Scan barcode
A review by abby_ace_of_books
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
5.0
REREAD REVIEW:
I stand firm in my belief that rivals to lovers is infinitely better than enemies to lovers.
This was my second time reading Divine Rivals, and it was every bit as enchanting as I remember. The prose is beautifully written (I am so jealous of Iris and Roman and their ability to write amazing sentences on a whim) and the story is wonderfully done. Set in a fantasy world similar to the WWI era and filled with rich mythology that reminded me a bit of the Persephone myth, it's probably the only "romantasy" I actually enjoyed.
Iris and Roman are journalists competing for a columnist section in their newspaper, but their journey takes them to the war front. While it's not a story filled with action-packed explosion scenes, I actually preferred its slower pacing and focus on fleshing out Iris and Roman as characters. (Also, the ending is cruel...)
There's a handful of side characters, but the main focus of the novel is clearly Iris and Roman. I really liked Iris's character. She's strong but still relatable and I enjoyed reading her articles as well as her internal monologues. Roman's POVs are less frequent but just as enjoyable, especially because he falls for Iris long before she falls for him. The way he describes her...Roman Kitt is setting the standards way too high. Their romance is well-written and based on genuine love and not lust.
Divine Rivals is a beautifully written novel about the truths of war and the strength of love in the face of darkness, and I am so excited to read the next one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roman. Crazy. Kitt.
There is no way that everyone is fighting over Rhysand and Xaden when Roman Kitt exists.
"She and Roman would survive this war. They would have the chance to grow old together, year by year. They would be friends until they both finally acknowledged the truth. And they would have everything that other couples had---the arguments and the hand-holding in the market and the gradual exploration of their bodies and the birthday celebrations and the journeys to new cities and the living as one and sharing a bed and the gradual sense of melting into each other. Their names would be entwined---Roman and Iris or Winnow and Kitt because could you truly have one without the other?---and they would write on their typewriters and ruthlessly edit each other's pieces and read books by candlelight at night"(425).
The worldbuilding is exquisite, the writing is divine (get what I did there?), and the characters and romance are so amazingly well-written.
"'It's not a crime to feel joy, even when things seem hopeless. Iris, look at me. You deserve all the happiness in the world. And I intend to see that you have it'"(508).
Link to Libby Annotations
I stand firm in my belief that rivals to lovers is infinitely better than enemies to lovers.
This was my second time reading Divine Rivals, and it was every bit as enchanting as I remember. The prose is beautifully written (I am so jealous of Iris and Roman and their ability to write amazing sentences on a whim) and the story is wonderfully done. Set in a fantasy world similar to the WWI era and filled with rich mythology that reminded me a bit of the Persephone myth, it's probably the only "romantasy" I actually enjoyed.
Iris and Roman are journalists competing for a columnist section in their newspaper, but their journey takes them to the war front. While it's not a story filled with action-packed explosion scenes, I actually preferred its slower pacing and focus on fleshing out Iris and Roman as characters. (Also, the ending is cruel...)
There's a handful of side characters, but the main focus of the novel is clearly Iris and Roman. I really liked Iris's character. She's strong but still relatable and I enjoyed reading her articles as well as her internal monologues. Roman's POVs are less frequent but just as enjoyable, especially because he falls for Iris long before she falls for him. The way he describes her...Roman Kitt is setting the standards way too high. Their romance is well-written and based on genuine love and not lust.
Divine Rivals is a beautifully written novel about the truths of war and the strength of love in the face of darkness, and I am so excited to read the next one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roman. Crazy. Kitt.
There is no way that everyone is fighting over Rhysand and Xaden when Roman Kitt exists.
"She and Roman would survive this war. They would have the chance to grow old together, year by year. They would be friends until they both finally acknowledged the truth. And they would have everything that other couples had---the arguments and the hand-holding in the market and the gradual exploration of their bodies and the birthday celebrations and the journeys to new cities and the living as one and sharing a bed and the gradual sense of melting into each other. Their names would be entwined---Roman and Iris or Winnow and Kitt because could you truly have one without the other?---and they would write on their typewriters and ruthlessly edit each other's pieces and read books by candlelight at night"(425).
The worldbuilding is exquisite, the writing is divine (get what I did there?), and the characters and romance are so amazingly well-written.
Spoiler
Also...that ending? I am so freaking excited for book two. Hopefully it gives me what I wanted from Marie Lu's Steelstriker but didn't get."'It's not a crime to feel joy, even when things seem hopeless. Iris, look at me. You deserve all the happiness in the world. And I intend to see that you have it'"(508).
Link to Libby Annotations