Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Rivali divini by Rebecca Ross

74 reviews

kshertz's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I felt like it was a little bit of a slow start to try to get to know the characters and the worldbuilding, but as soon as I saw the two characters and their connection I was able to fully immerse in the story. Then I never wanted the story to end. The male characters love for the female character was absolutely to die for. I loved watching them fall in love and I loved all the commentary. I enjoyed watching them, make each other better and there was a great payoff when they finally admitted to being in love with each other. I will probably read the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zeitfensterr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

my heart is broken :( I love Iris and Roman and I love Atti and Marisol (don't know how their names are written) just as much :(( gotta read the second volume asap, because that cliffhanger will actually destroy me otherwise

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bananaza55's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was unfortunately a bit of a letdown for me, and maybe that’s due to the fact that it’s hyped pretty aggressively on booktok and other social platforms.

This was a fine book but it is definitely what I’d consider a romance focus with a light dusting of fantasy/magic elements. The fantasy elements are not explored or explained in any sort of depth. Though this is YA, it doesn’t compare to series like Shadow & Bone that gives you a vivid fantasy world with a true magic system. The focus is nearly wholly on the two main characters - both young journalists living in the capital or a fictional country at war. While war rages through their lands, it has not yet come to the capital and many believe it won’t. Their lives and interactions are the focus of this book, with a side quest/plot of the magical war that is apparently tearing society apart at the seams.

My issues with this book is that there are so many things that are really skipped over in service of the romance and to great detriment to the rest of the plot. While I commend the author for her creative way of introducing information (and doing it slowly) via letters, there simply is not enough to understand why the war is raging and what the rest of society is up to (we get a limited handful of side characters, most of which don’t drive the plot forward much).

There are more than a few plot holes - and it’s frustrating to get intrigued by a topic being introduced only to jump immediately to something else happening. 

I will give props where deserved - I think the author does a nice job of conveying the brutality of war to a YA audience and setting up a compelling concept - who wouldn’t be intrigued by the concept of a world where the gods were at war and humans were being recruited to fight on their behalf?

I’m intrigued enough by the last ¼ of the book and the cliffhanger ending (which I’m mad about for other reasons but we don’t have time to get into that) that I will likely pick up the second book and hope that Ross treats us to a more developed fantasy world where her characters can truly shine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Bullying and Sexism

writer_egreene's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lauramparis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content

elledanie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Do not recommend—doesn’t live up to all the hype. Where was the fantasy??

Was it seriously only the magical typewriter thing? The supernatural creatures we barely saw? “Divine” being used as simply an adjective instead of referring to anyone’s magic or abilities or anything related to gods/goddesses is so lame.

No one warned us that this was primarily a WWI book like?? No thx!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

juliamb's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Classism

stormeno's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“Even when the world seems to stop, threatening to crumble, and the hour feels dark as the siren rings… it isn’t a crime to feel joy.”

Iris is devastated when her brother goes off to war and begins writing him letters, slipping them into her wardrobe. Unbeknownst to her, the wardrobe is enchanted and just so happens to deliver them to her rival: Roman. Roman, a pompous rich kid, is vying for the same coveted columnist position Iris is going for. As they go head-to-head, the gods have risen from their slumber and soon a war rages on around them. 

With a little bit of everything—academic rivals to lovers, magical type writers, vengeful gods—this isn’t your typical enemies to lovers trope. As Iris and Roman’s mysterious connection is forged, we vicariously grow with them through their letters. It was such a unique way to bring this book to life. 

I really enjoyed it—except for that cliff-hanger ending!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Abandonment