Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
I have been seeing readers rave about this YA Historical Fantasy all over social media and so I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. The book takes place during an alternate World War I world that began when two gods were fighting each other. The novel has magic, romance, and a sizzling plot–I didn’t want to put it down!
Iris Winnow is eighteen years old and sad to see her brother, Forest, head off to fight for Enva, the Skyward goddess. Enva is battling Dacre, an Underling god whose hounds, wyverns and eithrals (dangerous mythical creatures) destroy anything in their path. Her brother asks Enva to take care of their mum and stay in school but it isn’t long before her mother is drinking herself to death and Iris has to drop out of school and go to work to survive. She takes a job at the Oath Gazette writing obituaries but is soon writing articles and competing with Roman Kitt for a coveted position as a columnist.
Roman is nineteen and has his own tragic story. He comes from a wealthy family but all is not well at home. He wants to go to the university to study literature but his father wants him to work at the newspaper and has set up an arranged marriage for him. Roman enjoys his work at the paper especially because he gets to work with Iris, who he admires and it’s wonderful to watch him fall for her. She thinks he’s handsome but sees him as a rival and believes he has advantages because of his wealth.
One of my favorite parts of the story is when the two start using magic typewriters to write letters. Iris hasn’t heard from her brother since he left and decides to write a letter to him on a magic typewriter she inherited from her grandmother. She remembers her nan using it to send her words of encouragement at school when she was young. She slips the letter under her wardrobe and it disappears. A letter comes back but it’s not from her brother! Roman realizes who she is and writes her back but he decides to remain anonymous so he doesn’t scare her off. Roman’s nan gave him a magic typewriter when he was ten with hopes that he would become an author like his grandfather. His nan and Iris’s grandmother used the typewriters when they were girls to write letters to a friend who was sick with tuberculosis. According to the legend, the sick girl’s father found an inventor who made them with magic. Iris and Roman continue to write each and become close as they share their secrets and find comfort in their letters.
Iris decides to go to the front lines as a war correspondent to report back on what’s happening and to search for her brother. I admired her strength and courage. This part was heartbreaking – there was so much devastation from the war – but Iris built friendships with the other women at the front and I loved their found family. Roman follows her to be with the girl he loves – swoon – and when their romance takes off, it’s beautiful and uplifting.
The hardest thing about this book is it ends with a huge cliffhanger and I have no idea how it will all work out. This is the first book in a two book series. Luckily, the second book, Ruthless Vows comes out later this month. I can’t wait!
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See I’d pronounce it Dak-er –
I’m with Jenna though – if I have to stop reading because I can’t mentally pronounce something (think fantasy words) or someone’s name it gets in the way of any chance at a smooth read.
I started this book and while I had no problem with the characters or plot, two things have brought me to a stop. First – how do you pronounce “Dacre”? Every time I encounter this word, I come to a full stop puzzling out the pronunciation. My second issue – and TBH this is almost a deal breaker for me – is that the characters call each other by name in nearly every single line of dialogue. It drives me crazy. “Hello, Bob.” “Why hello, Sue.” “Did you have a nice time at the movies, Bob?” “Well, Sue, I certainly did.” “Bob, I think next time you should ask me to the movies.” “I will, Sue.” Sorry, but once you realize it, you start looking for it.
I saw an interview with the author on YouTube and she pronounced Dacre like Baker only with a D.
That’s how I’d pronounce it – Day-ker.
Know? I usually come here and to romance.io to see the heat ratings and I’ve noticed that they seem to have a higher thermometer there? Books like this classified in “Warm” there only have two little calls, the equivalent of “closed door” being in the same category as what here would be a “subtle” or Belles of London 2 by Mimi Matthews.
Preferably I trust in AAR more, however there they tend to only describe as “open door” which here is “Hot” from now on.
It is odd for a YA book to have a warm rating – maybe Kayne can confirm it’s correct? Generally warm = on page sex between two people regardless of gender – no kink, toys (or goats!). That covers a wide range – there could be one sex scene in a book, or several – so means the vast majority of romance novels get that rating.
There is an open door love scene in Chapter 39, Vows in the Dark, with enough detail to give it a warm rating.
This is been true for many of the new YA romantasies–they often only have one detailed love scene but that scene is very open door.
It’s their wedding night and it’s sweet.
I am seeing more heat in YA in general.