Ri ♡ 's Reviews > Ruthless Vows

“You may not be a goddess, but nor am I a god. Despite our mundane lives, perhaps we make our own magic with words.”

Iris and Roman will forever live in my heart and in my mind rent free. Divine Rivals struck a chord in my heart and made me fall in love with Iris and Roman's beautiful and enchanting story and it's always going to be a special one for me.

Divine Rivals followed Iris and Roman and how their love story blossomed from being rivals to writing letters of enchantment to finally confessing their feelings. Ruthless Vows's narrative centered more on the world building of the magical world Iris and Roman lived in, and Rebecca explored the history behind the rivalry between the gods — how Enva's need for freedom and Dacre's animosity and hunger for power laid the foundations for the war. I was waiting for more of world building after reading DR because that book lacked that aspect of a fantasy book and Rebecca finally gave us all the insights and depth in this book. Rebecca's writing? Exquisite and divine just like this series.

“Their souls weren’t mirrors but complements, constellations that burned side by side.”

➸ Iris Winnow

She is one the fierceless character I have ever read about. One thing I admire the most about her is that she is emotional and vulnerable but she always know how to held her ground, she knows how to use that vulnerability and pain and to turn it into strength and love. Her compassionate side only wants to help and make their world a better place and she fought till her very last breath to do that.

“Let me be your secret, then. Tuck my words into your pocket. Let them be your armor.”


➸ Roman Kitt

I fell for him even more in this book. Roman is perfect but we finally saw a different side of his personage. He was held captive and fought for himself and the past he couldn't remember anymore. He is still loyal to his humanity and his beliefs and he fought the battle against Dacre while being a part of his army and that was the hardest thing he had to. My heart broke for him, for the pain and trauma he experienced and how he wanted nothing more than to be with Iris after regaining his memories, but couldn't. I will never forgive Rebecca for putting him through hell in this book when all he ever wanted was to be with his wife.

“Your words have moved me, deeply. I also hunger for them, for you, and feel as if I could devour tomes of your writing and never be satiated.”


╰┈➤ Iris & Roman

Iris and Roman didn't had many moments together in this book but the few they had have all my heart. The first time they met again was heartbreaking and full of agony on both character's part. One remembered everything and the other didn't and the longing on Iris's face and the confusion on Roman's face, it was too much. The romance was full of pain, angst, longing and mutual pining. I loved that they still exchanged the enchanted letters and it helped them know each other again. But mostly I loved how it felt, like something that was familiar but also new in the same sense, sending letters as strangers and then as lovers who yearned to be with each other. It was hopeful and beautiful to see how they made promises to each other for the life they wanted to build together after the war was over and also kept those promises. Their few stolen moments, reunions, face to face interactions, those promises and letters and their happy ending healed my broken heart.

“You believed I had come to the Bluff to outshine you. And I would speak this word back to you now, but only because I would love to see you burn with splendor. I would love to see your words catch fire with mine.”

➸ The side characters?

I liked Attie and Tobias together. They were adorable and I wish we got more of them in this book. I even liked Forest in this book. I still hate him for what he did in DR but I understand where he was coming from and he just wanted to save his sister, his only living family.

➸ The gods?

They were a joke. Enva's presence did nothing in this book and you are telling me she knew how to kill Dacre for years and she still waited years to do it? She let soldiers after soldiers die for her for no reason other than to wait and see how low can Dacre go to win this war? And people had sides in this war when both the gods were as horrible as the others in the graves? The whole thing about gods and their hunger for power was so frustrating.

I was eagerly waiting for Iris and Roman and how they'll meet again, and tackle the situation regarding Roman forgetting his memories. I wanted to fight them together side by side but Dacre had to ruin it for them. He held Roman captive because his only two brain cells couldn't write an article on his own.

The ending chapters were terrifying and I couldn't stop crying. The war scenes were raw, intense, hopeful yet so hopeless at times. I liked how Rebecca wrote those chapters in mutiple povs and gave us insight about all the sides of war zone. The ending broke my heart a little and it was bittersweet and Iris didn't deserve that in the end. But atleast Iris and Roman are happy and finally living in a cute cottage and writing letters and books for each other. We atleast deserve a few bonus scenes after the emotional turmoil they have been through.

I loved this book which I definitely wasn't expecting after reading some reviews, but maybe I had lower expectations or maybe I just simply loved it. Though I still feel like Rebecca robbed us all of Iris and Roman's angsty and wholesome moments in this book.

“Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me and fill my empty spaces.”

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pre-read review: i am so scared to read this book bcs of the mixed reviews but i need to woman up and finish this duet so here we go....