ache. It's full of beautiful prose, atmospheric descriptions, interesting characters, and gut-wrenching descriptions of war and the cost of war. Everything is mixed with a little myth and magic, creating the perfect storm of a romance story that has left me dying for more.
I had no idea when I started this book just how much I would love it. From the very first pages, Iris and Roman buried themselves in my heart and wouldn't let me go.
Things I loved: the enemies/ rivals to lovers romance. The You've Got Mail storyline with a twist. The little hints of myth and magic that tied together the world. The characters. All of them. The plot, which at first seems like it's going in one direction, then starts to twist and turn and change while dragging you along for the ride.
The absolute worst part of this book is that I have to wait forever for book two. This book, though, creates a great foundation and makes me itch to see where the story is going to go in the future.
So, in short, I loved this book, and I want more. Immediately going to preorder a hard copy so I can reread it forever and ever!

I was very unsure of this book at first. While I was initially enchanted by the concept in the blurb, the beginning pages didn’t hook me. I’m glad I stuck with it—I grew to love Iris, and I couldn’t help but adore Roman. The overall plot (warring gods) set the tone for the novel, sure, but Iris’ connection to that felt distant. She was just a random girl, but there were so many hints that “random” wasn’t in the cards, and I was a little bothered with the lack of *more* in that story arc, but I’m guessing book two will play into that a lot more than this volume did. It’s a solid story, and I’m looking forward to the next installment!

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for an eARC of this novel. Opinions are my own.

Wow, a full 5 stars. I absolutely loved this book. Such a beautiful world, and great for fans of Ross’s A River Enchanted because she is just an exquisite writer. Personally, I like it even better. Already rabid to get my hands on the sequel to this.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this beauty!
Tropes: Witty, witty banter, rivals to lovers, workplace rivals romance, guy falls first,
Double POV (I didn’t mind as much), slow burn, swoon-worthy romance
I was Entranced ✨with the romance, like I love these tropes. This book was a
mysterious dark historical fantasy, with monsters and war wrapped in a historical era.
I love the romance: he noticed everything about her, was possessive in regards to her health🥹 I was obsessed with the lap scene, the often staring (sorry, glaring), and petty workplace rivalry lmao.

Words literally fail me at the brilliance of this novel - but I will try. I liked Rebecca Ross' previous book,, but this one was stunning. I believe this one is her best yet! What a ride! An excellent, emotional, thrilling book by one of the top young adult authors (in my opinion), but anyone of any age would enjoy the twists and turns, the enemies-to-lovers romance, and the brilliant original plot. Excellent world-building, and wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. I highly recommend this author and all of her other book as well I have read have been nothing less than fantastic. She is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to own this novel in print. To Netgalley and the publisher, I cannot thank you enough. Twenty stars!

LISTEN UP FOLKS. I KNEW I LOVED REBECCA ROSS BUT THIS LITERALLY BLEW MY MIND.

From literally page 1, I was hooked on Iris as a main character - she's smart, brave, independent and loves her family. Her budding career as a journalist is really all she has left after her brother falls out of touch while fighting a war, and her mother descends into alcoholism.

She has what is very clearly going to be a rivals to lovers relationship with a man vying for the same promotion as her, and their banter and camraderie....INCREDIBLE.

The backdrop of this story is the war in their world: the gods, buried 500 years ago, are back and two of them are calling human armies to fight. The mythology is explained so beautifully with the actual stories told to us in a non-boring way (I often struggle with these)

Iris ends up as a war correspondent, and the way that war is shown is so heart-breaking and beautiful. It shows the perils, the bravery, and everything in between.

Every single word of this book was perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this one! This is the second book I've read by Ross, and I loved them both so much (shout out to A River Enchanted, if you haven't read that one yet then do it immediately). I can't wait to pick up more from her backlist. I was so excited to get an arc of this book because the premise had me sold. It's a great historical fantasy -- World War I-esque but with warring gods. It's got You've Got Mail vibes, but instead of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks communicating via slow dial-up internet, you've got the main character Iris communicating to a mystery person first from her bedroom and then from near the frontlines of the war via magical typewriters. Swoon. However, as Iris becomes more attached to her mystery penpal, she also clashes and grows closer to her work nemesis. The slow burn romance in this book was so fantastic. Ross also did a wonderful job of creating so much tension on the page in all of the war scenes, especially when Iris and Roman are at the front. It reminded me a lot of the movie 1917. I have never had such an engrossing but stressful movie-watching experience in my life. Ross did a good job replicating that in this book. I need the second book in this series now!

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 has been on the front lines for six months and she hasn't heard anything from him. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish when letters start being replied to things start to get interesting.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of Divine Rivals in exchange for my free and honest review.

This is a story of letters and falling in love. There is a war and its effects are felt but the story focuses on the letters written on magical typewriters and the people who wrote them. Following Iris

The connected typewriter storyline was one of my favorite parts of this book. A long lasting friendship that managed to transcend generations and get letters passed no matter where the recipient happens to be.

I wanted more of the gods and they mythology of this world. We got a few myths but not nearly as much as I wanted. Given how this book leaves off I'm certain (at least hoping very hard) that book two we will page time for the gods.

4/5 ✨

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

So i didn’t know if I was going to like this book at first as o was a little thrown off by the reporter and journalist part of it. It does feel like a very 1940s atmosphere book. And a lot of the war scenes do seem like something of World War I and ii. Expect in this book the world powers are replaced with gods and the small myths we hear about them throughout the book.

I enjoyed this story and got through it really fast for my schedule! I enjoyed the romance aspect of this book and i enjoyed the small mystery of Dacre and enva throughout.

The only thing I wish we got more of was the gods and more of that. I did like the Dacre chapter at the end and I feel like next book I will get my wish of more gods and meeting enva officially. I kinda feel like divine rivals will see our two lovers against each other on the opposite gods side aka divine rivals. I guess we will see! I can’t wait for book two!

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books/St Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If there is one book you need to pre-order it's Divine Rivals!

I have fallen in love with the way Rebecca Ross tells her stories. Divine Rivals is a gorgeously written story with a perfect rivals to lovers storyline. Iris and Roman are my new favorite bookish couple. The tension, the passion, the very sweet moments between them are all chef's kiss. Their love is tender and beautiful, I've swooned many times.

"...Your grief will never fully fade:it will always be with you - a shadow you carry in your soul - but it will become dimmer as your life becomes brighter..."

Inbetween the swooning and falling for both Iris and Roman, my heart was also breaking. Rebecca Ross does not shy away from the war between gods. Iris and Roman start off as rivals at a newspaper company but when Iris looses a family member she leaves the town of Oath to become a war correspondent. Iris is no longer sheltered from the war as she helps comfort injured soldiers and writes letters to their loved ones.

I can absolutely see Divine Rivals being optioned as a film or mini series in the future. Rebecca Ross's writing instantly transports you to a different world. You can feel the adrenaline of being on the front lines with Iris, you can hear the type writers clicking away, and you can see the devastation Dacre's following leaves behind.

I did not want to put my kindle down to do mundane tasks when I had this extraordinary tale in my hands. I could not get enough and I'm so glad "Iris at the Front" will have a sequel.

"He would always be grateful for his decision that night... when he decided to write her back."

There is a "You've Got Mail" element that I loved! I adore the film so whenever it is used in my new favorite reads, I love it even more. Iris writes letters to her brother, who is stationed far away. The letters contain her every day life and her ups and downs. After a few months, a letter appears from under her wardrobe door but not from her brother. She then begins a back and forth conversation with a mystery person who has been receiving her letters.

"Perhaps it begins with one person. Someone you trust. You remove a piece of armor for them; you let the light stream in, even if it makes you wince..."

The character development is on point, the world building is strong, and my emotions are constantly scrambled in such a good way.

I highly recommend if you've watch Violet Evergarden on Netflix. It's one of my favorite animes and also has a beautiful, heartbreaking story.

Rebecca Ross is an auto-buy author and, with every book that comes out, her stories get better and better. I can't wait for everyone to experience Divine Rivals in April 2023!

5 stars and beyond.