Divine Rivals

A Novel

By: Rebecca Ross

Narrated by: Alex Wingfield, Rebecca Norfolk

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year 2023

"This captivating production will leave listeners wanting more."—AudioFile

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

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.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2023 Rebecca Ross (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"An ardent romance and a harrowing exploration of war’s horrors and heartbreaks... with inventive worldbuilding, nuanced characterizations, and prose by turns dreamy and atmospherically tense."—Publishers Weekly

“Rich and romantic—if stories had scent, this one would smell like a mug of black tea, the ink ribbons of a typewriter, and that addictive spice called enemies to lovers.”—Shelby Mahurin, New York Times bestselling author of Serpent & Dove

"A sweeping start to a beautiful and romantic new series. Ross weaves her stories in such a vulnerable and delicate way, truly with a style all her own. I adored this book."—Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Belladonna

Incredible

This is, so far, my favorite book I’ve read/listened to this year. I alternated back and forth. The narrator was fantastic as well.

Gorgeous

To start… the audio performance is perfection. The voices for the characters were spot on, and the acting was fantastic. I loved that they had a voice actor for each POV. Ugh. Just so so good.

This book was GORGEOUS. I loved it so much. It was so magical and glowing with enchantment but yet also incredibly real and relatable. And the romance was perfection. It takes a lot for me to cry happy tears at a romance, but yet I found myself crying multiple times throughout this book at how incredibly sweet and lovely the relationship between the two main characters was. I adored them. And I loved their love. Every interaction between the two of them was **chef’s kiss.**

To top it all off, this author’s writing style is so stunning. She brings everything to life with her fairy-like, glowing descriptions that are beautiful and magical yet somehow not over-flowery. It’s just plain good writing that brings you into a world and makes you never want to leave. I didn’t want the book to end and I am eagerly anticipating the sequel.

Now im off to get my hands on everything else this author has written because I’m in LOVE.🤍

Poetic War of Gods

I loved this story, even though it’s so different than what I usually read. The poetic writing of Rebecca Ross is beautiful, and the magical pieces sprinkled in gave the book the bridge from historical fiction to fantasy.

Wow

Amazing!!!! And the audio narration was perfect! I can’t wait for the second book. Major book hangover.

in my top 5 for 2023

I loved this story and it was so beautifully written. it was hard to become invested in Iris and C and I can't wait for more.

Loved this book so much.

What a great story! This book had everything I could want, Magic, war, and a great enemies to lovers storyline.

Love it so much!

This book has been so transformative! It’s beautifully written. A rainy day read full of love, pain and determination!

Beautifully written enjoyable read

This felt like a lovely Shadow and Bone meets You’ve Got Mail story. Writing was beautiful and visceral, the pacing was perfect, and I’m excited to devour book two!

10/10 Perfection

This story, the characters, everything in Divine Rivals is perfect. From the compelling and interesting premise and plot, to the exceptionally well developed characters, to the best narrator I've ever heard. It's been a long time since I couldn't stop listening to an audiobook. I need Ruthless Vows now, please!

BRB Crying

For two people who are pretty devout to their Gods, they sure do encounter quite a bit of bad luck!

I LOVED this book. In terms of predictability— yes. But was this book captivating, well written, and altogether beautiful? Also yes. The story was unique and and the world building was SO FLUID. I REPEAT, THE WORLD BUILDING MADE SENSE! The author must have taken a literature or a philosophy class because she got to the damn point. The cliff hanger makes you crave a sequel, you will love this book.

Rebecca Norfolk could read birth control side effects to me and it would be captivating. Can Fourth Wing pls hire her asap—

I would consider this book truly YA for readers 14+. There were themes of sex, war, and death—but nothing too graphic. I loved that this was still well written and intended for the correct audience.