I was sitting on a black, wooden footrest in my uncle’s house on Christmas day when my aunt asked me what I would be doing for the next few days until winter break ended and school began its rigorous demands again.
In truth, I only had one item on my mind. The following day, esteemed author Rebecca Ross was set to release the sequel to the hit New York Times bestseller Divine Rivals: Ruthless Vows. I had finally decided to pick up Divine Rivals on a whim a few months prior, and I had become obsessed with the book and its intricate characters. I had every intention to dash to Barnes & Noble as soon as possible on Tuesday to pick up the exclusive edition of the sequel.
True to my word, the next day, my sister and I strolled up to Barnes & Noble, planning to go on a book shopping spree due to the post-Christmas sales occurring at the time. Upon walking into the store, I snatched up the exclusive edition of Ruthless Vows resting on the opening shelf.
As the second novel in the Letters of Enchantment duology, Ruthless Vows follows up the events in Divine Rivals with great enthusiasm, highlighting the struggles of Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, war correspondents at one of Oath’s newspapers, The Inkridden Tribune. As they both do their best to survive the war between the gods Dacre and Enva, the two fierce lovers attempt to find their way back to one another and put an end to the conflict spreading through the world.
To my delight, Ruthless Vows picked up right where Divine Rivals left off, leaving no room for any imagined circumstances and confusion. This type of fast pacing was maintained exceptionally well throughout the crazy events in the novel. In addition to this, the descriptive prose used was masterful, just as in the novel’s predecessor. Ross managed to weave lyrical and elegant words in nearly every sentence, leaving me stunned by the beautiful writing she has become known for. Each sentence conjured a perfect visualization in my mind with extreme detail.
However, despite the superb pacing and prose, the novel strayed from the main plot: Iris and Roman’s romance. In Divine Rivals, the one minimal criticism I had was a lack of world-building and theme; although the romance kept me engaged until the acknowledgments, I occasionally became confused by the events in the war, as the relationship between the gods was hardly explained. Unfortunately, the order of problems completely switched in Ruthless Vows. The setting development was prominent among the pages, while Iris and Roman’s relationship was mainly set aside until the book’s second half.
Additionally, the characters’ personalities which were reintroduced after a brief cameo in Divine Rivals were also exceedingly deficient. Dacre—the antagonistic god fighting against Enva—had the most stereotypical villain personality I’ve ever encountered in a novel. He was described as cold, calculated, and controlling in various ways. Not enough layers were added to his identity to make it seem like he had any redeeming qualities. The goddess Enva was treated with a similar predicament, except that she was defined as the protagonist in the war and, therefore, had heroic characteristics.
Even with a couple of faults, I was still entranced by the interactions between Iris and Roman and Iris’s friendships with her fellow correspondent Attie and dear friend Marisol. The relationships were written as tenderly and magnificently as they were in the first book, proving Ross’s true talent at creating bewitching stories anyone will be sure to adore.
Despite the sudden lack of romance and somewhat shallow characters, Ross still gave her readers a sublime conclusion to a fantastic enemies-to-lovers romance that will undoubtedly go down in history as a fan-favorite duology. I will keep this series close to my heart as one of my most treasured book pairs ever.
