“I love the words I write until I soon realize how much I hate them, as if I am destined to always be at war within myself.”

Book title

Divine Rivals

Author

Rebecca Ross

Date published

04-04-2023

Date started

01-03-2024

Date finished

02-03-2024

Page count

357

Stars

5

Summary

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, 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.

My review

A Booktok fave, so I had to read it, right? My expectations were super high, and it didn’t dissapoint one bit. I loved the plot, the characters and how it all revolves around letters! It is a fantasy book, but not in the way I’ve read most fantasybook. It is a story about Iris and Kitt, who hate eachother and don’t hate eachother. They just don’t know it yet. When Iris decides to go to the front to report from there, you get a taste of the war between the gods and what it’s like. It’s an emotionally heavy story so be prepared to let your heart be broken. And Kitt, what is not to love about Kitt? He’s full of charms and just the perfect bookhusband material. He will do anything for Iris. I’m just happy I have part 2 already on my bookshelf, ready to get on with this series. You will get really invested in these characters and the magic of the typwriters. Did I mention you’ll get your heart broken? Multiple times, I must add. Oh, and I want a typewriter like that. Please?

Quotes

“It takes courage to let down your armor, to welcome people to see you as you are. Sometimes I feel the same as you: I can’t risk having people behold me as I truly am. But there’s also a small voice in the back of my mind, a voice that tells me, “You will miss so much by being so guarded.”

“But I think there is a magical link between you and me. A bond that not even distance can break.”