Divine Rivals by Rebbeca Ross Book Review

                                    

Title: Divine Rivals

Author: Rebbeca Ross

 Goodreads Rating: ★★★★.18

  My Rating: ★★★★★

“I don't think you realize how strong you are, because sometimes strength isn't swords and steel and fire, as we are so often made to believe. Sometimes it's found in quiet, gentle places.”

Book Blurb from Goodreads:
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, their fate depends on their facing the depths of hell… together.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?


Okay, Wow!! Where to start? This book absolutely blew me away. I had heard good things about it but was skeptical to pick it up because I was afraid that the romance between the main characters would be forced and not truly romantic, which seems to be common in much of today's popular fiction. However, I was drawn into the setting and the world from the very first chapter. The vibes that it gave off were immediately giving dark academia. The rain, the editorial, typewriters, etc.

  I liked that the main characters, Iris Winnow and Roman Kit, were rivals to lovers rather than outright enemies. Their romance was so sweet, beginning through letters that would appear magically under their wardrobe doors due to the magical qualities of their typewriters to realizing they may love the one on the other side of the wardrobe.

  This book is fantasy but gives off elements of historical fiction as well, as there is a war going on between two rival gods. I like that it isn’t heavy on the fantasy element, the main characters don’t have magical abilities outside of their means of communication. They are ordinary human beings who want to help their fellow man see the truth and reality of the war and are willing to brave the front lines to seek this truth. It is within these harsh and tragic circumstances that our two main characters come to recognize and appreciate the truth found within one another.

  If you are looking to read a Fantasy that contains within it elements of dark academia, courage in the face of hardship, and a romance that blossoms amidst it all, then this is the book to pick up.