Divine Rivals

 Synopsis

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate together. 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.

Loved

• The romance! Ah, this has the best tropes and I'm so here for it: rivals to lovers, falling love anonymously, forced proximity and he falls first. Ahhhhhh it doesn't get better than that. I love how they write to each other at night and pour out their hearts to each other without knowing who the other is, but during the day they are totally rivals and do everything they can to bother the other. And then of course HE figures out who she is first! Ah, it's the cutest. Not only are they both wading through grief and regret and barely staying afloat after losing loved ones, but they are also hilarious together- constantly teasing and bantering and getting in awkward situations. Every moment with them is just adorable and it's one of the most satisfying romances I've ever read :)

• The letters! What could be more romantic than writing letters through two magically connected typewriters? The letter writing gives both characters a unique voice and a depth to their relationship that we wouldn't get otherwise, plus the fun of watching them figure out who they are writing to.

• The Anne and Gilbert vibes! To be completely honest, the main reason I picked this one up is because someone on Instagram said this romance had Anne and Gil vibes- you better believe I ordered the book that very day! And it definitely did have those vibes with their being rivals and his falling first. I loved that they were competing for the same position, but like Gilbert, Roman ended up so in love that he didn't care about the position anymore . . . *sigh*

• The war columnist element. This was a skillful balance between the cutest romance scenes ever, and major action scenes that wouldn't let you put the book down. Since they are competing to become war journalists, they are at the front lines and see some gnarly stuff. I really enjoyed the WWI-ish setting and the war scenes gave the book a fast pace and driven intensity that had me turning pages so fast!

Didn't Love

• My only complaint about this story is that the setting is a little strange. It feels like WWI historical fiction, but the war is actually between two mythological gods, and there are fantasy creatures as part of the war. I wish this had just been WWI and there were no gods or fantasy elements. I love the magic of the typewriters, but I think that could have been added as a magical realism type story instead of full fantasy. The creatures and gods are interesting, but we don't learn enough about them to really understand the world. It almost feels like the book had to be fantasy to make the magical typewriters work, but it could have just been one magical element, or a different way for them to get letters to each other.

Content

• Language: 
• Uses of "damn" and "hell."

• Sexual content: 
• A little innuendo.
• Some passionate kisses.
• A wedding night scene- very classy and subtle. More about the emotions between the two. Still some physical descriptions, but pretty vague.

• Violence
• Takes place during a war- lots of injuries and death described. Similar to WWI- soldiers killed through mustard gas, bombs, shooting- dying in trenches. Many many deaths in the story.
• Deaths from fantasy creatures- doglike creatures and flying winged beasts that take out towns and kill many people.
• Lots of talk of violence, bombing, citizens being killed and injured, etc.
• Characters visit an infirmary and see many war injuries and death.


• Other themes:
• Death: Main character's mother dies and she must identify the body. Another main character talks about his sister drowning under his watch in the past. Both dealing with grief and regret throughout the story.
• LGBTQIA: Two secondary female characters are married.

Overall Thoughts

This was one of those books that there's just no putting down. I binged it in three sittings and completely devoured it. Between the adorable romance and the super intense war scenes, I was flying through the pages and couldn't read it fast enough. This is really one of the most satisfying and full romances I've ever read, especially in a young adult story. Roman and Iris are both so lovable and their relationship has a depth that brings hope to both of them through waves of grief. Their banter is on point, the chemistry is crackling, and every scene with them is just flawless. The magical typewriters adds whimsy to the story, and the magic becomes enchanting through Ross's lyrical prose that I love in all her books. Although the setting is different with the fantasy gods warring, I think this is a story that historical fiction fans could enjoy because it reads much more like historical fiction than fantasy. I also think it feels more like an adult novel than many YA stories. There's no frustrating miscommunication or the typical YA tropes that get old. This is fresh, compelling, witty, and had me melting with the most adorable and magical romance :)