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thetypedwriter · 5 months

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The Brothers Hawthorne Book Review

The Brothers Hawthorne Book Review

You know, this book is pretty good! You might be taken aback by my surprise, but Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ series about the wealthy Hawthorne family has been fun at best and poorly characterized at worst.

The entire series has been carried on its entertaining elements: from the puzzles, riddles, and enjoyable (albeit predictable) twists and turns, only the plot and its labyrinthine lines has made these books enjoyable at all.

However, this book tones down the puzzles and focuses a little more on the characters, a recipe that works really well for me and what I’ve essentially been begging Barnes to do since the first title, The Inheritance Games.

This novel, called The Brothers Hawthorne, is a misnomer. It’s only about two of the brothers, Jameson and Grayson, leaving Nash and Xander as one-dimensional as they’ve always been. But hey, I’ll take it. Two brothers getting some characterization is better than the zilch we’ve been getting in previous books.

The book alternates POV’s between Jameson and Grayson, chronicling different plotlines of them trying to solve two very different mysteries.

Jameson’s story follows a rather thin chain of events where he gets entangled with a secret club called The Devil’s Mercy. The club boasts clients of only the rich and powerful variety, a club that Jameson can’t help but be tantalized by.

Jameson’s chapters simply follow him trying to get into The Devil’s Mercy, gain the attention of the man in charge, the Proprietor, and then solving a puzzle put forth by the Proprietor against other competitors for Vantage, a Scottish castle that belongs to Jameson’s estranged father.

The focus on Jameson, for lack of a better description, is boring and ridiculous. It’s in my opinion that Barnes couldn’t think of anything better for Jameson to do than finding more rich people who are also hungry and who also love to play games. I like the bits with Jameson and his father, but there weren’t enough scenes of them.

Unfortunately, only a handful are sporadically sprinkled throughout the book. If there had been more of Jameson coming to terms with his complicated relationship with his mysterious father, it would have been much more interesting than anything dealing with The Devil’s Mercy.

Grayson’s plotline, on the other hand, is handled with much more care and consideration. Even though the stakes are much lower (no Scottish castles or jumping onto bell towers) it's a hundred times more intriguing because I actually learned about Grayson’s emotions, his ties to his family, and his flaws. With Jameson, you kind of do, but it’s shallow and not nearly as deep as Grayson’s begrudging affection for his half-sisters.

Grayson’s story essentially revolves around keeping the true nature of Sheffield Grayson (his father) dead and buried and away from his sisters. He sabotages their efforts in learning what happened to Sheffiled Grayson with the mentality of protecting them. However, the more time he spends with them, the more his affection—and his guilt—grows.

While not the most novel of plotlines to exist, the emotions feel real at the very least. It’s the first time in the entire series where Grayson and Jameson feel like different, distinct people to me and not just pretty archetypes for Avery to agonize over.

Grayson’s family dynamics fascinated me much much more than any cockamamie game Jameson was playing in England because he’s constantly hungry due to an inferiority complex stemming from childhood.

The relationships Grayson builds with his sisters and their mother, in addition to coming to terms with the fact that he’s not perfect and certainly not okay, is a heavier reckoning than Jameson trusting Avery with a secret that’s not that deep and not that interesting.

Speaking of Avery, her bits were so painful that it hurt.

Every time Jameson or Grayson mention her I wanted to retch. Her and Jameson are just so perfect together. Perfect to the point that it’s unrealistic and fake. Every time Jameson solves a riddle, Avery is right there with him, equal in terms of logic and intelligence.

I get that Barnes wants to portray Avery as smart, but the idea that they’re completely and utterly synchronized every single step of the way feels so paltry and disingenuous that it makes me actively dislike any part of the book that contains both of them.

Jameson on his own is tolerable. Jameson “burning” for Avery and “breathing” for Avery is absolutely stupid. Thank goodness she was just a side character in this and didn’t have her own POV.

Other than the complaints about Avery, The Brothers Hawthorne is an enjoyable read. Could the characterization be more complex and sophisticated? Yes. Is the plot pretty foolish and duplicitous? Yes. Is it more enjoyable than the last few books of the same series? Also, yes.

Will I read the next installment? Unfortunately, yes.

While The Brothers Hawthorne is a step in the right direction, these books are still more candy cotton fun than true substance. You know what though? Sometimes that’s okay. Not every book you read has to have an intricate plotline with heavy elements and intense characters.

Sometimes books can just be fun.

Sometimes all you want is cotton candy.

Recommendation: The Brothers Hawthorne is probably my favorite book in the series since The Inheritance Games. If you’re still on the Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ bandwagon, don’t jump off now. Read The Brothers Hawthorne and enjoy the morsels of characterization that get tossed your way.

Score: 7/10

#the brothers hawthorne #the inheritance games #jennifer lynn barnes #ya book rec #yaromance #ya fiction #book blog #book review #book recommendations #book rec #popular fiction #books #popular books #top books #favorite books #book recs #7/10

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deanpinterester · 1 month

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anyway i've said this before but the movie downplayed katniss's burns soooo much and for what. her body was on fire. even if we weren't going to physically see the actual burn wounds, we should still see that katniss is ill af. she should be ghostly white and sweating bullets. she should be crying from pain even through all the medicine. she should be semi-conscious at best and super sick. she has third-degree burns all over her WHOLE BODY. her face and hair should not have been mostly spared, despite what the book said. we are not feeling this moment!! she and we just watched her sister die!! but she wakes up from being exploded and everything is clinical and sterile and she's fine!! where are the vibes? the emotions? we should be feeling that she is shattered, spiritually AND physically!! but i guess i shouldn't be surprised by the movies that couldn't even be bothered with the "invisible" disabilities like peeta's leg and katniss's (even if temporary) hearing loss

#uhhhh me #they needed their star to look pretty etc etc #'invisible' in quotations bc i don't think a prosthetic leg is invisible per se #just in the sense that the movies literally never have to show it again after the first movie bc peeta never wears shorts anyway #like it's low effort in terms of sfx and makeup but the movie still wouldn't do it anyway #these posts make it seem like i hate the movies but i don'ttt #i just think they didn't utilize a lot of the visceral parts of the books by virtue of being a popular hollywood movie #be so real with me rn when has YA adaptations ever allowed their protag to be physically 'ugly'#love shadow and bone to bits but they could have tried harder to make alina sickly and pale in the first few episodes

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darkacademiaarchivist · 4 months

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might make a conspiracy board to connect all the Kersting Gier books lore because honestly Silber and Vergiss Mein Nicht could be set in the same universe... Because Cassian mentioned weird dream stuff so that could fit into Silber (and maybe wolkenschloss because it's very ambiguous if magic is real? i think it was implied the hotel is haunted but not completely obvious)

#i haven't read vergiss mein nicht book 2 yet so if book 2 answers all these questions i have forgive me #i kinda forgot what happened in the first one and then forgot to reread it until now #BUT there was a secret society that could hypothetically fit into the vergiss mein nicht lore #is this too niche? i feel like ruby red and silver are fairly popular but idk if there's really a fandom #rambling about german ya books #kerstin gier #silber #the silver trilogy #silber trilogie #edelsteintrilogie #rubinrot #kerstin gier cinematic universe real?!#vergissmeinnicht #vergiss mein nicht #was man bei licht nicht sehen kann #my post

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brechtian · 4 months

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even after giving away like half I still have so many signed YA books I don’t want anymore is there a market for that on here.

#what would a nerd pay for a signed first edition of son of Neptune #if you name a popular YA book from the 2010s there’s a 50/50 shot I have it and there’s a decent chance it’s signed #oh and so many signed Sanderson books #I usually just turn them in for credit at my local used bookstore but idk . does anyone want these

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potato-lord-but-not · 1 year

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Let it be known that when this was posted, I was ending the year off with sparkling grape juice and drawing Moist and Adora

#2022 was personally pretty great for me #can’t say the same about the rest of the world but hey it’s the little things that keep ya going #I mean I’m in a relationship with THE most amazing person ever. I made the picrew which was surprisingly popular #I started commissions. read some awesome books.#I drove all the way to VIRGINIA to see a stage production of GOING POSTAL AND IT WAS AMAZING #life’s pretty good. thanks everyone for enjoying my silly little drawings <3 #artists on tumblr #traditional art #digital art #art summary #2022 art summary #art summery 2022 #2022 summary of art

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mulderscully · 5 months

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Hi! Apologies if you’ve already talked about this. I was just curious if you’ve also watched Young Royals. Like RWRB, it also has a queer love story involving a prince and a non-royal, it’s also anti-monarchy, and it also goes against normal fairy tale stories in that instead of the prince rescuing the normal person and making them royal, the normal person doesn’t give a shit about the monarchy and rescues the prince who wants to be normal.

i haven't, but i've seen gifs. it seems sweet but i'm not really interested in teen shows, unfortunely. literally the biggest pull of rwrb for me as a book was that they were millennials lol (and that alex is bi and latine, like me)

#reply #there are quite a few of these stories after rwrb become so popular #i was just a year older than henry when the book came out ya know #then we're almost the same age again in the bonus chapter!! <3

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nimoy · 10 months

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i never get customers who are interested in the types of books i like im really in the trenches. i got a customer today who asked me what the most interesting true crime book would be and i steered him away from serial killers and grabbed books about cults and the cia because he wanted something unique and different and he picked out a fucking james patterson book. 😭😭😭!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#i try to keep up w rly popular titles and subjects even if i dont read them #but i always get ppl asking for ya recs or like business/finance recs or romance recs and im in the trenches im suffering #when will a customer ask me for recommendations on extremely niche social science books or horror books. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#tp

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tobias-fell · 2 years

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"this book has gay characters" is no longer a significant and unique trait in the YA book world, and a lot of really low quality books are still getting upheld as perfect and special for it anyways, despite their, you know. complete lack of anything else good

and it's an interesting phenomenon but also a very annoying one

#bookblr #books #representation #ya books #like YES i understand the want to read about people like you #i'm not only queer but also autistic ffs!!! i've read 2 books ever that had autism rep that didn't make me cringe #so obviously ''good [minority here; often queer ppl] rep'' is tempting. i know. i know #BUT #to be honest. it's not unique anymore in YA #and thats a good thing!!!! books having queer characters should NOT be some special unique thing!! it should be common!!!#... and. uh. it also means we need to acknowledge that some of these books have No merits beyond their queer characters #and maybe one (1) popular and moderately well done trope

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annafromuni · 9 months

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Should City of Ashes Be a Book?

Let me ask you a question – when you recall the events of Cassandra Clare’s incredible Mortal Instruments series, do you remember this book? Can you tell me the plot? The key events? The subplots and extra threads woven into this book? I’m hoping the answer is yes to at least the latter questions because, in all honesty, City of Ashes has very little to talk about. It’s a real shame because I…

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#city of ashes #cassandra clare #the mortal instruments #shadowhunters #clary fray #jace wayland #jace lightwood #izzy lightwood #alec lightwood #simon lewis #nephlim #demons #vampires #werewolves #ya books #ya fantasy #popular ya fantasy #popular ya books #book review

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wakingupnexttoyou · 1 month

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4.5⭐

I fell in love with these boys. Especially Ronan. I would Kill for a book series about him!!!! (As I'm writing this I go back to see what other books she's written and find this is already a thing. Consider these added to my tbr right away!!)

I still have a lot of questions but I suppose that is the nature of books like this. I almost always feel like I've been in a fever dream when I finish them lol.

#4.5 star book #4.5 stars #4.5 star read #today's read #what i'm reading #the raven king #the raven cycle #the raven boys #the dream thieves #blue lily lily blue #ya novels #fantasy #popular books #bookstagram #booktok #book review #canada #canadian

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akirakirxaa · 7 months

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FFXIVWrite Prompt 16: Jerk

Rating: M

Word Count: 1502

Warnings: Vampirism, description of blood drinking

Summary: Persephone awakens to her new life. [Vampire AU, Hythazemet, Continuation of Prompt 15.]

Master Post

There was darkness all around. No matter where Persephone looked, she saw nothing. Or, perhaps, her eyes simply wouldn’t open. She felt like she was floating in a gentle current, one that maybe was carrying her away. But just as she felt herself fading again, it was as if something took a firm hold of her hand and held her back, keeping her from the all-encompassing darkness that threatened to drag her under. It was then she remembered.

Persephone jerked awake, gasping for air as if she’d been deep underwater. The room was just as dark as before, but despite it, she could easily make out the shapes of the furniture around the room, the faint silvery light leaking through the curtains hanging heavy in the windows. The room was comfortable, but where before the two thick quilts she’d curled under had been cozy, now they were suffocating. She flung back the blankets and moved to get out of bed, but a wave of dizziness sent her collapsing back into the sheets.

“You’re awake!” a delighted voice greeted her, and Hythlodaeus approached from the door, as if he’d just answered. “How are you feeling?” She tried to speak, but her voice didn’t come. She cleared her throat before trying again.

“Dizzy,” she croaked. “But otherwise, better.” She looked down at her hand, thinking back to the last moments she could remember, and frowned. Stay, she’d asked. Had he not? She couldn’t remember.

“He never left,” Hythlodaeus supplied, guessing what she was mulling over. “He’s only not here because I insisted he go get some rest and something to drink.”

“Kind of him,” she murmured, clenching her hand and more slowly pushing herself up this time. Hythlodaeus fetched her a glass of water from her side table, and she took it gratefully. It helped clear her throat, but she grimaced at the warmth of it.

“Don’t let him hear you say that, he’ll deny it with every breath,” the lavender haired man laughed, and she gave a small smirk in return. Hythlodaeus moved back to the door.

“Stay right there; I’ll be right back. Please try not to overexert yourself before I return.” He vanished then, closing the door behind him. In the quiet, Persephone took stock of her body. All signs of sickness seemed to be gone; she felt no fever, no chills, no urge to cough or worse. She felt strongly like she needed a bath, and, despite everything, felt embarrassed to be seen in such a state. Persephone imagined her skin looked chalkier than before, but in the dark she didn’t trust her new, sharper vision enough to be certain.

She carefully rose to her feet, legs wobbling as she searched for her balance, and staggered over to the desk to take a peek into the mirror. Persephone looked as much of a mess as she felt; clothes stained from sweat and her hair a stringy mess that she’d prefer not to be seen with. More notable, however, was her eyes had brightened from their original brown to a faintly glowing orange. She leaned closer, pulling her eyelids more open to peer at the unfamiliar color, when the door opened and Hythlodaeus reappeared with a basket on his arm.

“Here, I know the last place you want to be is back in bed, but you should really sit. You look a bit faint still,” he offered his arm and helped Persephone back to the bed, where she somewhat ruefully took a seat.

“I didn’t think I’d feel so weak,” she complained as he dug through the basket, clinking and clattering noises floating through the air.

“You’ve been out for about twelve hours with no nourishment, so it’s to be expected.”

“Twelve hours?!”

“But we need to get you fed before you go after the first living thing that crosses your path,” he forged on, as if she hadn’t said anything. Persephone fidgeted uncomfortably as she realized she was going to have to drink—

“I suggest you don’t look or sniff for the first time,” he turned back to her with a metallic cup in hand, opaque, with a matching straw coming from the top. “There can be a bit of a…mental block about it at first. Humans aren’t supposed to drink it, after all, and you were human until less than a day ago.”

“Right…” Persephone took the cup hesitantly. “Probably the part I was looking forward to the least.”

“A common sentiment, but trust me when I say what your body thinks tastes good has changed quite a bit in the past twelve hours,” Hythlodaeus assured her with a quick head pat before busying himself with the basket again. She turned her attention back to the cup. He said not to look or sniff, but even without actively trying, she could smell the strong, metallic scent coming from it. She took a deep, steading breath. Just the cup, that’s all. We can do this.

“Bottoms up,” Persephone lifted the straw to her mouth, and drank.

She cringed when it hit her tongue, the disgust almost a reflex. It felt hot in her mouth, the salty, metallic tang more pleasant than she probably would have preferred yesterday. She’d expected to have to fight through what he gave her, but her hands clenched hard around the cup as some switch in her brain flipped and she felt like she’d violently fight off anyone that tried to take it from her. She thought she heard the metal cup groan under the strain, as if from far away.

And before she knew it, it was empty, and she had to fight hard against the urge to pull the lid off and lick the inside clean. As her mind slowly settled, she felt the desperate need replaced with something like shame. Embarrassment. Persephone didn’t realize the straw was still in her mouth, the cup still clutched in her hands, until Hythlodaeus carefully took it from her.

“S-sorry,” she stammered, and he wrapped one arm around her.

“Nothing to be ashamed of,” he assured her. “The feeling will get less overwhelming with time, and it’s less…insistent if you’re well fed.” Their proximity to each other reminded Persephone that she probably…didn’t smell the best right now.

“I think I’m going to take a shower before anything else,” she gently pulled away, trying to be clear that she wasn’t just trying to get away from him.

“Okay, just be careful with the water. It’ll take a lot less for it to feel hot, remember,” Hythlodaeus rose, fetching the basket and passing it to her. “Some toiletries. We picked them up a few days back but, you were in no condition for a bath at that point. And we picked up some clothes as well; they’re in the dresser once you’re done. I’ll give you some privacy.” He took the cup and left the room, closing the door behind him once more.

Persephone took the basket into the small, attached bathroom. She set the water of the shower to what she thought would be luke warm, only to jump back with a hiss as it nearly scalded her. She turned it down further, until the hot water was almost entirely off, and waited until it was finally bearable. After running a brush through her hair, she shed her clothes and stepped carefully into the shower, grabbing the first soap and shampoo she saw in the basket as she went. One good thing, she thought to herself as the water cascaded off her face. Probably saves a lot of money on heating water.

After the shower, Persephone carefully combed out her long, auburn locks before wrapping them in a fluffy towel, then drying herself and donning her robe. No longer, quite literally, smelling like death did wonders for her mental state as she looked at her new eyes again in the mirror. She would need to come up with some kind of excuse, or maybe wear brown contacts when around her friends.

Her friends…

She enjoyed reading novels from time to time, and she’d read books about vampires. Almost all of them had the vampires moving around quite a bit, to keep people from asking questions. Eventually, people would notice if she wasn’t aging, or forgot to wear her contacts, or wore full covering clothing on hot, sunny days.

She returned to the bedroom, digging through the dresser to find a pair of jeans that fit well enough and a plain, black t-shirt that was just a touch too big. She uncovered her hair, tying it up in a ponytail while still damp, and slipped on some brand new flats that were the perfect size. Persephone returned to the bathroom and checked the basket, finding a few basic pieces of makeup. Taking a simple eyeliner and lip gloss, she quickly applied it and finally felt more like herself than she had since… Well, since her attack.

Maybe this vampire thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2023 #vampire au #modern au #hythazemet #hythlodaeus #azem #oc: persephone 'azem'#emet-selch #optimistic vampire #everyone's always so down in the dumps about being a vampire that I think it'd be nice/funny if Persephone just took it all in stride #(but also struggling because a certain popular YA vampire book really let me down by making the main character just auto good at it)#(so she must struggle to adjust)#(but in the way anyone struggles learning something new not in the angsty way)#ship: distant skies

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thetypedwriter · 2 months

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Divine Rivals Book Review

Divine Rivals Book Review by Rebecca Ross

I have a feeling this book review might be short and sweet (quite unusual for me).

Divine Rivals is one one of those books that I avoided reading because it had so much hype. It’s been topping the New York Times Bestseller’s List for weeks and I just…couldn’t believe that it was worth all the attention it was getting.

I was wrong, but in my defense, the last book I read with tons of praise and accolades was Fourth Wing and that book was certainly not worth the recognition in any way, shape, or form.

Divine Rivals, however, to my utmost surprise, was a super enjoyable read, probably one of the best that I’ve read in awhile.

My school librarian (I work at a high school) finally convinced me to read it as she flew all the way up to Washington to attend Rebecca Ross’ book signing and couldn’t stop singing its praises.

As a fellow YA reader inspired by her dedication, I finally bought Divine Rivals with lingering reluctance. Very quickly though, that reluctance turned into relief and then that relief transitioned into a rave review. That brings us to the present.

Divine Rivals is a true enemies-to-lovers. I feel like YA has been so over saturated with enemies-to-lovers lately, but they’ve all been subpar and disappointing.

The so-called “enemies” stage lasts all of five minutes before they immediately become lovers. Divine Rivals actually was a true enemies-to-lovers, and a good one at that.

Additionally, the main characters, Iris and Roman, don’t suddenly change their feelings for one another overnight. It’s a slow realization of coming to terms that the vitriol they felt for each other was always a razor’s edge away from love.

They’ve always had passion, always driven each other, and that is what makes the best enemies-to-lovers: the deliberate and almost imperceptible change of hating one another to loving one another and then realizing it’s not all that different in the end.

Speaking of Iris and Roman, I like them as characters. Were they the best, most amazing characters of all time? No. But they were genuinely good.

Iris is passionate, caring, and brave. Roman is dedicated, persistent, and loving. My only gripe is that I do think Iris and Roman are a little too perfect.

The worst thing Roman did was fall asleep while his little sister was sleeping, only to have her drown. While this is terrible, it was also an accident. It wasn’t actually anything intentional on Roman’s part.

I do think Iris has more moments of selfishness perhaps, especially when thinking about Forest and how she’s been left alone, but even then it’s very understandable and not even that bad to begin with.

They’re both almost unflinchingly brave, kind, and altruistic, which is quite bothersome, but in this case it’s not a huge gripe that I have.

Other than the actually good enemies-to-lovers story device, my other favorite part of the novel was the plot, which astonished me, especially considering that this is a war novel.

I don’t like war. It’s violent, brutal, and heart-wrenching. Thinking about it, I don’t believe I’ve actually read a YA novel centered around war before.

For that reason, I appreciated its uniqueness, especially in the sense that Roman and Iris were war correspondents and not soldiers.

I thought that was an interesting detail to include, one for the better as then we got to see the cruelty and ferocity of war, but it didn’t take up the entire book and we got to explore other avenues as well—like the support side of war, their life before the war, etc.

Iris looking for her missing-in-action older brother was a great plot point as well, one that really drove her character and fueled a lot of her actions. Roman’s motivations were a bit weaker, as the unwanted arranged marriage as a device is a bit overused in my opinion.

He essentially just followed Iris because he liked her, but it would have been good if he had other reasons to motivate him other than his feelings for Iris.

The other characters in the novel are fine and play their roles well. However, I will make the blanket statement that they don’t really matter in any significant way.

Marisol, Attie, any of the soldiers—they’re stock characters without too much development.

But that’s okay. While I would have liked a little more development of Attie’s and Iris’ friendship, the focus really is on Roman and Iris and I accept that.

One facet of the novel I really liked was the small, almost easy-to-forget casual moments of magic. Fantasy elements are present throughout the whole novel, but they’re small, curious tidbits instead of huge game-changing elements—until the very end at least.

For example, the whole war is between two gods. You get this backstory as a reader that there used to be hundreds of gods, but that humans banded together to kill them.

Eventually, only the most powerful gods remained until they were murdered as well, put to rest, and buried in graves…until now. Two gods, Enva and Dacre, have risen and are ranging war, gods with a twisted past and even more twisted feelings.

The backdrop of the war is unique and interesting, but never too heavy. You get some exposition here and there, the occasional myth that crops up, but that’s it.

I cannot state how much I appreciate Ross’ world-building here. It’s light, but intriguing. It molds the story, but doesn’t require massive amounts of chapters of mundane explanation.

It’s perfectly well-executed.

Even the magic part is interesting. It’s mentioned here and there that magic exists, but in small, unceremonious doses. An odd door here, an alley there, a magical typewriter—nothing huge, but instead these small details that just add to the world and make it special.

I have a feeling that we’re going to learn more about the gods, their backstory, and the magic system in the next book and I can’t wait.

One of the only things that downgraded this book for me was the ending. Spoiler alert for moving forward, as I will be discussing the conclusion in intricate detail.

It is beyond frustrating to me when authors take the whole book to finally get two characters together, two characters that they know their readers are rooting for and can’t wait to see, and then finally deliver it only to shatter it one second later.

For instance, it takes Roman and Iris nearly the whole book to come to terms with their feelings and be shaped by world events before they finally unite in holy matrimony (literally). It’s beautiful. As a reader you are overjoyed at finally having reached this point.

Then, through flimsy excuses, Ross separates the two almost immediately with the insinuation that Roman will turn into Dacre’s war puppet and they will once again have to fight to find each other and be together. It’s my guess that this will take the entire next book.

It is so baffling and aggravating to me when authors do this. We want to see Iris and Roman together. That’s why we’re reading. Let me see their relationship blossom. Just because they got married doesn’t mean the story is over.

Marriage is hard. Let me see them navigate this new stage of their relationship. That would be so interesting and just as complex.

When you separate them literally a few hours after they get married we get to see nothing.

What is the point?

You’ve undermined all the progress you’ve made throughout the whole book and now we’re back at square one.

Iris literally is back in Oath, her hometown, living in the apartment where she started, working a journalist’s job.

It is beyond excruciating to feel like the progress, feelings, and events of the first book are all but wiped away just so that Ross can have something to write about again?

I’ve said it before and I'll say it again: couples can get together and still be interesting. It’s not just about getting together, but staying together.

Urgh.

Up until the ending, I was so into this book. While the ending didn’t ruin things, it really annoyed me to know that we will now take the whole next book to find Romana and he probably won’t even be his full self.

I can see it all clearly laid out. If this is not the case, I will be pleasantly surprised, but I don’t count on it.

I didn’t even get into the bit of Iris not recognizing Roman and mistaking him for Forest, but I’ll leave at: it was stupid and not believable, even with circumstances presented.

In general, other than the ending, Divine Rivals is fantastic. The morsels of magic that leave you wanting more, the successful enemies-to-lovers with a payoff (until it’s immediately ripped away from you), the background of war and raging gods—it’s all sublime in the best way possible.

Recommendation: If it gives you any indication on how I felt about this book—I already started reading Ruthless Vows and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it and devour it from beginning to end.

Score: 8/10 (would have been higher without the idiotic and cliched ending).

P.S. (Turns out my book review was not short and sweet. Whoops.)

#book blog #book review #book recommendations #ya fiction #book rec #popular fiction #books #popular books #top books #favorite books #divine rivals #rebecca ross #iris winnow #letters of enchantment #book thoughts #8/10

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