Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1) in Just One More Chapter

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Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)

Rebecca Ross

Start date: November 1, 2023

Finish date: December 3, 2023

Why we're reading this: Member-led buddy read, find thread in #ya-fiction.

September 25th, 2023

Strawberry: Warring gods, gothic gl…more
[close] Member-led buddy read, find thread in #ya-fiction.

September 25th, 2023

Strawberry: Warring gods, gothic gloomy atmosphere? writing letters to each other, spilling deepest darkest secrets on pages while being enemies, and rivals IRL??? please, this book is perfection, also this is MY FIRST BOOK REC EVER!! THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO CONVINCE YOU ALL TO READ THIS BOOK ASAP.

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Apr 08, 2023 Mei 鈽斤笌 rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-reviewed

Update 7/5/23: I was rough on this one when I first read and reviewed it, but I think it def. had to do with my mood and expectations of what I wanted from this. I did like the romance (just really was desperate for more worldbuilding), and the ending of the book did a great job with SO MUCH FEELS too, so I'm bumping this up. I said I wasn't really interested in the second book in my original review, but I actually am now -- esp. as I feel it would deliver on things I wanted from this book. 馃ぃ

--- Update 7/5/23: I was rough on this one when I first read and reviewed it, but I think it def. had to do with my mood and expectations of what I wanted from this. I did like the romance (just really was desperate for more worldbuilding), and the ending of the book did a great job with SO MUCH FEELS too, so I'm bumping this up. I said I wasn't really interested in the second book in my original review, but I actually am now -- esp. as I feel it would deliver on things I wanted from this book. 馃ぃ

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4/8/23: Divine Rivals had a lot of potential but ultimately fell flat for me. I loved the vibes (London WW2-esque with a touch of magic/fantasy elements? YES! Also the idea of young journalists and epistolary romance? YES!!!) AND the cover is absolutely gorgeous! But... many things about the main romance and the plot just didn't work for me.

The epistolary romance with the letters was nice and fun to read, and I don't mind that it's one-sided hidden identity (MMC knows it's FMC, but she doesn't know it's him), but things kind of went forward oddly imo? Just the way they talked about things I guess haha. And how fast it seemed that they were falling in love. I wanted more friendship building. I did enjoy the rivalry in the newspaper/workplace, but I really wish we got to see more of that because again, I wanted more rivalry building. There were many things I loved about both Iris and Roman as characters, especially as things started going and we got to see more of them, but it really felt like the foundation was a bit weak from the getgo, so the buildup therefore didn't work either and I had to suspend my disbelief to believe they were in love. I get it's wartime so things obviously kind of have to move fast, so it might be a little nitpicky of me. The subplot of Roman's family also didn't do much for me, and while I'm glad it propelled him to take action, the threads of that kind of just disappeared (because I'm sure that will be explored in the next book, so.).

I think a huge part of it was that the pacing felt off for me from page one. On top of that, the worldbuilding in the bigger world is talked about, not really seen. The deeper dive into the lore/myth of the gods is literally told in textbook style and even THAT part of it is talked about less. 鈽狅笍 We'd get the information, but nothing was really done with it for a long while. I absolutely hated that. 馃槀I obviously love reading romance, but this was a case where I wanted the bigger world to be more of a focus than this hyper close-up view of these two characters and their romance. I enjoyed a few of the side characters, and what things might be going on with the war, but definitely not invested enough to continue on with the sequel. ...more

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Nov 22, 2023 Dania rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

i am in immense pain right now.

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Aug 27, 2023 Alice Jane rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.25猸�
This book was something I picked on a whim. I was skeptical of the book given its hype but I'm glad I picked it up. This book was not the type of books I read but after some brutal reads I had to pick something lighter.
The story is rather simple and easy to follow. I liked the setting. The worldbuilding was not complex so this was an easy and fast read. The pacing is well set
The characters are well written and lovable. There is not much information about the gods except some myths and so ...more

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May 31, 2023 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Reread 12/12/2023: nevermind. 5 stars. Perfection.

4.5 stars!

This book was amazing. It had all the things that I liked:
-Hate to love
-Fluffyness
-ML falls harder for the FL
-A dash of fantasy

This book had me kicking the air while reading the letters between the two main characters, which are both so charming.

Loved this very much. The reason why it's 4.5/5 is because, and this is totally personal, there was a moment that I had a hard time not to cringe, but that's mainly it. Nevertheless, I DEVOUR ...more

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