Divine Rivals
I’m so late to the game with the hype surrounding this duology. I kept intending to read it, borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited multiple times and somehow kicked it down the road over and over again. Then I got an email offering for me to read Wild Reverence (releasing in September 2025) as an early reader. I said yes, knowing that I really enjoyed Rebecca Ross’s writing in her Elements of Cadence duology. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the new book is set in the world of Divine Rivals. So here we are, finally picking up a book I always intended to read eventually.
I think part of my hesitation is that I tend to be skeptical about anything that gets a lot of hype. Part of me wants to be different from everyone else, not liking something popular or finding something that people disliked truly interesting. That’s a topic for therapy though. On to the review of this wildly popular book—
Roman Kitt and Iris Winnow are rival writers at the Oath Gazette. They’re competing for a promotion to columnist. Iris’s brother, Forest, has recently enlisted in the war between reawakened gods and she fears something has happened to him because it’s unlike him to not communicate. Iris begins writing to her brother using their grandmother’s typewriter, leaving notes in the wardrobe, and miraculously, one day someone writes back and says, “This isn’t Forest.” Meanwhile, Roman is dealing with his own familial obligations and expectations. What follows is a discovery that Roman and Iris are much more intertwined than they thought and their rivalry blooms into something else all in the midst of war.
There were moments I absolutely loved this! I always seem to enjoy an epistolary element and an enchanted typewriter gave this an extra whimsical quality. The writing was lovely overall and I highlighted several meaningful quotes exploring loss, work, and significance.
The growing friendship between Roman and Iris, the way they began to bare their insecurities, grief, and souls to one another was special and fairly well-developed for a book that is categorized as “young adult.” While I don’t read much historical fiction, the way this one drew upon World War I themes was welcome and gave the setting and time period a nice backdrop.
For me, the ending felt a bit rushed and my main issue was that I wanted more background on the gods and the fantasy elements of this world. I didn’t always feel like I understood the mythology and the reasons why there was a war. Wanting a little more fantasy and worldbuilding was a similar complaint when I read the Cadence duo—I wanted more from A River Enchanted and found that A Fire Endless delivered what I wanted plus some. I’m hopeful that this is the case here and that the Ruthless Vows will deliver what I’m looking for. I am also looking forward to Wild Reverence knowing that it may provide even more answers being set in the same fantasy world but occurring in the past.
Diving into these as soon as possible!
A few favorite quotes:
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This book contains one very brief vaguely descriptive scene on-page.
This book is available through Book of the Month Club. Join with my referral link, and get your first monthly selection for $5. Then add this one to your box for $11.99.
