💭 𝕄𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:

This book was absolutely beautiful 🥺 it was full of heartache and relentless hope!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but I was so pleasantly surprised! It reads more like WW1 fiction rather than fantasy but I loved it! I love how Rebecca sprinkled in bits of magic here and there.

I adored the characters in this story but especially love the main characters Iris and Roman 🥰 their unique connection was so perfect! 💌 The romance between them unfolds beautifully. Their relationship from rivals to lovers was done so well and I was completely invested in their happy ending 🥺

The books ends with a huge cliffhanger 😩 and I am impatiently awaiting the release of Ruthless Vows I cannot wait!! This has made it to my top 5 favorite books of the year!

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the eARC of this book!

Rebecca Ross is an auto-buy author for me. I have loved all her books, but this one. The writing was STILL beautiful, but I didn’t care for the characters. I was disappointed in part of the story-line and uninterested in it’s development. I am not sure if book two will redeem this story or if this particular duology is just a miss for me. I will continue to read her future books though.

Honestly this was a very sweet, beautifully written, character driven, rivals to lovers fantasy romance that was just a touch too slow for me. There’s definitely action but it ultimately feels like very little actually happens. Mysteries are only half explained and I had so many questions that pulled me out of the story. The writing is excellent and I’m definitely excited to read more from Rebecca Ross but unfortunately this one just didn’t quite hit for me through no fault of its own.

Rebecca Ross' writing is always gorgeous and lyrical, so it makes sense that her latest book is an ode to love letters, journalism, mythology—all kinds of writing that can connect people across space and time.

Divine Rivals is compelling as both a war story and a love story. The plot moved pretty slowly at times, but the ending pushed everything forward with a violent shove. I can already tell that the sequel is going to be insanely good. 4/5 stars.

Because the fantasy elements beyond Iris and Roman's magical correspondence are not as delved into, it feels more like a historical fiction novel. We hear about the gods and the story behind their conflict, but not much more. Although integrated well, sometimes the mention of the gods felt like a reminder that this was also a fantasy novel. Ross sets the groundwork here, but I am hoping the gods play a more integral role in the future.

While I was disappointed by this, it was overshadowed by how achingly beautiful the story is. The romance was the highlight for me. It is an utterly sweet one. I was taken in by their feelings for each other as their relationship transitioned from that of rivalry to love. It was filled with romantic tension and heartbreak. Ross left me completely distraught by the end. I cannot wait to read the next book.

Read this if you are a fan of:
✨️ rivals to lovers
✨️ letters and anonymous correspondences
✨️ historical fiction with tinges of fantasy

OMG – I only wish I had read this book the moment it was dropped into my hands because I had no idea what a treasure has been waiting on me.

FIRST OF ALL – “You’ve Got Mail” is one of my favorite movies of all time and this book gave me the most euphoric feeling of nostalgia while winding me through new myths, a magical world and Iris’ journey through grief and love. I don’t even understand how the author managed to incorporate so many different elements while weaving together a gorgeous story, but the bar has been set even higher than I previously held it for YA Fantasy.

- Rivals -to-Lovers
- A war among gods
- Magical typewriters
- Found family

A standing ovation for Roman Carter Kitt as we crown him the best of YA book boyfriends.
Excuse me while I go buy the rest of Rebecca Ross’ books and cry in a corner until Ruthless Vows is released and in my hands.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins’ Press / Wednesday Books for an E-ARC of this delightful book.

5⭐️

<b><i>Do you ever feel as if you wear armor, day after day? That when people look at you, they see only the shine of steel that you’ve so carefully encased yourself in?</b></i>

Iris’s brother, Forest, heard the song of the goddess Enva and enlisted in the war against the god Dacre. Iris promises Forest that she will take care of their mother and finish her schooling, and Forest promises to return home soon. 5 months later, Forest has still not returned from the war, their mother has taken to drinking, and Iris has dropped out of school and is working at the Oath Gazette, competing with Roman Kitt for the columnist position. The two rivals butt heads often in their efforts to outcompete the other.

Iris attempts to contact Forest via letter, but has never received a response. Her letters magically disappear in her wardrobe, and she blindly hopes that Forest is receiving them until one night she finally receives a letter in response that says “This is not Forest.” Iris continues to send the stranger letters through the wardrobe, and the two become fast friends. When Iris’s world is turned upside down, she bids her penpal farewell and sets off to be a war correspondent in hopes of finding Forest. Iris realizes that it wasn’t the wardrobe that was passing her letters to her mysterious penpal, but the typewriter that was passed down to her by her grandmother, and Iris continues to send her new friend letters.

This book is everything and I am <i>obsessed</i>. Rebecca Ross is so good at bringing her characters to life that I was legitimately sobbing by 20% into this book because I had already connected with the characters so profoundly. The magical typewriters, the letter writing between strangers (or so Iris believes), and the enemies to lovers in this are spectacular. I especially love Roman’s point of view and I think it adds so much to the story. I was on an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish and I need the next book desperately. Unsurprisingly, this book has become one of my all time favorites and Iris and Roman will live rent-free in my head forever.

<b><i>It’s odd, how quickly life can change, isn’t it? How one little thing like typing a letter to a stranger can open a door you never saw. A transcendent connection. A divine threshold.</b></i>

∞ / 5 stars.

if i could say only one thing about this book it is that it is truly, and undeniably, one of the greatest books i have ever read. i have not felt a love for a story like i did with this since i read caraval for the first time, and if you follow me on insta or know me irl, you know how much i love and continuously find ways to talk about my love for caraval. the fact that these books stand eye to eye with each other for me, while being so entirely different from each other, is a testament to how much affection i have for this book.

what i wouldn’t give to read it again for the first time; to experience the love and heartbreak i went through along with Iris and Roman; to witness their story unfold in ways i never could have predicted. i would give anything.

the true tragedy, you may wonder, is that i will have to wait over a year to read its sequel.

Epic, beautifully written with engaging characters. This novel is an absolute page turner with an ending I didn't see coming. Divine Rivals was hard to put down, impactful moving story.

Rebecca Ross just has a gift for sweeping me away into a story full of beautiful prose and engaging stories. I adored both Iris and Roman. I loved the setting - Rebecca doesn't seem to explicitly world build, which works for me because it lets my imagination go wherever it wants to.

So many tab-able lines in this one - plot points, romantic moments, and lots of favorite quotes.

Pick this one up if you love:
-enemies to lovers
-typewriters
-fantastical myths
-gods and goddesses
-epistolic format

Rebecca Ross is a queen. These main characters are soooo good that it felt like they were real. I love a good enemies to lovers and everything fell into place at the right time. I’m so excited for the next one and I already bought a copy for my mom!

After loving Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross I definitely had to read Divine Rivals! A fantasy war epic with a romance woven in seamlessly creates this dark, twisty, yet somehow lighthearted read. I adored the characters and the world building as well - the atmosphere was something else entirely and I found myself not wanting to leave the world. I cannot wait for the sequel.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of Divine Rivals! I’ve really enjoyed all of the books I’ve read that have been written by Rebeca Ross, so I was the most excited to read this one.
Divine Rivals 4/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: 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.
Ooo this was such an interesting book! Divine Rivals had such interesting lore behind it and I really enjoyed getting to know Iris and Roman as characters. The war effort was so interesting- it made me think of the Hades/Persephone myth, which is definitely my favorite one. I really liked the letter writing between Iris and Roman- it was super cute that Roman always knew who Iris was, but Iris didn’t know for a long time. I also really liked the competition between the two of them when they were at the paper. Their boss at the paper was the worst and Roman’s family was also the worst, but overall, I’m glad that all the things that Iris had to go through made her go to the front lines. The battle that was being waged at those front lines was so intense, but I loved that Iris was able to become a better journalist through writing about what she saw first hand. And then that ending- man! That felt like it came out of nowhere in the best way and now I cannot wait for the next book to see where Rebecca Ross takes things! For sure pick up Divine Rivals today!

Absolutely obsessed with the novel. You can sometimes start a book and you just know you’re gonna love it. I had to pace myself on this read because I didn’t want it to end faster than necessary. I love both of the main characters and can’t wait for the second book. The atmosphere, the supporting characters, and their unique connections was just perfect! I cannot wait for the second in the series. I need to know that they will find each other!

Ross writes beautifully, almost poetically and that makes reading her work pleasant.

Unfortunately, her beautiful prose does not make up for all the things that didn't happen in this story but we were told would happen.

The fantasy elements, in this fantasy novel, are barely there. It's clear that we are suppose to wait for book 2 in the hopes that those may be explored a bit more, but they should've been present in this first novel of the series as well. The blurb quite literally leads the reader to believe that the fantasy elements are important to THIS book. The romance is the main story, and there are some odds and ends that may not tie up for some readers: we are told enemies to lovers, but we don't really get that. The display of chemistry is not really there, mostly due to the amount of telling and not showing by Ross. Hate to insta-love just does not make sense.

This may work for some readers, but for more nitpicky ones this will frustrate them.

This was an interesting book, a bit of fantasy, a dash of romance, and a war. I love the idea of the typewriters and their ability to send letters to each other. The ending of the book definitely makes you look forwrd to reading the second book. I can't wait to see what happens with Iris, Kit, and their friends.

This is going to be in my top five books of the year.
It has some of my favorite tropes. It has enemies-to-lovers, it has slow burn, it has he falls first. It has the trope where characters are writing letters back and forth but they don't know they're writing to each other. This is Ross' best book, which shocked me because consider some of her other books to be among my all-time favorites.
This book is so beautifully written, it's so well crafted and plotted. The ending.... I need book two immediately.
If you're a fan of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Jane and Mr. Rochester, you will LOVE this book.

This is a story of Iris and Roman fighting for the same columnist position at a newspaper. Iris comes from a poor family because her brother has gone to fight in the current war and her mother has developed an alcohol addiction. Roman comes from a family that is wealthy because Roman's father was a self-made man.
These two's bickering was comical at the beginning, but as the story progresses and you find out how they are connected in another way, the characters begin to really make you feel the attraction.
I enjoyed reading this story it definitely kept my attention and when I would have to put it down it was always calling to me to pick it back up. I think that the fantasy elements of this book were so subtle that it feels almost magical realism, but the historical fiction elements are where my enjoyment wained a little because I went into this thinking it was going to be more actual historical fiction instead of a made-up war. I am interested in the way the story ended to pick up the next book in this series and see where our characters go from here.
I appreciate NetGalley and Wednesday Books for giving me a free E-ARC of this book and I cannot wait to read more from this author

A novel about a pair of rival journalists who fall in love in the shadow of a devastating war with the aid of a pair of magical typewriters, Divine Rivals, like many of Ross’s previous books, takes well-worn character types and narrative tropes and mixes them together into something that feels remarkably new and fresh. From gods eager to use humans as pawns in their ancient conflict to the trauma their seemingly neverending battles inflict on average people, Ross deftly explores the impact of war on everything from relationships and professional opportunities to class struggles and family strife. That she does so through a You’ve Got Mail-style enemies-to-lovers romance is just the icing on the cake. (This book is real good, y’all, is what I’m saying.)

This book was everything. Rebecca Ross is a genius.

I was so invested with Iris and Roman.I couldn’t wait for these two to get together. Their love was so romantic.

The world Ross created was so unique with the mythical gods who are at war and the people who fight for them.

The book was so rich and detailed. The ending packed such an emotional punch. I can’t wait for the next book!