Review – Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, Book 1) by Rebecca Ross (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 356 pages
Publisher:‎ Wednesday Books
Release Date: April 4, 2023
ASIN: ‎ B09Y468XS6
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Letters of Enchantment series
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 5/5 stars

“After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.”

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

Thoughts: I ended up really loving this book. I wasn’t certain what this was going to be about and was pleasantly surprised how quickly I grew to love the characters and how fast I feel right into this unique fantasy world.

The story changes POV between Winnow and Roman. Winnow is desperate to make it as a columnist at a local paper company, The Oath Gazette. Her great competition at the paper is Roman. Winnow is struggling with a missing brother and a mother with an addiction and finds solace in the letters she writes that disappear through a magical wardrobe. Roman is struggling with an overbearing father and a forced marriage and is receiving these letters from Winnow (unknown to Winnow).

I loved the characters here. You feel for both Winnow and Roman right away and are really drawn in to their stories. I was surprised by how quickly I engaged with them and how desperately I wanted things to go right for them.

I also absolutely loved the world here. The world has a very WWI vibe to it with people being called off to war. There are guns and vehicles and newspapers and electricity. However, the unique twist is people are being called to support different sides of a war between gods. There are also remnants of magical objects throughout that work that add a magical touch to things.

I think a lot of what propelled me through this story is the deep relationship that Winnow and Roman form through their letters and the way the world is falling apart around them.

The writing was effortless to read and the pacing was fast and consistent throughout. I think my only small complaint is that I really did not like how this book ended. However, I went in knowing that this is a duology and many times the end of the first book can be a bit of a downer in a duology.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this first book in the Letters of Enchantment series. I loved the amazing characters, the relationships they form, the intriguing world, and the unexpected magic sprinkled throughout. I would recommend to those who enjoy historical fantasy romances set in a WWI like era.