4.75 stars
🌶🌶🌶

My favorite of the series, this book is a Sapphic witchy second chance romance that tackles grief and a literal god of darkness.

Dasha is a devil eater who has struggled against the darkness since her mother died. As a side effect, she broke Ivy's heart. Twice. Dasha's been working on herself, and maybe she's ready to let Ivy in for real this time. Especially when a big scary figure threatens the town.

I was hoping Dasha and Ivy's story would be from Ivy's perspective, but now I'm glad it was Dasha's. Her grief and vulnerability were so relatable, and I love the way this story wraps up the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

It is always a treat to return to Thistle Grove, so I couldn’t wait to dive into Rise and Divine, but I am so sad this is the last one in the series. Daria ‘Dasha’ Avramov is a devil eater, a rare witch with an affinity to banish demons and crossing over the veil, and her biggest regret is losing Ivy Thorn, but a Thistle Grove festival throws them back together forcing them to confront their feelings again, and when an unknown threat enters Thistle Grove, they have to stand together to save their town. This is definitely a heavier read; Dasha deals with deep grief and loneliness. She is brave and fierce and powerful and such a wonderful main character. I had a hard time with the beginning of this one though, there’s a lot of timeline jumping to make the second chance storyline work, so that felt like a lot to comb through. As a romance, I don’t think it fully developed, I would’ve liked more moments to get them back together since Ivy seemed so against it in the beginning. But I did like the intimacy of this pair and the play with light and dark. And it’s steamy and sexy too, Ivy and Dasha are wonderful as a pair, and Ivy is so strong and supportive too. Magically, I think this is such a cool fantasy story. I thought all the magic systems were so well developed and the conflict was so interesting. I truly have loved my time in Thistle Grove and this was a wonderful final installment to a beautiful small town of witches. Sincerely going to miss this one!

It’s no secret that I’m a huge, huge fan of Thistle Grove and its witches–and an even bigger fan of romances that are set up by a previous book. When we briefly met Dasha Avramov in In Charm’s Way and learned of her messy breakup with the main character of that book’s best friend, I had a feeling we were being prepared for something good. And in that, I was not disappointed: the relationship between necromancer Dasha and green witch Ivy is complicated and fraught, not least of all because Dasha, due to a series of under-addressed traumas, broke Ivy’s heart not once but twice. The feelings that they still have for each other loom large from the very start, and I was excited to know how they were going to repair what seemed so insurmountable. I also was intrigued by the book’s background plot of Thistle Grove hosting a monthlong celebration of its founding (a celebration which for some reason only happens every twenty years) amid strange turbulence on Lady’s Lake, the source of Thistle Grove’s magic.

I think, as usual, the strongest part of this book is the ways in which Harper gets more and more inventive with the magic and the lore. This world has definitely expanded in significant ways since 2021’s Payback’s a Witch, and that makes it feel more lived-in and real. I enjoyed learning more about the ways in which the Avramovs’ powers have terrifying real-world applications, and the ways in which magic is still capable of being surprising, even in a town founded by witches and populated by their ancestors. The relationship disappointed me a little bit–I felt like things were tied up too neatly and quickly, especially compared to where they started off–but I still liked Ivy and Dasha a lot, and the ways in which Dasha was determined to do and be better to be worthy of Ivy. You could also argue that part of this story is an analog for someone suffering from addiction: after the grief of losing both her parents, Dasha becomes, for lack of a better word, addicted to her magical ability to travel to the other side of the veil between the living and the dead, and the emotional high it provides her. This inevitably leads to her deterioration, and to some stupid decisions that jeopardize her relationship, and while she is in recovery at the start of the book, it was interesting to see the ways previous bad decisions (plus living with grief and addiction) still haunted her and needed work to heal from.

All in all, another solid offering to a series that I’m going to miss terribly! In my next life, I want to be a Thistle Grove witch.

This was a beautiful end to the series that I never wanted to end! I do feel we could have given a few characters a little more space on the page, but that is the way of the genre, romances tend to focus nearly exclusively on the main couple so I can't complain too much.
Each one of these books deals with a different mental health issue, and some portray it more openly and accurately than others, but this one I feel portrayed its issue most realistically and compassionately.
It was full of mistakes, and recovery, and forgiveness.

Content warnings for: coercive seduction, addiction, muggy behavior from a main lead, and very very very very very very very very hot wlw spicy scenes

Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review, and most of all to our lord and savior Lana Harper for writing this series.

Thank you, Lana. These books will be on my shelves for the rest of my life.

Rise and Divine by Lana Harper is a captivating addition to the beloved Thistle Grove series. As a fan, I was both thrilled by the abundance of content and saddened by the realization that the series has come to an end.

I love this series and I love Thistle Grove. Rise and Divine really went out with a bang. And it can’t be the last book in the series, whatever the acknowledgements may say! I need Gareth’s redemption story as the head of family Blackmoore (we only had one Blackmoore book) and I need Linden’s story as Emmy’s bestie (or maybe Gareth and Linden as a second chance romance…). I love Thistle Grove so much and am going to miss it greatly. Lana Harper is an autoread so bring on what’s next! Excellent book, excellent series, excellent author. Highly recommend to all, not just lovers of all things witchy.

It a good addition to the series but I felt like the pacing was a little off. I don't think we knew enough about Dasha and Ivy from the previous books for it to make sense to thrust us right into the middle of their relationship. It felt like it moved too fast and came out of nowhere.

Saying goodbye to Thistle Grove is shockingly difficult. This world has been one of my favorites to explore. Probably because the idea of a cool magical town in Illinois (where I'm from) is fascinating to me and I would move there in a heartbeat. That said, I sometimes don't always find the stories that happen within Thistle Grove (mostly the romance aspect) to be a 10/10 which isn't great if it's a romance book. This final installment was no different. My favorite part was the world followed by the main plot and then the romance was dead last for me.

Dasha and Ivy's second chance romance felt kind of rushed and like I had no reason to root for them. My favorite part of a romance is the yearning and there's just none of that here. One minute they're broken up, the next they're back together and in love. That just wasn't it for me. It's fine if a romantic subplot doesn't work but, in my opinion, since this is a romance it should be better and I'd have liked more reason for the characters to get back together

I loved Dasha and the parallels between her struggle with wanting to return to the otherside of the veil paralleled with addiction. Ivy I felt like I hardly knew and this made it hard for me to root for the romance. The whole concept of devil eating was super cool.

The world continues to be my favorite part of this series and I'm truly sad to see it go. The witchy vibes are perfect and reading this series during spooky season is a great idea. Just set expectations for the romance. If you're here for cute magical small town and witchy vibes, you'll enjoy it

3.75 rounded up

I only read the first book in the series, and as it is with a lot of series like this - they are interconnected standalones so you don’t have to read them in order - which is true. So I thought I would be okay. But as I was reading I PERSONALLY felt like I was missing something and I don’t quite have enough time to go back and read 3 other books right now.

With that said I do like what I’ve read. I love the lgbtqia rep! Sapphic witches are perfect!!!

Thanks to Berkley for the ARC

Dnf @ 30%

Maybe it was the darkness of this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I enjoyed the first two books in this series. The last ones have been less than.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance reading copy.
Loved this series and this book was so fun. I am sad that there isn't another one coming in this series but I'm looking forward to whatever Lana Harper writes next.

Love a witchy book when the main character has a troubled past, it just feels more real even tho it’s witchcraft! The cover was what caught my eye and the colors were stunning! Dasha and Ivy were perfect characters that made me not want to put this book down

The latest books following the witches of Thistle Grove follow a second-chance romance of two witches who could not be any more different. Daria Avramov a death eater, who has the ability which leads to an addiction to slip into a void of darkness which allows her to feel a euphoric high, and Ivy Throne, whose magic is pure green and full of life. Daria must overcome this addiction to not only get Ivy back but to fight the literal demon that is slipping out of the void, and only she is capable of doing it.

Lana Harper never disappoints. This book is the perfect addition to any Spooky reading lists, and will surely delight and entertain any readers of witchy Romance.

I love the Thistle Grove series and am simultaneously excited we got so many and sad it’s over. This one gets a little darker (no surprise when an Avromov is involved) and the magical plotline reminds me a lot of the one with The Lady of The Lake. I was kind of surprised how quickly the couple got back together in this one after breaking up previously. There wasn’t a lot of will they won’t they but I did enjoy their scenes. I enjoyed how all the magical families had their time to shine and worked together better than in previous books.

I'm so sorry this series is ending, as I would read many more stories set in the world of Thistle Grove, but Harper sticks the landing! I'll continue to recommend the entire series and it definitely has a permanent place on my best witch books and best urban fantasy/paranormal romance lists.

Good bye to the Witches of Thistle Grove 🥺

I have loved this series so much, and this one was no exception. This one follows Dasha, a witch whose lineage means she’s both Harlowe and Avmarov. But Dasha is also a death eater who feels the pull of the other side.

This one plays well on the dark vs. light conflict. The romance is a bit more spicy than the most recent books, and that’s a good thing! A good book to end the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Fans of this series may be surprised by how dark this book is compare to the ones that precede it. Since the books in this series have been written from the point of view of varying members of each of the four families, the reader has a lot of knowledge on what each character is like, from different perspectives. By the time you get to this book, you're invested in everyone, which is great and makes this book difficult to put down. It's a shame that this is the end of the series, the author could've gone on longer, but this one was really enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

Lana Harper has done it again! I have been a fan of the Thistle Grove series since the beginning and have loved every moment of every book. I devoured this book. While I am sad that this is the end of the series, I am so excited to pick up whatever is next for Harper. She has become an auto-read author for me!

I had a harder time getting into this than any of the other books! However, once I was in, I was IN! Dasha felt like a random satellite character, but I did enjoy being in her head, as dark as it was. Her love interest has been more relevant in previous books but I was a bit foggy on her, so it took me a while to get settled.

The plot was fascinating and it really felt like an excellent conclusion to the series!