I liked Divine Rivals and the gutsy characters facing wartime struggles and challenges, but I was surprised that the book's fantasy elements felt so fully in the background.
In Divine Rivals, Iris and Roman, two journalists, are competing for a permanent position as a newspaper columnist. The two are constantly at odds with each other, and each has erected emotional armor around a devastating loss.
Iris's beloved brother is missing in action in the war among the gods, and sending letters through a magical wardrobe is the only way she can reach him.
But the person receiving these missives is not Forest, but Iris's work nemesis, Roman. He keeps his knowledge secret, yet becomes more and more drawn to Iris.
I really liked this, but I was surprised by how light it felt on fantasy elements. The gods' war provides the structure for the book's main conflict, but the story feels primarily focused on everyday, regular-human wartime concerns--with an unlikely-feeling god-war and magical letter-sending method mixed in.
When one main character becomes a war correspondent and the other comes to the front, they create a deep bond that shapes the trajectories of both of their lives. Then an unexpected arrival and violent event rip apart everything Iris and Roman had been building.
I'm imagining that book two will offers glimpses into the gods' war?
I listened to this as an audiobook.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
Rebecca Ross has also written two other series, Elements of Cadence and The Queen's Rising, as well as two standalone novels: Dreams Lie Beneath and Sisters of Sword & Song.