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i don't think this was an offensively bad book. but it wasn't all that AH-MAZING either. there were some parts i loved, but most of it didn't meet up to my HIGHH expectations.

i think my biggest mistake was going in with big expectations. will i ever learn? no. hehe

we all know how this book was one of the biggest, most sensational reads of 2023. everywhere readers were raving about how much of a masterpiece this is and how romaniris have the most groundbreaking, heartwrenching love story.

now imagine my disappointment when i see iris falling in love with roman out of... nowhere?? i get her deep connection with caraver, her mysterious correspondent. i totally feel her love for him (despite all the cheesy wannabe poetic letters), but for roman?? he's just an academic rival who isn't even the main part of the book for like 50% or more. whenever she sees him, her heart flutters and she feels a sort of deep connection to him despite having feelings for caraver (despite her not yet knowing that caraver is roman). roman leaving his most hard-earned job to fly all the way to iris at the midst of war, only bcz of love that spawned out of nowhere?? absolutely tf not.

what can i say, they get married the second they learn each other’s middle names.

this is the epic gut wrenching romance i was waiting for y'all 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀��

THERE WAS NO POWER OF LOVE.
THIS WAS NOT EPIC.
THIS WAS I'D RATHER SAY, SUPERFICIAL.
AND IT MADE ME FEEL... NOTHING.

i'm more of a realistic depiction of love kinda girl. i don't believe in classic love. the "it's love at first sight but i'd still cross oceans for you even if it costs my life" kinda love is absolutely unrealistic bullshit for me. it makes me laugh. i feel that's a really superficial or rather a lazy approach to depict this magnetic feeling of love that deeply connects two souls. i expected this book to explore that depth. it never did.

Our protagonists? nothing special. nothing the YA-genre hasn't seen before. Poor girl with big plans for her life, rich guy with tragic backstory who needs to figure out who he is without his horrible parents's influence.

the writing was decent but it wasn't hauntingly mesmerizing that could blow my tender little heart away. this felt like one of those books that focused mainly on the writing. the song-of-achilles phenomenon where the plot is negligible but i stayed all the way for writing. except that when it comes to this particular category, i would choose the song of achilles over divine rivals anytime anyday. divine rivals felt more like a cheesy undertoned version of the song of achilles, it even feels like a crime to compare this to madeline miller's out of the world writing. it's absolutely unmatched.

i know it's totally unfair to compare these two different books but for me they are on a similar ground (the writing) that made me continue reading the book despite sensing soon enough that the plot won't make me stay. and that's why for me it was so comparable.

plot: ik this had fantasy but i wasn't really expecting it to be a major part of the story. i jumped in thinking this was all gonna be a sensational romance with a little magical subplot. imagine my surprise when i see literal gods fighting lmao. not to mention inventing a whole ass mythology takes some work rebecca. it's a challange you certainly were not upto. i don't think even rebecca knew what she was writing for 90% of the book. the fantasy was THAT all over the place. god it was messy.
(and to say this book won the gr choice award for the best fantasy and science fiction of 2023💀 science fiction where bitch?💀😭)

the world building was not that well done. i never knew which era this was set in. everything felt like a historical fiction from typewriters to letters for conveying msgs and then out of nowhere i read them mentioning baseball and lifts?? the war was a major part of the book and yet it felt like a subplot?? the romance was supposed to be the major plot and yet it also felt underwhelming?? how can your book be focused on two of the biggest genres of literature and yet make them both feel incomplete?

that's some poor writing for me.

Franzi says: I beg you to read one good romance in your life because if you're all that amazed by this cheap-ass rivals-to-lovers story, I promise you, you'll be easily satisfied in the romance genre. I can't even complain about the romance too much, it was just boring.
the plot was really weirdly paced. We spent a lot of time pre-war that could've been shortened and when Iris and Roman finally get into a war zone (god, that sounds bad, we should be ready for all the brutalities bound to happen to our mcs right!? bahaha my ass), it doesn't really feel like a war zone. They're living their best lives, going on runs, having fun and never doing their supposed jobs of being war correspondents.

the war part could have been such a tragic brutal part of the story but rather our main protagonists were busy planting on gardens, going on dates in hikes, and writing cheesy ass letters. smh, so many missed opportunities (the whole book is a missed opportunity lmao).

conclusion: don't trust booktok.