Title: Divine Rivals
Author: Rebecca Ross
Series: Letters of Enchantment, #1
Pages: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: April 4, 2023
TW: alcoholism, death of a parent, death of a child

      “After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…
      All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
      But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.
      Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?
      An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.”

With Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross constructs a quiet and subtle romance, contrasted with a backdrop muddled by war and politics. Iris Winnow is barely staying afloat. Ever since her brother left for war to fight for the goddess Enva against the ruthless Dacre, she has felt incredibly alone. Her mother has all but given up, consumed by despair and alcoholism. One of Iris’s last hopes is becoming a permanent correspondent for the Oath Gazette, a local newspaper. But then there’s Roman Kitt. Handsome, rich, and with connections she doesn’t have, Roman is the only thing standing in her way as he pursues the same position. When letters to her brother magically go astray, Iris begins a correspondence with a mysterious person, who may be closer than she expects. Roman feels stuck in the life his father has concocted for him. When he begins exchanging letters with an unknown pen pal, he begins to rethink what he truly wants out of life. Iris is an incredibly driven character. She takes a lot upon her shoulders, presses on when the world takes from her, but stays true to the hope burning insider her even when it feels like there is nothing left. She is honest and loyal. She wants to make her mark on the world, not for her own sake, but for the sake of those who have been silenced for too long. Roman comes from a more privileged background. He has options that Iris will never have. He has also been paralyzed by guilt and hasn’t learned who he really is. At the beginning of the novel he ultimately gives in to pressure from his father even if he first objects. His relationship with Iris becomes a cataclysm, forcing him to confront his father and his obsession with climbing the social ladder no matter the cost, including at the detriment of his own’s son’s happiness. The novel only gives a small glimpse at the larger world Ross has built, delivered in the form of myths, leaving many questions unanswered. As the story unfolds, readers get a more concrete idea of these mythological gods and what they are capable of, which helps drive the story forward. Ross’s Divine Rivals builds a solid foundation to what promises to be hard-fought love story

★ ★ ★ ★
(4/5)

Title: Lucero
Author: Maya Motayne
Series: A Forgery of Magic, #3
Pages: 464
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: December 26, 2023
TW: death of a parent, animal death, abuse

      “After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…
      The thrilling finale to the #1 Sunday Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling Nocturna trilogy—a sweeping and epic Dominican-inspired fantasy about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must save their kingdom in the final battle between good and evil magic. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Sabaa Tahir, and Roseanne A. Brown.
      In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.
      To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.
      But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.
      Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?”

Maya Motayne’s Lucero, the final book in A Forgery of Magic series, pits its leads against a powerful and all-too familiar foe with the world’s very existence on the line. In the first novel, Sombra threatened to unleash Nocturna upon Castellan, but Alfie and Finn were able to thwart his plans. In this final book, Nocturna has already arrived, thrusting the world into darkness and chaos. People’s worst natures have been unleashed and Sombra needs only to reunite with the scattered pieces of himself to become unstoppable. Alfie, Finn, and Luka race to recover these artifacts in hopes of defeating him once again, but with the stakes so high, not everyone they love will make it out alive. These characters have been through so much over the course of the first two books, but one of the driving forces behind this one is the understanding that despite the obstacles along the way, they have to keep going. Their journey is not only physical, but it is mental as well. This world is now operating under new rules. In order to access magic, those who have survived must tap into the darkest parts of themselves, their trauma, and the negative emotions that come with them. There is no choice because giving up means the end for everyone and everything. It’s a mindset that many of the characters struggle with. Alfie and Luka, in particular, have watched people they love killed in front of them. Their family unit has felt itself shrink. Juggling grief while having the weight of the world on their shoulders is not easy. Finn has been a lone wolf for many years. Her mindset has been heavily influenced by her abusive upbringing. Finding a place to belong and people to belong to runs counter to her nature. She hasn’t quite reached the point in accepting love from others. Finn does not have the kind of foundation that Alfie has, the same upbringing that makes loving someone easy. Luka has an important role to play as well as the leads. He lost his entire family and still feels a deep level of guilt over it. Raised with Alfie, he has been folded into the royal family. He knows what it’s like to lose people and keep going, but it doesn’t make the journey forward any easier. He learns to forgive someone who betrayed him which is a testimony of Luka’s positive outlook on life. He provides so much humor throughout the series, but he was also an anchor for Alfie and Alfie an anchor for him. Lucero is a harrowing and heartbreaking final installment, but also hopeful and somewhat bittersweet in the end.

★ ★ ★ ★
(4/5)