astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters)'s Reviews > Divine Rivals

"What the hell are you doing here, Kitt?" she demanded, shoving his chest. "Have you lost your mind?"
She felt his hands slide down her back, resting on the curve of her hips. If she wasn't so exhausted and stiff from the harrowing encounter they had miraculously survived, she would have knocked away his touch. She would have slapped him. She might have kissed him.
He only smiled as if she had read her mind, and said, "It's good to see you too, Winnow."

FOMO brought me here but now I'd like to publicly sue every single one of you who told me to read this because the emotional damage the last 20% of this book caused me won't fix itself.
Also, the fact that it took me this long to realize the D and R from the title are writing machine's keys and not cupcakes, should worry me but it strangely doesn't.




***
💌𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗦 - 𝗥𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗖𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦💌
★𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
★𝗬𝗔/𝗡𝗔/𝗔: 🆈🅰
★𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦: 𝙻𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃 #𝟷
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦: 𝙳𝚁𝙰𝙼𝙰 - 𝚆𝙰𝚁 - 𝙷𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝙵𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰𝚂𝚈 - 𝙼𝙰𝙶𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙼 - 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
★𝗣𝗢𝗩: 𝙳𝚄𝙰𝙻 𝙿𝙾𝚅 - 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝙳 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽 - 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴
★𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: 𝚂𝙻𝙾𝚆 𝙱𝚄𝚁𝙽 - 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻 𝚁𝙸𝚅𝙰𝙻𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂 - 𝚁𝙸𝙲𝙷 𝙼𝙼𝙲/𝙿𝙾𝙾𝚁 𝙵𝙼𝙲 - 𝙷𝙸𝙳𝙳𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚂 - 𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚂 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 - 𝙶𝙾𝙳𝚂 𝙰𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚁 - 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙱𝚈 𝙻𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴 - 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙳𝚁𝙰𝙼𝙰 - 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈
★𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: 👥👥👥👥½/𝟱
★𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼½/𝟱
★𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧: 📜📜📜📜½/𝟱
★𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: 💀💀💀½/𝟱 (𝙰𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙼 - 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙵𝚄𝙽𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂 - 𝙳𝙰𝙳𝙳𝚈 𝙸𝚂𝚂𝚄𝙴𝚂 - 𝚆𝙴𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝚄𝙿 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 - 𝙶𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙵 - 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴𝙳 𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂/𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁𝚂 - (𝚂𝚄𝚁𝚅𝙸𝚅𝙾𝚁) 𝙶𝚄𝙸𝙻𝚃 - 𝚆𝙰𝚁 (𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙸𝚃) - 𝚅𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴 - 𝙸𝙽𝙹𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂)
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🌻🌻🌻½/𝟱
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: 🌹🌹🌹🌹/𝟱 (𝙼𝙼𝙲 𝙸𝚂 (view spoiler)[𝙸𝙽 𝙰𝙽 𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝙳 𝙼𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙾𝚆, 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝙶𝙾𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙸𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴'𝚂 𝙽𝙾 𝙾𝚆 𝙳𝚁𝙰𝙼𝙰 (hide spoiler)] - 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝙼𝙼𝙲 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙵𝙼𝙲 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙻𝙸𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 (view spoiler)[𝙼𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙳 (hide spoiler)] 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙳!!!! - 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙶𝙾 𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧/𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬: ½/𝟱 (𝙺𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙽𝙾𝙽-𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙸𝚃 𝙵𝙰𝙳𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝚂𝙴𝚇 𝚂𝙲𝙴𝙽𝙴)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: -
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗬: ½/𝟱
★𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🤐🤐🤐/𝟱 (𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙶𝙴 - 𝙶𝚁𝙰𝙿𝙷𝙸𝙲 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚅𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚆𝙰𝚁)
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: 💔💔💔💔/𝟱
★𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘: ❌
★𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 𝙵/𝙼
★𝗥𝗘𝗣: 𝙰𝙽𝚇𝙸𝙴𝚃𝚈 - 𝙿𝚃𝚂𝙳 - 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝙵/𝙵 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
★𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦-𝗧𝗢-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🖤🖤/𝟱
★𝗧𝗬𝗣𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚:(view spoiler)[𝙲𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙵𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 - 𝙿𝙻𝙾𝚃 𝚃𝚆𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚂, 𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙲𝙷 (hide spoiler)]
★𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚: 🎶𝚂𝚆𝙴𝙴𝚃 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 - 𝚃𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙾𝚁 𝚂𝚆𝙸𝙵𝚃🎶
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***I always try to be as objective as I can with my ratings for DARK THEMES & TRIGGER WARNINGS, SMUT TECHNICAL CONTENT/INTENSITY, SMUT QUANTITY, ROMANCE QUANTITY, ANGST LEVEL, ENEMIES-TO-LOVERSNESS; the ratings for CHARACTERS, WRITING, PLOT, SMUT QUALITY, ROMANCE QUALITY, are instead tied to my own subjective reading experience and final opinion of the book.

It took me almost one month to finally process my feeling and give this book the review it deserves, and still, I find myself struggling to put to words the emotional turmoil Divine Rivals put me under.

Was it the writing? The sweet romance? The story? Was it the fact that, despite not being part of the age group this was targeted at, I saw myself in both the main characters and could relate to their personal arc, both individually and as a couple?
I have no idea, but if I had to try a guess, I'd say it's simply a combination of all these things, plus the fact that Rebecca Ross is a crazy talented author.
I've had the chance to discover her just recently, after reading a book that'd been on my tbr since 2017, and I'm glad to conclude she's gotten even better with time and experience.

Divine Rivals is abook I recommend going into blindly and one I definitely can't see anyone savoring slowly. Once you get into it, stopping is as hard as breathing under water.
Rooting for the main characters to find themselves will become a new hobby, but rooting for them to find happiness by finding each other, will become an obsession.
The progression from rivals to lovers is so smooth, almost soothing in its naturality.
The setting is atmospheric, described so perfectly you can almost smell the stinging scent of gunpowder, hear the crinkle of the paper and the click of Iris and Roman's writing machine's keys.
I don't know why, but while reading it, I couldn't stop thinking of one of my favorite movies, Un long dimanche de fiançailles. They have really similar vibes and not because they both take place during a war and tell the story of two very unfortunate lovers, but also because of the gray-ish undertones, the raw portrayal of reality, and the bittersweet romance.
I like to consider myself pretty experienced when it comes to the reading scene, but those last pages made me feel like I was on a literal rollercoaster, even though I kind of saw it all coming.
I didn't expect the pain to be so powerful, probably. It wasn't until the end that I realized just how invested I am in the magical realism of this story and the delicious pain that comes with this romance.

Speaking of romance. I'm at a loss of words for how perfect it plainly was.
These two simply can't not be together. THEY CAN'T.
Roman is adorable, a real gentleman and the most cinnamon roll to ever roll, but for me, Iris stole the show. I admire her so much and my heart cried for how strong and brave she always was, despite everything she had to endure.

I can't wait for the sequel to come out, even tho, I'll admit, I am also a little scared of what will and could happen in it.
I hope that, if Rebecca Ross eventually decides to break my heart with Ruthless Vows, she wrecks it neatly so that it'll have the strenght to heal properly.