Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - A Review

This was my first 5 star read of the year and it deserves every single star. Divine Rivals is a YA novel with a WW1/WW2 theme that follows two rival journalists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt who both work at the Oath Gazette writing articles on the current war that is going on between the gods and fighting for the promotion only one of them can get. At home, Iris has been writing letters to her brother since he left without a reply in return, one day she gets a letter back. Iris forms a connection with her mysterious penpal, letting go of some of her armour and letting him into her heart. But when tradgedy enters Iris’s life, she leaves the Oath Gazette and her rival behind to find her brother who is fighting the war of the gods on the front lines.

Any words I use to describe this book will not do it justice. It was an exceptional read and refreshingly unique, I don’t think I have ever read a book quite like this one. Rebecca’s writing style really brings out the atmosphere of the book, she makes you feel like you’re standing right next to the characters. The description for pretty much everything in this book is absoutely beautiful from describing the appearance of a room to how the characters are feeling, Rebecca nails it every time. I can not find a fault with a single thing.

Iris and Roman are both two incredible characters, from very early on in the book I could relate to Iris, I felt a connection with her that I haven’t felt with many characters before. She is fierce and strong despite everything life has thrown at her and she loves so deeply you can feel it coming off the pages. In turn, Roman also has a lot of depth to him, he is such a loveable character and while his armour is always up on the outside, you can see the kind-hearted soul he is underneath.

This is one of those books that I’m kicking myself for not reading sooner but also glad I waited because I can dive straight into the second and final book of the Letters of Enchantment duology and after the ending we got, I will not be okay until I find out what happens next. If you haven’t read this I highly recommend you do, it is unlike any other YA fantasy I have read and it will absolutely steal a piece of your heart that you won’t get back.