Review: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley.  Thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Young Listeners for the opportunity to read and review this early.  As always all opinions are my own.

The audio narrators were wonderful.  The did an amazing job brining Kitt and Iris to life.   I really enjoyed that we get alternating male and female dialogue where appropriate so if feels like they are having a conversation.   I mainly opted to listen to the audiobook and couldn't put it down once I started.  

I loved this!  I've been a fan of Ross' work for sometime so when I saw that she had a new YA Fantasy out I jumped on the chance to read it.  This follows Iris, and aspiring journalist who is struggling to keep things together after her brother leaves for the war front.  Iris is competing for a columnist position at a reputable newspaper with Roman Kitt.  Roman is handsome, rich, and put together; basically everything Iris is not.  They are opposites in everyway, but their opposition drives them to be better at their craft.  While Iris can't stand Kitt, what she doesn't know is that they are tied together in the most unusual way.  When Kitt wins the spot at the paper, Iris decides to become a war correspondent in an attempt to escaper her life that has fallen apart and to find her missing brother on the front.  Iris not only becomes a published writer, but she also finds so much more on the front than she was expecting.

I really love what Ross did with the mythology aspect in this.  I'm not sure if the myth is based on an actual myth or if she completely made it up.  Either way I really enjoyed that there was something otherworldly driving the war and a small magical and fantastical element to the plot.   I really liked the concept of the magical typewriters and I'd love to know where the 3rd one is.  I wonder if we'll ever find out.  This does heavily focus on the rivals to lovers trope, and while we do get the background myth that started the war I hope to get a bit more background or interaction with the gods in book 2.  I love mythology whether made up or based in ancient cultural myth and legend so I really appreciate when an author weaves that into their storyline.  

This is classified as YA, but it does have some more serious and mature themes.  This does end on a cliffhanger, and I cannot wait for the next book!  I'm so anxious to find out what happens next!  I loved the development of the relationship between Iris and Kitt and Iris and Carver.  I really loved Iris' character development throughout the book.  In the beginning I was wondering if she was going to throw in the towel, but she really snapped out of it and stepped up.  She was appropriately scared in the situations she was in, but she was also courageous, kind, and selfless.  As a correspondent she is supposed to write what she sees, but she was also respectful of the soldiers and wasn't just in it for a story.  While this was tense and serious at times, it also has light hearted moments as well.  The banter between Iris and Kitt is witty and their romance is fun.  

Content warnings: loss of a parent, addition specifically alcohol, PTSD, violence and injury due to war, non graphic intimacy

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Review: The Queen's Resistance by Rebecca Ross

The Queen's Resistance by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.  This releases March 5, 2019.

I'll be honest, I've had the ARC of this for quite some time, but I put off reading it. One because the release date wasn't until March of 2019 and two because I've been let down by so many other YA follow-on's. Let me tell you I should not have put this off for so long. I really enjoyed The Queen's Rising and this one did not disappoint. I read it in about 2 days once I settled in. I pretty much couldn't put it down.

This picks up immediately after The Queen's Rising ends, with Brienna now a Mistress of Knowledge and a daughter of MacQuinn by adoption. She is comfortable with the first role and not as comfortable in the second as the people of MacQuinn know who her biological father was and he wasn't exactly kind to the MacQuinn house under the prior king. Brienna gets some good advice that if she is true and stays the course, the people will come to love her. This is harder work that it seems, but Brienna is strong and willing to take on the challenge and help her people heal. She also acts as friend and advisor to Isolde, who is to become the new Queen.

The other perspective we follow in the book is Cartier also known as Aodhan, who is a Master of Knowledge, Brienna's former teacher, a long lost Lord of Maevana, and Brienna's love interest. Aodhan/Cartier must put his own castle back together as he is the Lord of Morgane and help his people come together after the tyranny and wounds they have suffered. He must also help the Queen build alliances and figure out which houses are loyal to her and which are trying to overthrow her. In the midst of putting his house together and making political alliances, Cartier finds a boy squatting in his castle. He immediately takes the boy in and nurses him back to health and finds work for him while never knowing his true identity. We eventually learn the boy's true identity as well as much of the family history between Cartier and the Lannon family.

I really loved that we get a ton of back story in this book. We get a history lesson of what happened to Aodhan/Cartier's family on the day the Lannon's overthrew the Morgane, MacQuinn, and Kavanagh houses to take the throne. There is a ton of political intrigue and a lot of twists and turns I didn't expect. There is a huge focus on family in this book both blood relation and the family you choose. I really liked that. I was so engaged in reading, that I didn't want to put the book down. I was intimidated by the size of the book as it is quoted at nearly 500 pages but I tore through it it just a few sittings.

I will say I wanted a little more of the magic system. It takes a backseat to the plot. I do like that the romance element between Cartier and Brienna was there but it was very slow burn and also takes a back seat. They know they care for each other and want to be together and that's it. There is no drama or sappy bits. I also love the Macquinn tradition with the ribbon in the tapestry. You'll understand when you read the book. That was a nice touch. Overall, I loved this. The writing was excellent as was the pacing. This was a great follow up.

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Review: The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.  This book releases February 6, 2018, and I highly recommend it.

I really loved this! It isn’t as fast paced and action packed as typical YA fantasy, but I didn’t mind that one bit. It starts off slow and builds up to the action. I thought I knew how it was going to play out, but I was pleasantly surprised when the plot twist I thought I saw coming never happened. I love it when books aren’t predictable. I won’t spoil it for you either.

Queen’s Rising follows Brienna, a young girl who has been hidden away by her grandfather so her father won’t find her. We don’t know why it is important that her father doesn’t find her for much of the book, and I won’t spoil it for you now. Brienna is hidden at Magnalia, a school where talented students study one of the passions, wit, art, music, knowledge, or drama. Brienna struggles to find her place as a passion during her 7 years at Magnalia. She tries each of the passions and finds knowledge to be the best fit though she must study harder than the other students. Her teacher Master Cartier works hard to preparer her to find a patrion, which will signal the end of her studies at Magnalia. When she does not find a patron at her “graduation” she is left to continue her studies while the other students go off on their own adventures. Around the time of graduation, Brienna begins experiencing visions related to memories of one of her ancestors. These visions are tied to her ancestor and a lost artifact that once belonged to a queen. Brienna becomes entangled in a plot to restore the queen’s lineage to the throne. She must use the visions to find the artifact and place the rightful queen back on the throne of a broken country.

I absolutely loved Ross’ writing. It drew me in from the beginning. I loved the characters. The bad guys were bad, the good guys were good, and there were some ambiguous characters that you just weren’t sure about. I loved the visuals that were painted. My only real complaint, and it is very minor, was that all of the characters had aliases because they were all in hiding as the plot unfolds. I was confused at times as to who was who, but most of the time it was with side characters that didn’t really play much of a role in the story. I also loved that the story stands alone. It appears to be part of a trilogy, but I very much appreciate that it ends with a satisfying ending and I don’t have to wait until the next book to find out what happens. I want to read the next book because I want to know what lies in store for the world and the characters.


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