Book Review: ‘Divine Rivals’ by Rebecca Ross
If you’re a fan of historical fiction and Romantasy, Divine Rivals is the perfect mixture of both. Rebecca Ross crafts a young adult novel filled with yearning and stolen words on a page between a fantastical typewriter. Not only is it an intimate love story between Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, but there’s a war among the gods, Dacre and Enva.
After a series of unfortunate events for Iris, she needs to escape Oath and try to help the soldiers on the front lines. Iris strives for honesty about the war and wants to give soldiers what they need, even for their families to gain that connection to them. Ross balances love, grief and ambition in Divine Rivals, and it’s impossible to put this book down because of the flow of her writing.
Maude’s Book Club has enjoyed reading Divine Rivals, so join our discord to discuss it further!
Synopsis:
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 to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
diVINE rIVALS Quotes
Turn a foe into a friend, and you'll have one less enemy - Forest
I think we all wear armour. I think those who don’t are fools, risking the pain of being wounded by the sharp edges of the world, over and over again. But if I’ve learned anything from those fools, it is that being vulnerable is a strength most of us fear. It takes courage to let down your armour, to welcome people to see you as you are.
They see what they want to see in you - the warped reflection of their own face, or a piece of the sky, or a shadow cast between buildings. They see all the times you've made mistakes, all the times you've failed, all the times you've hurt them or disappointed them. As if that's all you'll ever be in their eyes.
Perhaps it begins with one person, someone you trust. You remove a piece of armour for them; you let the light stream in, even if it makes you wince. Perhaps that's how you learn to be soft yet strong even in fear and uncertainty.
I don’t want to wake up when I’m seventy-four only to realize I haven’t lived.
And I’m not afraid to be alone, but I’m tired of being the one left behind.
But time will slowly heal you, there are good days and difficult days. Your grief will never fully fade; it will always be with you- a shadow you carry in your soul - but will become fainter as your life becomes brighter. You will learn to live outside of it again.
I am coming to love him, in two different ways. Face-to-face, and word-to-word.
When Roman finally looked at her, time seemed to stall. His eyes were keen as if he could see everything that dwelled in her - the light and the shadows. Her threads of ambition and desire and joy and grief. Never had a man looked at her in that way.
They're not even my sisters by blood, but I chose them. And that sort of love is everlasting.
With each word she typed, the sun sank a little farther until the clouds bled gold. A breath later, The light surrendered to the night. The stars smouldered in darkness, and Iris took dinner in her room and continued to work by the flame of a candle.
Keep writing. You will find the words you need to share. They are already within you, ever in the shadows, hiding like jewels.
... His letter felt like an embrace. Like reaching for a friend In the darkness and finding their hand.
Your letters have been a light form to follow. Your words? A sublime feast that fed me on days when I was staring.
My favourite season is autumn because my mum and I believe that's the only time when magic can be tasted in the air.
I pray that my days will be long at your side. Let me fill and satisfy every longing in your soul. May your hand be in mine, by sun and by night. Let our breaths twine and our blood become one until our bones return to dust. Even then, may I find your soul still sworn to mine.
Themes
War
Letters
Plant Life
Music
Familial Responsibility
Duty
Yearning
Enemies-To-Lovers
Power of Words
Characters
Iris Winnow - War correspondent at the Inkridden Tribune and high school dropout with a tough upbringing. Having lost her family and a possible job opportunity, she leaves Oath to become a war correspondent at the Inkridden Tribute. She has feelings toward her mysterious pen pal she only knows as Carver and Roman C. Kitt, her rival at the Oath Gazette.
Forest Winnow - Brother of Iris and currently in the gods’ war on behalf of Enva. His whereabouts are unknown, and he has not written to Iris despite promising to do so.
Aster Winnow - Mother of Iris. She has fallen on hard times and is killed by a tram while alone at night.
Daisy Elizabeth Winnow - Grandmother of Iris. She had one of the 3 Alouette typewriters and was great friends with the other two who also had the typewriters.
Roman Carver Kitt - Well-to-do columnist at the Oath Gazette. His family pressured him to gain status as a columnist at the Oath Gazette to marry Elinor Little and improve his family’s fortunes.
Georgiana//Del Kitt - Sister of Roman. While Roman was taking a nap, his younger sister drowned in the nearby lake.
Mr. Kitt - Well-to-do father of Roman. He forces his son into an arranged marriage and uses the guilt for his dead daughter to coerce Roman into the engagement.
Nan Kitt - Blunt and wise grandmother of Roman. She had one of the 3 Alouette typewriters and was great friends with the other two holders. She also finds the history between Enva and Dacre so Roman can give it to Iris.
Elinor Little - Daughter of Herman Little and betrothed to Roman despite having no love towards him.
Enva - Skyward goddess who plays music to convince people to join the gods’ war on her behalf. She has a history with Dacre where he supposedly coerced her into going into her Underworld to live with him and play for his court until escaping.
Dacre - Underling god that started a war against Enva as revenge for his escape of Enva from his land.
Sarah Prindle - A friend of Iris and another worker at the Oath Gazette.
Zeb Autry - Boss at the Oath Gazette.
Thea Attwood (Attie) - War correspondent for the Inkridden Tribune. Her family of musicians had their stringed instruments confiscated by locals for fear of their use by Enva.
Marisol Torres - The owner of bed-and-breakfast in Avalon Buff. Her wife, Keegan, is fighting in the gods’ war on behalf of Enva.
Richard Stone - Wealthy creator of the 3 Alouette typewriters.
bOOK cHAT: Divine Rivals
Review
Is Iris Winnow a likable character?
At the start of Divine Rivals, Iris instantly becomes a character to root for. We see her drive, ambition and love for her craft of journalism. She is sentimental and loves her family. Even though she had a tough upbringing, she understands that her mother had tried her best during difficult economic times. Iris fell in love with stories and history and knows the power of words. Rebecca Ross places Iris in different situations, and we see her grow within each chapter. She grows into a woman who knows the power that comes from pain and how to work through unprecedented times.
Is the romance believable?
In a very You’ve Got Mail-esque (as stated by our MBC community) execution, the romance is believable because Ross has Iris fall in love with two halves of the same person. Not only do we experience the electricity between Roman and Iris as they bicker, but we also experience vulnerability in the letters exchanged between Iris and Carver. The reader knows the truth, and once Iris discovers who Carver is, she has to piece her love for him together. Ross explores love through vulnerability in sharing stories to break the armour we all feel the need to tack on for protection.
Does the world-building immerse you?
If there is one thing Rebecca Ross does effortlessly, it is the gorgeous passage descriptions. Whether she is having her characters express their love for each other or explain the destruction of the gods, Ross describes the mythology in detail for readers to understand the meaning of the war. The conflict between Enva and Dacre is straightforward, and we learn about it through the letters exchanged between Carver and Iris. We also find out the truth about Dacre towards the end of the novel, and the epilogue leaves your heart shattered. Ross uses historical fiction as the foundation through the humanistic lens of journalism while coating it with romance and fantastical elements of the gods to create a balance between both.
What did you think about Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross? Let us know in the comments below, or join our discord today!
Become a member today to read more books and get access to behind-the-scenes content of ‘Maude’s Book Club.’
