Ruthless Vows

“Ross has always held me captive with her work: Ruthless Vows is no different.”
Where do I start? I absorb Ross' words into my bloodstream at any and all opportunities. I adore her mastery of the pen and her absolute gift at translating words on a page, into a world that seemingly existed as truthfully as the one I sit here writing this in. The sequel is not an easy road to set upon. But it is a road I am mighty glad Rebecca Ross has gone down. The story felt expertly laid at the readers feet, each page answering lingering queries, building upon mythologies and adding absolute angst and urgency word by word. Ross cleverly details her sequel with arcs in storytelling, world building, character building and just awe-inspiring magic. Words can barely cover how magical this book was to read. Ross manages to effortlessly return the style of the first book and its formats (many letters again!) and return the mystery and intrigue of the connection between our beloved main characters and their typewriters. Since 2018 Rebecca Ross has held me captive between worlds of unexplainable decadence: Divine Rivals, and Ruthless Vows, is no different. Beautifully superb.

The perfect end to the perfect story. The prose that Rebecca Ross is able to craft is honestly unreal. It is ridiculously beautiful. Not only that, the story hooks you and stays with you for months. Literally months. I couldn’t wait to read this book after then end that was Divine Rivals. I will say that the beginning started out a bit slow. I think this is because the last book ended on such a massive cliffhanger. Anything that didn’t match that energy was going to feel slow. Once the book got going, however, it didn’t stop. The plot pulls you in and doesn’t let go. It also helps that this story has one of the best romances of all time. This couple… I legitimately think they may have ruined all romance expectations for me. It was soooooo good! No matter what they keep getting drawn to each other in a way that is so heart wrenching yet sweet. If I could have a couple that says “Goals” it would be Iris and Roman. The ending was one that I (NO SPOILERS, Of COURSE) didn’t see coming, but it was incredibly fitting. I will say… grab a tissue cause you may cry (in the best way). I will recommend this book till my dying breath. Seriously… READ THIS SERIES!

Possible Spoilers for Divine Rivals:

The conclusion to the Letters of Enchantment series by Rebecca Ross was nothing short of greatness! While I rated Ruthless Vows lower than Divine Rivals, I still believe this is a 5 star series as a whole. The book picks up a few weeks after the events at the end of Divine Rivals. Iris and Roman are separated, and Iris begins to wonder if she will ever see him again. Through a chain of events, they find themselves once again connected by their typewriters. Letters are exchanged, plans are hatched, and secrets are kept as Iris and her friends try to get ahead of Dacre's dark plan. The side characters really come to life in Ruthless Vows, and I really liked the found family trope here. I loved this book and obviously I devoured it, but it wasn't quite as good as Divine Rivals. I think some ends were left a little open and I wanted a bit more closure. The romance between Iris and Roman is so beautiful, I feel like I will be thinking of them for a while. Rebecca Ross's writing continues to be some of my favorite, and reading her words feels so magical at times. Ruthless Vows is a young adult fantasy romance, 16+ for vague descriptions of sexual content

Divine Rivals was a gorgeous prose with some issues with pacing. The writing, though, was so stunning that upon first read, I barely noticed, and only when I read it again did I pause to see where I wanted more story, more world building, more rivalry. I had such high hopes, then, coming into Ruthless Vows, and was more eagle eyed for similar pacing hiccups. Instead, this fitting sequel took hold in the first chapter and held me spellbound until the very last page. Gone was the slow moving early chapter and the somehow rushed slow burn romance of Divine Rivals. Here is the perfect ending, with the same incredibly poetic writing, with great pacing throughout, and a very satisfying end to a well crafted villain. Roman and Iris will linger on my thoughts long after I finish this book, and I'm so grateful for the time with them. Well and beautifully done, Miss Ross.

I adore Rebecca Ross' work! Divine Rivals was a definite 5 star read for me and Ruthless Vows is no less amazing - the only reason I have to downgrade to 4 stars is.. well, simply put, it was too tense for my liking, too oppressive. I was hoping for a it to get just a tad more hopeful but with Roman under Dacres clutches I felt this constant oppression. And on one hand I think it's great that the author can make me feel so much for these characters but on the other hand.. because the situation pervailed throughout the entire book,it was too much for my liking. I don't want to critique the plot, because, again, I think it's absolutely well written, but it just wasn't for me. Still, another great R.Ross book that I enjoyed and I'm looking forward to dive into her other books.

uhm.. idk i was bored i definitely expected more action.. and the gods didn't really feel like gods, like i expected to see something unusual about them, learn more about their powers and actually see them use their powers... i keep saying gods but we only got to know one god, enva was nowhere to be seen so we only read about one part of the war most of the book. i just wish enva was involved in more scenes.
i loved that we read more of roman's pov in this book.
i think the romance was ok, even though the first book was way better than this i still enjoyed it. love the main characters and their chemistry. character development is also on point. would love it more if we could read more about the side characters tho. but there are many side characters in this book so i can't blame. if you gave me a book about all of the side characters and their stories i would love to read it.
the ending was ok. it needed more action but eventually i was moved so i liked it. i will miss roman and iris.

3.5 rounded down; I enjoyed the first half and then the last half broke me and I did not enjoy ;-; After all that death, I was hoping a happy ending for Forest and Sarah ;-; the rest of it seemed very anticlimactic, and I was confused with Enva's presence in this book -- she barely partook in anything and ran along I think my expectation for this book was too high because the first book was really good!!

I would like to preface that I always write spoiler-free reviews but not this time babyyy   I genuinely will miss these characters so so much. The amount of personality in Iris especially (even when she isn't a heroine but a mere writer) I really felt for her. Roman was great too don't get me wrong, but something about Iris man. Also I expected someone to die from the war but I still sobbed when it was inevitably Forest and Sarah :cc God. I'd also like to mention how I LOVED the entire cast??? That is so rare for me but I was rooting for every single one of them to make it. Even Iris's boss Helena- what a bad bitch. And Tobias. And Attie. Just everyone. I just wish I had more to read about all of them post-war but that's just me feeling a little attached

6 stars across the board. I was so afraid that I wouldn't like this book as much as the first one, but I am happy to say that I was so wrong. It took me a while to finish because I didn't want it to end– I wanted to stay with Roman and Iris longer and prolong their story. I just... Ahhhhhhh it was so good man!

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

Ruthless vows was a beautiful ending for the series! I've got almost everything I wanted: more plot, deeper worldbuiling, higher stakes, more details on the divines and magic, and obviously, a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful love a story. I just wish we could have seen Nan meeting Iris, and settling the argument if Kitt looks more like a knight errant or a rogue.

I would love to see your words catch fire with mine.

Rebecca's writing message remains focused on hope and love, which is perfectly aligned with the target audience. However, because war was such a central topic on the series, I've felt the end quickly brushed over the heavier topics of healing and rebuilding in order to reach the happy ending, leaving a lot of details open. This is the only reason why I'm taking one star of the rating.

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

This was a brilliant series, I loved it!

  Now this book was alot better than the first book in my opinion.I felt I got a lot better connected with this than nr 1. Maybe it was the fact I was not as stressed and could enjoy the reading prosess alot more?I felt like in this books there were more risks in terms of their lifes, kind of betraying ech other, having to trust but also not? I am not sure how to explain it. Like when Iris desided to not burn the letter and instead risking Roman being revealed and giving it so the attack can be prevented.I did quite enjoy Romans ‘batteling' with himself and I wish it was a little bit more of that.I did felt things got in general resolved a little too easily. I wanted a little more struggel in it all. The writing is still not amazing and did not make me feel any emotional or anything like that. It was a nice relaxing read and I did not need to strain myself or my eyes any to read it.  

Ruthless Vows is the second half of Rebecca Ross' duology beginning with Divine Rivals. A romantasy set in a fictional world reminiscent of the early twentieth century. In this book Iris and Roman must overcome incredible adversity to seek reunion. Fans of the first book will no doubt enjoy the second. 

“Did you think I would let him tell me when and how to touch you?” Roman's voice was hoarse as he traced her jaw with his lips. “Did you think that I would let him steal this last moment from me? When I would surrender only to you, take you in my hands, and burn with you before the end comes?”

He estado como 10 a 20 minutos escribiendo en un notas todas las citas que había ido subrayando para luego elegir mi favorita para encabezar la reseña del libro.

Este libro me lo terminé realmente hace un día, pero no había tenido tiempo para escribir el notas y pensar qué quería decir del libro, además de necesitar un día entero para procesar la muerte de Forest y Sarah. La esperanza que me dio al final Rebecca Ross, pensando que habían conseguido sobrevivir, después de enseñarme que Helena estaba viva, me quitó un trozo de alma. Y tras pensarlo y llegar a la conclusión de que es una muerte razonable, porque Forest debería haber muerto hace tiempo, igualmente me sigue doliendo y sigo pensando que murió intentando proteger a Sarah y lo bonito que me parece ese hecho, pero me destroza.

Tengo que decir que una de mis partes favoritas es cuando Rebecca nos enseña el POV de Tobias, Helena y Forest. Nos hace más próximos a los personajes y luego nos deja durante páginas deseando saber si estarán bien, si habrán sobrevivido. Y lo hace de fábula, para mi pobre corazoncito sensible que se pasa páginas sufriendo

now this. THIS. is a duology worthy of the hype i've seen it get. i wouldn't consider myself a fan of wwii stories or just war-focused stories in general but this one just hits different yk. iris and roman are probably one of my favorite book ships ever, probably because even if their romance is on the subtler side. i don't typically love historical fiction but i do love magical realism, and i know a lot of people were complaining about how this focused more on the gods and magic side of the story compared to the previous book but honestly that's why i loved this one so much more. ugh. so brilliant.

Pre-Reading Updates: had to go to 2 targets to find this y'all i better not be disappointed!!