Divine Rivals

Jul 2023: 5 *

Dec 2023 (re-read): 4 *

THIS DAMNED BOOK!

I am screaming. It's so damned good.

I inhaled it. The prose is so lyrical and made me want to keep reading. The audiobook hooked me, each character stood out and had so much depth I had no choice but to fall in love. Iris! Roman!
I loved every damned second of this book. The struggle of Iris, Roman's struggles with his father. I want nothing more than to see each of these characters be happy.
And the letters! The romance that built between the two was so beautiful. I was crying.
Then THEN ENDING.
THE ENDING.

I almost cried. I knew something bad was going to happen, but I still hoped that it wouldn't. It was far worse than what I could ever have thought.

All the stars. Perfection.

i beg your pardon

DNF. It probably has a fine ending. I got to the last 100 pages or so and the writing started to get sappy and soupy and I just was no longer interested. It's probably fine. It started to feel like everything was falling perfectly into place and there was too many pages left...which always sends off alarm bells to me and I can't read another book where the main character dies on the last page. So I'm going to pretend the happy sappy pages are the end.

Setelah tidur berabad-abad, para dewa terbangun dan berperang kembali. Forrest, kakak laki-laki Iris Winnow menjawab panggilan salah satu dewa dan pergi ke garis depan. Keinginan Iris hanyalah agar keluarganya berkumpul kembali. Ibunya berjuang dari ketergantungan alkohol dan tidak ada kabar sama sekali dari kakaknya dari garis depan. Satu-satunya harapannya adalah mendapat promosi menjadi kolumnis di harian Oath Gazette.
Iris mencurahkan kekhawatirannya dengan menulis surat kepada kakaknya, lalu menyelipkannya ke balik pintu lemari, lalu surat itupun lenyap. Hampir setiap bangunan lama memiliki sisa sihir dari masa dewa-dewa lama, jadi kejadian seperti ini bukan tidak biasa. Yang tidak Iris ketahui, surat2 tersebut jatuh ke tangan Roman Kitt, rival Iris yang dingin dan tampan, untuk mendapatkan posisi kolumnis di Oath Gazette. Suatu kali Roman membalas surat Iris dan mereka pun menjadi saling terhubung lewat pertukaran surat.
Blurb buku ini menarik perhatianku, office rivalry dengan trope enemies-to-lovers (trope favoritku), dan ditulis dengan apik oleh Ross. Dari awal aku sudah langsung menyukai tulisannya dan membuatku ingin terus membaca untuk mengetahui kelanjutan ceritanya.
Untuk romantasy, world building biasanya hanya menjadi latar belakang, fokusnya ke cerita Iris dan Roman. Perkembangan hubungan mereka juga tidak insta-love atau terasa dipaksakan. Momen2 manis tidak terkesan berlebihan, pas untuk seleraku.
Buat aku buku ini cukup menyenangkan. Aku akan merekomendasikan buku ini untuk penggemar fantasi, yang tidak keberatan dengan romance.

This book deserves way more than just 5 stars - It's incredible. I loved the story so much and the characters are so easy to fall in love with. The main characters, Iris and Roman, go from being rivals (or “enemies”) to being lovers. Don't we all love that trope? 

Review to come.

2023 - 5 stars

2024 reread - still five stars

This book just proves why Rebecca Ross is my favourite writer. She makes me feel things in her books that no one else does. This book is no exception. Rereading for Ruthless Vows, and I cannot wait to pick the second book up.

Thanks to Libro.fm and the publisher for the audio arc!

I don't particularly like novels about war, but there was something thoroughly enchanting about this one. I couldn't help but fall in love with Iris and Roman, as damaged and witty and driven as they were. This slow-burn rivals-to-lovers wartime romance had a dash of fantasy and an intriguing cast of characters that I became quickly invested in. It's a bit of a slow starter and it won't be for everyone, but was so worth it for me. I loved the audio production and both narrators. I will be jumping on the sequel as soon as it's available!