REBECCA ROSS
Synopsis:
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 this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
Content:
Language: a few uses of minor language
Violence: The book centers on a destructive war and describes wounded soldiers, battle, blood, and death. Alcoholism is also a topic near the beginning. There are monsters that raid and bomb towns, raid alarms, and toxic gas. There are also some brief descriptions of the opposing army enjoying their violence, etc.
Sex: there are several passionate kisses, and one sex scene (it isn't exactly fade-to-black, but it mostly discusses the thoughts going through our female MC's head), as well as a few allusions to sex.
LGBTQ: One of the female characters has a wife and they are mentioned to kiss, and share a deep love for each other.
My Review: I was given a free digital ARC in exchange for my review, so the large block of text below is for that. The short version is that this book is amazing and I absolutely need to get more people to know about it! I loved everything from the characters to the world to the plot. Cannot wait for book 2!
My Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
WHAT—THAT ENDING . . . !
Book two cannot come fast enough.
Okay guys, I'll be honest: this book took me forever to get into. I blame that on the fact that I had to read a digital copy on my phone (which I loathe to do), and the fact that the pace of the first half was a bit slow compared to the second.
But I LOVED ALL OF IT! I need to see more hype for this masterpiece!
I am completely in love with the world (though there is room for more development, of course, which I'm sure we'll get in number two) and the characters have my entire heart. Roman Kitt is literally just—*ah,* what can I say about him? I loved him to death. I was also surprised by how much I connected with and cared for Iris. A lot of YA books have extremely similar female protagonists, but Iris felt so fresh and new.
Again, the world was awesome. It felt like a World War II era-world—with magic! A bit like Dark of the West's world, but once again, so fresh and unique! I am literally dying to read the second one and the first one isn't even OUT yet (noooooo, how am I going to wait until 2024?). I am for sure buying a physical copy and will cherish the book and these characters with the love they deserve.
As a side note, there were a few grammatical and spelling errors, which will hopefully be cleaned up before the final publication. But I could ask for nothing else from the story. It delivered on all fronts: characters, world, romance (*heart eyes, sobbing, frantically wondering where I can get my own Kitt*), plot, and action.
Rebecca Ross, I am a devoted fan. Unless you hurt my beloved Winnow and Kitt too much in book 2. Then, I will personally lead the revolt.