I really wanted to love this. I had loved the first book so much. But it just seemed so rushed and just not really any build up. It just lacked a little something, in my opinion.

4.25

This is a very sweet romance with the magic/war as background noise.
Whilst there was a little more explained about the gods ( not enough for me) this is pretty much just about Roman and Iris’ relationship. Thankfully the amnesia bit didn’t last long as it’s something I personally don’t enjoy.
I did end up staying awake to finish it so despite its length, it is well paced. A decent ending to the duology. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Letters of Enchantment duology. I borrowed this on ebook through Kindle Unlimited.

Thoughts: This is the second, and final, book in the Letters of Enchantment duology. This started out very slow but got better as the book continued.

The book starts a couple weeks after Winnow is rescued by her brother and returned home and Roman disappears from the battle front. We quickly find that Winnow is being asked to go back out to the war front and that Roman has been healed and captured by Dacre, who wants Roman to represent Dacre's side of the story through press releases. Roman has lost his memory but then strange letters start appearing in his wardrobe again.

This started sluggish and reminds you of the first book a lot. We have two characters, who don't know each other (or at least Roman doesn't know he knows Winnow) communicating through a magical typewriter. This felt repetitive and I honestly hate it when authors use memory loss as a plot device.

The story got more intriguing as it progressed. I enjoyed learning more about the gods and their powers. We get to see a lot more of Dacre and his armies in this book than we did in the first book. Watching Roman and Winnow eventually team back up again was fun, but felt a bit like you were re-reading the first book again. I do continue to enjoy this fantasy World War One like world; it is well built and unique.

This was well written and easy to read. As mentioned above, the pacing was off throughout the story.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I ended up liking this even though it had a slow start. This does a good job tying up the series and I enjoyed learning more about the gods and their powers. I was disappointed with memory loss being used as a plot device in the beginning...I just think this is a trope that has been so over done. I loved the world here and was very engaged by the complex and lifelike characters as well. I plan on reading more of Ross's books in the future. ( )

A bittersweet, tho satisfying conclusion to Divine Rivals, but not quite as captivating. The constant barriers between the main characters was frustrating to the story and the reader. Rather than a couple huge barriers to overcome, like amnesia, or being held captive by the other side, it felt like a hundred insignificant obstacles that had to be slogged through to get to the end and reunion. ( )

Since this book was released last year, I have been excited about reading it. Yes, I had pushed it to the back of the burner to finish most of the books ahead of it, but I had decided now to finish up an amazing story of gods amongst humans and a magical typewriter that linked two souls together. I wanted to know their story. I wanted to know what kind of ending the author would give to, not only Iris and Roman but to the Gods and their war.

This book was a huge disappointment. This is a war between two selfish Gods who have made it a point to use humans on their chess boards without thought or concern. More with the way both of their egos have been bruised. I felt no sympathy for either of them but more for the people who had been losing their lives for something that seemed so pointless.

The connection with the characters was not there. Rather, Roman and Isis spend a lot of the book away from each other, but this is mainly due to Roman having amnesia and in the presence of the Dacre, writing his story to make him more sympathetic to those out there reading the Oath Gazette. In contrast, Iris spends her time running around.

Honestly, I almost did not finish this book. I loved the first book. I loved the world-building. The characters. The whole thing. This book, not so much. ( )