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mariahlynnpeck's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book, keeps you invested to the end. It keeps you hooked and is such an easy read. Iris and Roman are fated to be together it feels like especially through the history of their typewriters but the way it leaves you hanging leaves you to ponder how will it all end?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Violence, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism and Abandonment
readsbymoonlight's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Grief
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Child death
bluz19's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book turned out to be a lot better than I initially thought! I originally picked it up because I saw it on BOTM and had heard good things. This book comes from a place of family drama, magic, war, and enemies to lovers. They start off as rivals at the paper, gunning for the same job as columnist, though there is a lot of animosity there you can definitely see how the characters grow towards each other. It is a story of poor girl and rich boy with a slow burn story and a budding romance. It was so easy to fully soak this book in and I find myself pulling for their love story and happiness even though with a second book still left to read I knew it couldn’t be all rainbows for the characters. There are two main characters that we experience in this story, Roman Kitt and Iris Winnow. I think their story feels real and beautifully written. I think the way that the author allows us to experience the thoughts and emotions of both of these characters through both their letters to each other and their blurbs of thoughts and POVs really drive this story. We see from this story that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I didn’t hate the female lead, much like I usually do. She seemed relatable and strong for the story but still very compassionate and caring, especially ending up on the front lines of the war. This is probably the most similar I have felt to a character which is great to see. Even the side characters in this book added to it, they didn’t seem partially written. They gave more life to the book and really was there to enhance the already great story.
I think my biggest issues with the book is that I wish the story of the gods was flushed out more. We hear more as the story goes on but I did want to take more time learning and understanding the world. We get the myths here and there but considering the entire war is because of the gods, I think it could’ve better explained overall. I did find myself yelling at Iris’ stubborn nature and the acts of their families very often but there’s truly not much that I can say I would change about this story. I think the writing was beautiful and on point. I think with the inclusion of war, the book shows how precious life is and how important it is to appreciate life and love. It teaches us to find the flowers growing from the concrete.
I think the biggest focus of all is the letters they write to one another. They are so intimate, so personable, and full of emotion. In every letter you can feel their emotion, whether anger, frustration, or loss.
I think if you enjoy war stories, love stories, enemies to lovers, with slight mentions of gods or magic, I think you will enjoy this book! I generally love more fantasy but this was a cute and wholesome book with bits of darkness. Prepare to be heartbroken by the ending of this because I now need to pick up book 2 asap to finish out this amazing duology and see what happens to Iris, Roman, the rest of the family, and the outcome of the war. I’m hoping that the second book will be just as great if not better than the first!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
gpfot's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, War, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, and Abandonment
abicaro17's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Holy shit..... Well Rebecca Ross it's on sight girl! Iris is a reporter competing for a columnist spot against fellow reporter, Roman. As Iris writes letter to her brother who's away at war, she tucks them away inside her closet. These letter end up in the hands of her rival, Roman, who begins to write her back. As war tears across the country and propaganda and misinformation reigns supreme, Iris and Roman create a magical friendship through letters. I adore this story! It's just magical enough to be not realistic but not too crazy as to be hard to understand and follow. Iris is a strong and yet logical and likable character. She makes normal choices and thinks through her issues before jumping into action. Roman is adorable and this conclusion makes me mad af. Like gotta go read Ruthless Vows brb. My only issue with this book is that the start is slow and the world building isn't explained very well until later.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Alcoholism, Classism, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Addiction, Vomit, War, Alcohol, Violence, Gore, and Sexual content
filipa_maia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was such a surprise! I was not expecting to become so invested in this characters and a story about war.
I like how strong Iris is, I like how fearless Kitt is, I like Attie, and Marisol - this book has bunch of interesting and unique characters.
I loved all the twists and turns the plot took, just when I thought I had everything figured out, something completely blindsided me and I was caught of guard.
I can't wait to read the second book, find out more about these Gods, about Forest and how it will all end.
I like how strong Iris is, I like how fearless Kitt is, I like Attie, and Marisol - this book has bunch of interesting and unique characters.
I loved all the twists and turns the plot took, just when I thought I had everything figured out, something completely blindsided me and I was caught of guard.
I can't wait to read the second book, find out more about these Gods, about Forest and how it will all end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Classism, Violence, War, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Addiction
readyforit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
2⭐️0.25🌶️(nearly fade to black, nondescript)
If you are a person who never asks questions and can just accept the information you’re given, you may enjoy this book. The author does a pretty terrible job of world-building and explaining the magic system. We assume the story takes place on our earth, but the country isn’t named. Idk if it was meant to be England or a completely fictional land altogether. They have different names for months and days of the week, but the order of them isn’t explained. The magic of the typewriters is never explained (why is the wardrobe necessary?), nor the magical buildings (until book 2, and even then it’s not really that important). I think they could’ve cut half of the more mundane stuff and used that to either combine it with the sequel, or do a lot more world-building.
This book would’ve done better as a historical fiction book, without marketing it as fantasy or romance, since it has very little of either. The war was obviously based off of WWI, so the author should’ve just set it up as that, and added the magical typewriter element for fun. Also, this book was marketed as an enemies/rivals to lovers story and we never got that. It’s more like acquaintances to lovers, or a workplace romance. Tbh I didn’t think that the MCs had very good chemistry and I didn’t understand why they made some of their choices. I did think some of their letters were sweet but the whole storyline of Romanwaiting to tell iris that he was the anonymous person she was sending letters to until she had developed feelings for him, both as her coworker and her penpal, rubbed me the wrong way. Like the author was trying to force a love triangle or miscommunication trope. Then they got married all of the sudden, just so they could spend the night together, which made sense after I found out the author is religious.
I wanted to DNF at 20% and 50% but this book came so highly recommended, with many people saying it is their new favorite book. I was so bored the whole time. Don’t feel guilty for DNFing, you won’t miss much. I’m sorry to say that even the audiobook narrators sounded bored, and who could blame them?
If you are a person who never asks questions and can just accept the information you’re given, you may enjoy this book. The author does a pretty terrible job of world-building and explaining the magic system. We assume the story takes place on our earth, but the country isn’t named. Idk if it was meant to be England or a completely fictional land altogether. They have different names for months and days of the week, but the order of them isn’t explained. The magic of the typewriters is never explained (why is the wardrobe necessary?), nor the magical buildings (until book 2, and even then it’s not really that important). I think they could’ve cut half of the more mundane stuff and used that to either combine it with the sequel, or do a lot more world-building.
This book would’ve done better as a historical fiction book, without marketing it as fantasy or romance, since it has very little of either. The war was obviously based off of WWI, so the author should’ve just set it up as that, and added the magical typewriter element for fun. Also, this book was marketed as an enemies/rivals to lovers story and we never got that. It’s more like acquaintances to lovers, or a workplace romance. Tbh I didn’t think that the MCs had very good chemistry and I didn’t understand why they made some of their choices. I did think some of their letters were sweet but the whole storyline of Roman
I wanted to DNF at 20% and 50% but this book came so highly recommended, with many people saying it is their new favorite book. I was so bored the whole time. Don’t feel guilty for DNFing, you won’t miss much. I’m sorry to say that even the audiobook narrators sounded bored, and who could blame them?
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief
Minor: Vomit and Death of parent
I think this book is loosely based on WWI war tactics so if that’s triggering for you, skip itlars702's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Grief
bookishpip's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and War
zimmerlemon's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
Danggg ok by the end of this I am in. There are a few things that knock it down for me, mostly the ridiculous overusage of nicknames etc and some of the writing style is just cringy and/or lacking for me buttttt Roman wins it for me and I’m hooked enough now to want to know what happens!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Alcoholism