February 2024 Reread:
I enjoyed this one even more now that I knew what the focus of the book would be. On to book #2 now!

Quotes
I don't want to wake up when I'm seventy-four only to realize that I haven't lived.

I am coming to love him, in two different ways. Face to face, and word to word.

She had seen the fragility of life. How one could wake up to a sunrise and die by sunset. She had run through the smoke and the fire and the agony with Roman, his hand in hers. They had both tasted Death, brushed shoulders with it. They had scars on their skin and on their souls from that fractured moment, and now Iris saw more than she had seen before. She saw the light, but she also saw the shadows.
Time was precious here.



October 2023:
I know that 1,000s of others have said it, but that ending…wow. I will be reading the next book for sure.
I really liked all the letters that were exchanged. They were well-written and really added to the story.
It was difficult to get into this book until the 50% mark. I think it is because it was a lot more romance-focused than I was expecting. If that is what you’re going into this expecting, you will love this one.

4 Stars

Content: a non-descriptive *scene* between a married couple, war violence (think WWI) ( )

This book was interesting, but it wasn't something I would have read outside of this class. I thought the writing was great and the plot was interesting. ( )

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Letters of Enchantment series #1. YA / NA science fiction fantasy. Mythology. Cliffhanger.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. Eighteen-year old Irish Winnow is focused on her family and survival. Her brother left to fight in the war and she hasn’t heard from him. In her worry, she writes a letter to him, knowing she can’t mail it but wanting to express her sadness with gone and the problems with their mother. She slips the letter in the closet and finds it disappears the next day. Even more surprising she gets a letter from someone in return though she doesn’t know who.
Meanwhile Iris works as a competitive journalist, trying to win a permanent position at the newspaper. There she meets and competes with Roman Kitt. She might be interested in him but she needs the job more than a boyfriend. And for now, she can dream and find solace with her mysterious letter companion.

Mythology elements of war in a historical setting. Iris must wear shoes that are too small because there are no other options. A bit depressing as her brother is missing, there is very little money and her mother is depressed and needs help. Roman is a bright beam in the dark story as they progress towards the front. The magical typewriter is obviously important but we don’t know the full story yet.
The war brings danger and death and a cliffhanger.
I had to start this four times before it made itself interesting and I wasn’t aware of the cliffhanger areas of time. I will eventually read the second book but it may be next year before I get to it. I enjoyed The Queens Rising series more. ( )

4.25⭐ ( )

Sweet story but not up to the hype. Planning to read the next book. ( )