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A review by zoeelizabethk
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Divine Rivals was an emotional story of star-crossed lovers amidst war. I quite enjoyed Iris and Roman and their love story, but I'm a bit mixed on the execution.
Divine Rivals definitely has the feeling of a WWI style historical novel, but it is set in a fantasy world and there are gods involved somehow, and presumable driving the war. I found the worldbuilding pretty lacking, which doesn't always bother me too much, but ended up causing problems for me later on. I liked our characters, but I didn't quite buy into the star-crossed lovers kind of thing. I think it felt too real world and not mystical enough to work for me quite as well as it might for some other readers. It was also not aided by the way Ross writes time. Sometimes we really linger in moments, then we rush through days and in a sentence we're through the next day. So something about the way all that was written didn't quite gel for me.
To be fair, I've read some excruciatingly slow slow burns lately, so unfortunately Divine Rivals felt a bit rushed for me. It's not really the book's fault as this is written to a difference audience, but even without reading Ruthless Vows yet, I can tell that I would rather this had been a single 600 page book that wove the romance, character work, plot, and worldbuilding together more smoothly. I think for me that would make the war feel more harrowing, the danger more real, and the romance more earned.
I'm honestly pretty mixed on whether I want to read Ruthless Vows or no, which is sad considering that Divine Rivals was a highly anticipated read for me.
3.5 stars
Divine Rivals definitely has the feeling of a WWI style historical novel, but it is set in a fantasy world and there are gods involved somehow, and presumable driving the war. I found the worldbuilding pretty lacking, which doesn't always bother me too much, but ended up causing problems for me later on. I liked our characters, but I didn't quite buy into the star-crossed lovers kind of thing. I think it felt too real world and not mystical enough to work for me quite as well as it might for some other readers. It was also not aided by the way Ross writes time. Sometimes we really linger in moments, then we rush through days and in a sentence we're through the next day. So something about the way all that was written didn't quite gel for me.
To be fair, I've read some excruciatingly slow slow burns lately, so unfortunately Divine Rivals felt a bit rushed for me. It's not really the book's fault as this is written to a difference audience, but even without reading Ruthless Vows yet, I can tell that I would rather this had been a single 600 page book that wove the romance, character work, plot, and worldbuilding together more smoothly. I think for me that would make the war feel more harrowing, the danger more real, and the romance more earned.
I'm honestly pretty mixed on whether I want to read Ruthless Vows or no, which is sad considering that Divine Rivals was a highly anticipated read for me.
3.5 stars