DIVINE RIVALS By Rebecca Ross

December 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

DIVINE RIVALS By Rebecca RossDivine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Series: Letters of Enchantment #1
Published by Wednesday Books on 4/4/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 356
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

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.

Short and Sweet Review

The Gods are at war and Iris wants to be able to keep her family together but it’s hard when her brother is fighting on the front lines and her mom is struggling with an addiction. Iris wants to win the position of columnist at the Oath Gazette where she works but her rival Roman isn’t going down without a fight. To calm her nerves and worrying, Iris writes letters to her brother and puts them under her wardrobe but unexpectedly she ends up getting a reply. Unbeknownst to Iris, Roman is the one replying. The two continue to write each other and it goes on for months even after Iris ends up leaving Oath.

The writing in this book was incredible, it was so immersive and captivating. Iris and Roman have had a rivalry for a while, but I think that Iris losing her mom and the letters that Roman was getting from her changed a lot for him. Iris on the other hand likes him but she knows they have no chance of being together. Iris leaves Oath and becomes a reporter for the front line and eventually Roman follows her. I did like getting to read the correspondence between the two and the fact that they were the ones with the only two typewriters made by a certain person was great. I did the first part of the book was slow for me personally but part two is when Iris is in her new position and things really picked up from there. Iris is resilient and smart, she’s also very quick on her feet. Roman is one of those guys who plays it cool but there’s more than just one layer to him. I loved seeing the story unfold with these two from working in an office, then sending letters back in forth, to a love story. I do wish I knew more about these Gods and the war that was going on. The book left off on a cliffhanger and I’m ready to see what’s going to happen next.

Overall, this book brings a fantasy and magic element to the prospects of war and also the romance between our two main characters. I loved the writing and just seeing everything play out.

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SISTERS OF SWORD AND SONG By Rebecca Ross

June 23, 2020 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SISTERS OF SWORD AND SONG By Rebecca RossSisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross
Published by HarperTeen on 6/23/20
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 480
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

After eight years, Evadne will finally be reunited with her older sister, Halcyon, who has been serving in the queen’s army. But when Halcyon unexpectedly appears a day early, Eva knows something is wrong. Halcyon has charged with a heinous crime, and though her life is spared, she is sentenced to 15 years.

Suspicious of the charges, brought forth by Halcyon’s army commander, as well as the details of the crime, Eva volunteers to take part of her sister’s sentence. If there’s a way to absolve Halcyon, she’ll find it. But as the sisters begin their sentences, they quickly learn that there are fates worse than death.

Short and Sweet

Evadne has waited eight long years to be reunited with her sister Halcyon, but when Halcyon arrives a day earlier than expected Evadne knows something is wrong. When Halcyon’s commander comes he informs that Halcyon is on the run and is going to be charged with murder. Halcyon’s life is spared but she is given a 15 year punishment, which Evadne decides to take part of, and find out what truly happened while Halcyon was gone.

Characters

Evadne: Evadne has always been over looked, mainly because Halcyon was held in a higher regard. Throughout this book Evadne showed that she’s not just her sisters shadow she’s very capable even when people thought she wouldn’t be. I loved Evadne she was willing to do what it took to make things right and she was brave and loved those closest to her fiercely.

Halcyon: Halcyon was one of the commander’s favorite Hoplites until she made a grave mistake and ended up killing the commander’s son, Xander. Halcyon has the mentality of a warrior she’s fierce and brave but after what happened she’s changed. I think the only thing that got Halcyon through her punishment at the quarry was the thought that she had to make it back to her family especially Evadne.

Damon: Damon’s older brother was Xander, and although he’s still dealing with the death of his brother, he promises Halcyon that he’ll look out for Evadne. Damon is a mage, he’s not the most powerful but he’s not the weakest either. I liked Damon he was caring and he was also willing to risk everything to make things right.

Romance

Evadne and Damon: Damon and Evadne meet at Halcyon’s court date and from then on he begins looking out for her like he promised Halcyon. Over a few weeks Evadne becomes Damon’s Scribe and they spend more time together. Their relationship was slow and I liked that the book wasn’t entirely focused on their relationship. Evadne and Damon’s relationship was sweet they kept each other going during their toughest moments.

My Thoughts

~ We get both Evadne and Halcyon’s POV in this book and I think I enjoyed Evadne’s more mainly because it was interesting to see her work as a scribe.

~ Halcyon and Xander’s mission before everything happened was to find a relic that would help the Queen and break a spell on her. After everything Damon and Evadne take on that mission. I liked seeing Evadne and Damon’s quest to find the relic, I also liked how more relics were revealed in the book.

~ Even though I wanted to be mad at how Halcyon was treated she had a lot of pride and she was willing to accept the consequences for her actions.

~ Halcyon meets Thales in the quarry and he ends up being a worthy ally to her.

~ The way everything took place and the pacing of the book was perfect. It was hard to put the book down I just wanted to know what would happen next especially towards the end.

~ Both Evadne and Halcyon grew a lot in this book. Evadne realized that she was her own person and was capable of doing things that she may have not thought possible. Halcyon was still fierce but she was a little more ruthless.

Overall

The ending to this book was satisfying. I love the bond between Halcyon and Evadne they loved each other a lot. This book was amazing and I couldn’t put it down. I thought we would just see the sister’s go through their punishment but there was so much more than that, there was magic and relics, and an epic battle at the end. If you see this book pick it up and read it!!!

Filed Under: Reviews