Even In The Silence, I Hope You Find The Words You Need To Share

I recently finished reading Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. This is book #1 in the Letters of Enchantment series. This was OwlCrate's May book. *POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 4/5 stars

"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." Divine Rivals is a historical fantasy romance that follows two rivals who end up writing letters that mysteriously reach other. While in the midst of a war that’s threatening to upend the world, these two rivals forge an unexpected connection that starts to bloom into something more.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but I honestly think that worked out for the better. This story has only faint fantasy elements and it relies heavily on the historical fiction genre. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to dip their toes into fantasy books. It seems like the sequel will involve a lot more fantasy, so I’m eager to see how all of the fantasy elements will be incorporated into this rich historical world that Rebecca Ross has created.

Iris and Roman are both really strong, solid characters to base this story around. They started off as arrogant and they both shielded who they truly were from each other, but as the story progressed, they began to unlock deeper meanings to each other in a really beautiful way. They were both flawed characters at first and it made me scared that I wouldn’t like the story. However, I grew to absolutely adore them by the end of the book. I was rooting for them to have a happily ever after and I loved how their slow burn romance painted a picture of how much they grew to care for each other. They both went through so much, but they stuck with each other even when times got hard. I’m desperately hoping that the next book will let them have a happy ending because it will hurt so much if they don’t end up together.

I really appreciated how this book dealt with the topic of grief and guilt. These topics were woven into the story really well. It wasn’t forced or awkward when these topics were brought up. I found myself moved multiple times throughout this story because of the grief that the characters experienced, and I feel like the grief and guilt themes will really resonate with readers.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for an interesting historical fiction romance. It starts off slow, but if you stick with it, it’ll get better and I’m sure that everyone can find something to love about this book. I can’t wait to read more of Rebecca Ross’ works in the future.

Check out Divine Rivals, and dive into what it means to truly be someone's rival.

Happy Reading :)