Marissa Slowinski

Copyeditor

5/5 Stars

WOW. “Divine Rivals” was a beautiful story of fate, war and love. The writing of this book absolutely blew me away; it was poetic and felt like it seeped into my literal being with every turn of a page. The writing was the most stand-out element of “Divine Rivals,” so much so that I went out and bought “The River Enchanted,” another Rebecca Ross novel.

This book takes place during a war where the Gods and Goddesses are fighting again, but follows Iris Winnow, who is just trying to just hold her family together. After her brother volunteered to go fight in the war, it becomes apparent to Iris with his silence that he is lost on the frontlines, consequently, causing Iris’ mother further into addiction. As time goes on, Iris continues going through the motions and finds herself rivaling Roman Kitt, another young writer, for the coveted columnist spot at the Oath Gazette.

To have any attempt at a piece of mine, Iris writes letters to her brother on her old typewriter, slipping them beneath her wardrobe, where they vanish. The letters, unbeknownst to her, fall right into the hands of Roman, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. Roman starts to write Iris back, anonymously, and “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.” (Credit: Goodreads).

I always eat up a good fantasy war book. Something about the politics and the direness of it all just gets me, especially when there’s that romance element to it. The setting was so enthralling and I truly cannot wait for the next book in this series. The first one barely even scratched the surface of the lore that I can tell will be jam-packed into this series. “Divine Rivals” was a great launching point for a sure-to-impress young adult, bordering adult, fantasy series.

The emphasis on writing struck a chord with me and inspired me to write more. I haven’t written in months and seeing Iris’ and Roman’s true grit in wanting to be the best reminded me of my own determination. I adore writing so much that I related to the passion they both had, as well as the challenges that come with writing that they both faced.

I loved the presence of Gods and Goddesses. Their presence can be so scary with all the power that they have and it was nice to see a book lean into that aspect. I still feel like we know so little about this world, their history, and the Gods / Goddesses, and I’m clamoring for more. I just know this is going to be an intense ride.

I also found “Divine Rivals” incredibly easy to follow. If you’re new to fantasy this is a great option. It was fast paced and all of the information came organically instead of just info-dumping like some fantasy novels tend to do. I truly love an info-dump but they can be confusing and overwhelming.

Overall, read it! “Divine Rivals” is fun, so beautiful, atmospheric and magical; it is definitely worth all the hype and praise it has gotten on social media recently.