Ruthless Vows
I said in my review of Divine Rivals that I had hopes for this installment in the duology to make up for some of my unmet expectations. That was certainly the case here. My main disappointment came from my desire for more worldbuilding and fantasy elements in the first one, and it wasn’t even a large concern because the book still got over 4 stars from me. This one gave me everything I wanted and more.
We open with Iris and Roman torn apart by war. We watch them and the clashing armies come to a slow resolution, hoping that our two main characters can also find their way back to each other.
In book 1 there was an element of the You’ve Got Mail trope where only one character is privy to the other’s identity. I have a friend (ahem, she knows who she is) that hates this storyline. What I loved about this book is that we have the same trope working in reverse. It almost felt like an inclusio or envelope structure where the story is bracketed by similar events. Ruthless Vows is Divine Rivals’s mirror image in some ways. I found this clever and effective.
This was full of lovely writing, more background and fantasy elements, and emotion that gutted me. I had to reread the final pages a second time the next morning because I had tears in my eyes.
I do wish I had more time with the characters by the ending. Everything builds so slowly and the resolution came with slight abruptness. But, I think the story stands on its own without a long epilogue or glimpse into the future. I think I may be in the minority in liking this one more than the second. For me, the books on their own rate at: 4.25 for Divine Rivals and 4.75 for Ruthless Vows. But the duology as a whole is 5 shining stars. How? I don’t know, but it makes sense to me. Read these back-to-back and I think you’ll see what I mean.
Overall, I loved this one and don’t know why I slept on these for so long. I’m currently reading an advance reader copy (publishing September 2) of Wild Reverence, set in the same world but a prequel and I’m loving it. Review coming soon!
A few favorite quotes:
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This book contains implied intimacy. The content is very vague.
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.
