The internet was actually right to recommend this one!

In Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, Iris is thrilled to get a job at the newspaper, where she hopes to win the promotion to columnist, so that she can write about the war between gods that’s currently raging several hundred miles away. However, competing for the same promotion is Roman, a frustrating man who seems to delight in aggravating her (though she gives back as good as she gets). As her workplace environment is irritating, though, one element of her life isn’t so bad—the letters she’s been exchanging with an anonymous young man, with help from their magical typewriters. But soon circumstances change for Iris, and she finds herself a war correspondent, on the frontlines of the battles and facing things she’s never dealt with before. And her only lifeline is, of all people, Roman.

This reminds me of You’ve Got Mail, if that story were set during World War I, and also there was magic and powerful deities. It’s quite an intriguing combination, honestly. I liked the mix of fantastical with historical and I think the world building was well balanced. There is a good amount of folklore surrounding the two gods at war, though I would definitely like to know more (though perhaps in a more organic way, rather than just reading written accounts of the old myths). I’m sure that will get explored more in the conclusion to this duology, though.

As for Iris, I think she’s a decent character, and her banter with Roman was great. I also like that we got some scenes from his point of view, so we knew without a doubt that (umm, spoilers, I guess?) he’s the one writing letters to Iris. Granted, I definitely would have been able to figure that out anyway, but seeing his perspective was still appreciated. That said, though, he really should have told her the truth earlier!

Also, while I enjoyed the romance well enough, I don’t know how believable it is that they fall in love quite so quickly. I mean, yes, it’s wartime and they’re in a situation where they could die suddenly, but something still felt a little rushed to me. Perhaps it was because I didn’t have a solid sense of how long they’d been writing to each other, so the ease with which they leapt to declaring passionate love for each other didn’t land perfectly with me. That said, I did mostly enjoy the progression of their relationship.

Aside from that, though, the parts of the story that draw from our actual history were great. The setting of the war hospital and the trenches were vivid and tense, full of excellent description and heightened emotions. You can feel, alongside the main characters, the fear and the cold, as well as the camaraderie and loss. And when the final chapters arrive, with all the intensity and action, it’s hard to put down. I definitely didn’t see the ending coming, and it certainly made me excited for the second book!

So in the end, while Divine Rivals isn’t a perfect book, it’s a lovely blend of history, magic, and romance with good characters, an interesting world, an excellent setting, and a compelling narrative. There’s sometimes more telling not showing than I’d like, but this is made up for other times with entertaining dialogue or touching emotional moments. I’m glad I waited until both books in the duology were published, because now I can pick up Ruthless Vows immediately!