Review of Divine Rivals

Review of Divine Rivals

Review by Sarah Bearup

Storyline

Character Development

World Building

Summary

I read Divine Rivals in a little over two days; when you have 7-year-old twins, that is quite an achievement. Knowing that, you could say that I really liked the book. And you’re right; I loved it! It was so good. I tabbed so many quotes that I want to be able to turn to and read them whenever I want to be in the story again.

5

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Keep writing. You will find the words you need to share. They are already within you, even in the shadows, hiding like jewels.

Divine Rivals.

           Divine Rivals bears similarities to You've Got Mail. The story centers around Iris, whose brother has joined the war between the Gods Dacre and Enva, fighting for the latter. With her mother struggling with alcoholism, Iris is left to care for them both, determined to complete her studies as promised to her brother Forest. Unfortunately, her mother loses her job due to her addiction, adding to the challenges Iris must face.

            Iris had entered a writing contest that she didn’t think she would ever win, but surprisingly she did and was offered a job at the prestigious Oath Gazette. She decides to take the job and break her promise to her brother. At Oath, she meets Romain, her rival. Romain and Iris are both trying to win the columnist promotion. Romain comes from money; it’s important to note that it’s new money. He wears the proper clothing and always looks put together. Iris comes from the opposite. She feels she needs to work to earn her spot and that Romain doesn’t need to work hard to be accepted.

            Iris’s most prized possession is the typewriter that she received from her grandma. She writes everything on it. And this is where Iris’s story starts. Months have passed, and Iris hasn’t received a single letter from her brother at war. She’s worried sick and wonders if he has died because she hasn’t heard from him. She writes him a letter and slips it under her closet door. However, that letter has somehow magically slipped under the door of none other than her rival Romain.

            Romain knows that it’s Iris writing these letters that they have started to send back and forth to each other. Iris knows it’s not her brother, but that’s about it.

            Iris hates Romain, but somehow they write beautiful letters that would say the opposite.

My Thoughts:

            Rebecca Ross writes beautiful books. Her writing in itself is magical. I have never been a huge tab user or highlighted anything in my books. But while reading this book, I constantly found myself highlighting passages and tabbing parts that I thought were beautiful.

            Divine Rivals isn’t her first book. I believe she’s written quite a few. I have read two others by her I felt the same way. I’m curious to see if her first book or 2 have this magical quality to her writing. I’ll have to pick them up and see.

What qualities this book has:

• Beautiful, magical writing
• Characters that hate to love each other
• Magical Realism
• Mythology
• Amazing Fantasy
• Wartime Situations

            Iris ends up quitting her job at Oath after her mother tragically dies. Romain has won the columnist position. Another paper, the Inkridden Tribune, hires people to go to the front lines and write their experiences and what they’ve learned. It pays an incredible sum, and so Iris decides to take it. She goes to their headquarters and is hired. She’s sent out to live in a home with Marisol. Together they help the war nurses and the injured soldiers. She makes friends with Attie, another war correspondent. They take turns going out to the front lines. However, through a series of events and to avoid an arranged marriage, Romain decides to follow Iris and work as a war correspondent.

            Throughout the entire time of Iris quitting her job, discovering her mother died, and working as a war correspondent, she is also conversing (unknowingly) with Romain through her letters. This is how Romain found where Iris went after leaving Oath Gazette.

            I don’t want to share too much more about this magical story. But the friendship between Iris and Romain grows and changes. Ross makes you feel like you are there with the characters, only to discover when you close the book that you’re lying in your bed.

            I cannot stop saying how good of a writer Ross is. This story was unique. I’ve read a few reviews about this book; everyone else has felt the same way.

            Divine Rivals takes place during a war of the gods. They have brought chaos to all humanity. The reader reads about how this war has affected humankind. Dacre and Enva have caused turmoil and death to many. Marriages have been destroyed, people have been killed, and people have turned on one another. This book touches on current politics and the difficulty of secretly supporting one god but outwards supporting the other.

            The grief is heavy in this, and there is a lot of death as well as some pretty descriptive scenes of what the front lines look like and how people live during the time of war, so if you’re a sensitive reader, just a heads up.

But overall, this story touched my heart, and I know it will touch yours too. So pick it up asap and read it too!

“In the meantime, I hope you will find your place, wherever you are. Even in the silence. I hope you will find the words you need to share.” - Divine Rivals