A review by lunaisreading
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

The plot, the setting, the pacing, the beautiful writing, the endearing characters, it all worked for me. It's a YA novel, so don't go into it expecting extremely intricate world-building (although that might change in the second book), but what it did introduce was good enough to set the scene and get you engaged in the story. I understand the criticisms in some reviews, but I believe it's one of those cases where you either connect with the book and absolutely love it, or you don't. Rarely happens for me, but in this case I really grew attached to the world and the characters. Overall, I got a very warm and cozy feeling while reading it (despite all the heartbreaking scenes and war setting) and didn't want to leave this world. Can't wait for book two! 

Spoiler
Roman is such a refreshing mmc, an extremely lovable person who's not afraid to be vulnerable, which is hard to find sometimes in "romantasy". I found his thoughts and behaviour towards Iris so wholesome to read about, and their romance was paced nicely and was not insta-lovey at all.
 
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