In the last decade or so, fantasy has taken on many forms. Before, many thought of those with a medieval like setting as falling into the genre of fantasy. Now, however, fantasy can have a multitude of time era inspired settings from modern day to Ancient Greece, and in the case of Divine Rivals, a World War II inspired setting.
Iris Winnow is desperately trying to keep the scraps of family together. Her mother suffers from addiction and her older brother, Forest, is missing from the front lines. The only hope to improve her situation is to win a promotion as a columnist at the prestigious Oath Gazette, a title she and her rival, Roman Kitt are competing for.
The setting takes place in the fictional world off Cambria with a World War II inspired setting with fictional gods that wage war over who will rule.
Rebecca Ross’ writing style is quite a sophisticated one, the tone and speech of the characters matching the era in which the story is set, but still easy enough to understand for readers without being over the top.
One of the more interesting aspects of this novel is why there is a war in the first place. Rather than a battle between countries or governments, it is instead a war of gods who had laid dormant for thousands of years before awakening and seeking dominance over the world. It’s an interesting idea that gets some exploration within the novel. However, there are two main focuses within the book itself. The first one is with Iris and her relationship with her brother, Forest. It is clear that they both have a strong sibling bond and that his going off to war has affected her deeply. The letters they write to each other are touching and make the reader root for them to be reunited.
The second focus point is on Iris’ relationship with Roman Kitt, her journalistic rival and love interest throughout the book. Roman is also quite the interesting character to read, haughty, but it’s clear he cares for Iris and the plight regarding her brother. While their relationship does technically fall into the category of enemies to lovers (a trope that has become quite popular) it’s done in a way where it doesn’t come off as them being cruel to each other and to go with the title of the book, they are more rivals than they are enemies.
The plot doesn’t race through its beats, nor does it slow down to a crawl, but instead it carries the reader right along as we join these two on their adventure. The ending will leave readers desperate to get their hands on the second book, Ruthless Vows, as soon as possible!
Written by:
Lauren Lapinski
Information and Digital Services Assistant
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 