Divine Rivals/ Ruthless Vows

Quotes

*There may be spoilers in this review. I will try to avoid major spoilers but some need to be brought up to be discussed.

Summary

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the front-line forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the front-line and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

Details

• Author: Rebecca Ross
• Series: Letters of Enchantment
• Published: April 4th, 2023
• Page Count: 357 (Hardcover)

Personal Stats

• Start Date: September 10th, 2024
• End Date: September 11th, 2024
• Format: Audiobook
• Rating: 8/10

Summary

Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

Details

• Author: Rebecca Ross
• Series: Letters of Enchantment
• Published: December 26th, 2023
• Page Count: 420 (Hardcover)

Personal Stats

• Start Date: September 23rd, 2024
• End Date: October 4th, 2024
• Format: Audiobook
• Rating: 7/10

Characters

• Iris E. Winnow – A war correspondent for the Inkridden Tribune. She has a difficult past and lost most of her family and is worried about her brother who left for the war.
• Roman Carver Kitt – A wealthy columnist for the Oath Gazette who is pressured by his family in all of his decisions.
• Forest Winnow – Iris’s brother who is fighting in the gods’ war on behalf of Enva.
• Nan Kitt – Roman’s wise grandmother.
• Elinor Little – Roman’s betrothed who has no love for him.
• Thea Attwood – A war correspondent for the Inkridden Tribune.
• Marisol Torres – The owner of a bed-and-breakfast in Avalon Bluff.
• Enva – A Skyward goddess who plays music to convince people to join the gods’ war.
• Dacre – An Underling god who started a war against Enva.

Setting

World War I & II inspired fantasy realm mainly focused on the city of Oath.

Overview

I’ve hit this phase where I just pick up whatever I see. I don’t read the summary or look into the author and sometimes it bites me in the butt. This was not one of those cases.

The writing, especially in the first one but definitely for both, was so refreshing and poetic. I genuinely liked Iris and her drive. I appreciated how she handled the politics at the Gazette and how she stayed focused on the truth and keeping the people informed no matter the corruption.

The characters do really well in their setting and I really enjoyed the fantasy version of the War era. The connected typewriters really did allow for good connection and chemistry between

I will say I liked the first one more than the sequel. Not that the second was lacking but Divine Rivals really was just so well written.

Pros

Redundant but it really did stand out for its writing. Ross’s style really fit with the War era vibe giving the book that poetic type prose that really foils well against the war backdrop. Iris was able to be classy and snarky at the same time which is getting harder and harder to find in the romance genre and I genuinely liked her as a character. Roman was a harder sell for me but I really liked the way they handled each other and played off of each other. I’m getting a little tired of the cardboard male characters designed to prop up their lady’s on a pedestal. If I’m reading a romance I want there to be actual chemistry and that feeling like they need to be together, not just ending up together because that’s how stories end.

Ross nailed the “getting to know you” chemistry. I enjoyed their back and forths in person and in their letters. I liked the way they grew past themselves to really understand each other and that they liked the effort it took. I do think I enjoyed the relationship more in the first volume but I tend to like reading about the beginnings in a relationship rather than the dramas that go on to keep the story “interesting.”

I’m not really a World War era type of person but the added fantasy element made it really fun for me. Times were still hard and there was fear everywhere but the magic worked to keep me engaged past the misery. It also could work to amplify the misery.

Though it gets placed a lot with the new adult books, it didn’t have a gratuitous amount of spice. I’m not anti spice per say but I am getting tired of it being the reason some of these books are getting so popular. I want the scenes to fit in the story not the story to work around the scene no matter how much fun.

Cons

The second book does do that thing where the relationship has to be tested to prove that it’s true love yadda yadda. I know it’s a thing and I know there is an audience for it but it’s not me. Getting to know someone is hard enough. I don’t want the mind games and the nonsense. It’s exhausting.

Roman also toes the line of being too heart eyed when it comes to Iris. Don’t get me wrong I like the devotion and the affection but real people don’t fawn over people like that (usually) especially in their language. I feel like it should be a rarer occurrence (the fawning behavior) just to make it feel more impactful. plus, if you’re going for that enemies to lovers type story than maybe the enmity should play a bigger part.

The world felt a little off in the sequel as well. It might have been the gods stepping onto the stage but it felt like it pulled away from the magical realism the reader is introduced to to go in a more fantastical direction. I get really judgy when divinity is supposed to be playing a part. They usually end up feeling a touch too human or tropey to me.

Final Thoughts

These were very good.

The first felt stronger than the sequel but they both have incredible writing and strong characters. I loved the writing style with the magical realism in the war era. It manages to capture the desperation and the poetry that is paired with the time period.

I would recommend it to the historical fiction fans and the literary fans. The romantasy readers would probably enjoy it to if they like the slow burn.

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