Review: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)

Title: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)
Author: Rebecca Ross
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: April 4, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross’s Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

Review:

Eighteen-year-old Iris is struggling with the new war that has broken out between gods. Her brother is missing from the frontlines and Iris is at home with her ill mother. Iris’s goal is to win the columnist position at the newspaper Oath Gazette, but she must compete against the wealthy and privileged Roman Kitt. To bring her comfort, Iris writes letters to her brother, then slides them under the door of her wardrobe where they disappear. She doesn’t know that these letters land in the bedroom of Roman Kitt. Roman writes back to her, anonymously, though Roman knows it’s Iris writing to him, and they develop a pen pal relationship. Their relationship grows, following Iris to a job at the frontlines, until they come to life and death decisions. 

Enemies to lovers is quickly becoming one of my favourite tropes. There was a lot of world building and setting up the story at the beginning. There was some magic in this world, particularly with the typewriters that Roman and Iris could use to send letters back and forth. The characters weren’t all likable at the beginning, but I grew to love them. The ending of this story had my heart pounding. It’s going to be a long wait until the sequel comes out next year. 

I highly recommend Divine Rivals!

Content warnings: alcoholism, war, PTSD

Have you read Divine Rivals? What did you think of it?