This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint! I loved it so much! Rebecca Ross has become one of my favorite authors. She has such a magical, beautiful way of writing that feels like poetry in the best way possible.

Matilda is such a strong, inspiring character. I loved reading her journey to fully embracing and understanding herself. And her romance with Vincent was just so achingly beautiful ❤️ I cannot wait for my pre-order copy of this book to arrive so I can have the beautiful shelf trophy and reread it again soon 🥰

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I had such expectations for this book and I unfortunately was let down a little. It took around 40% to get into the book. However after the 45% mark I had an amazing time reading this book. I would still recommend.

I absolutely loved Divine Rivals so I had really high expectations for this prequal and was unfortunately let down a little. It took me until around the 45% mark to actually get into the book as I felt it started too slow and the romance for most the book was lacking a little. The romance happened too soon and yet there was also too little and not enough depth to their relationship. I did really enjoy being back in the world and learning more about the gods as I loved that part of Divine Rivals. I also loved the letter aspect of this book again and Vincent's letter at the end was so beautiful!

This book was so poetic I love it the atmosphere was so palpable I felt every snowflake, gust of wind, blow of swords. The story was very well written and a perfect Cosy yet entrencing the pacing was perfect.. Yeah it was the perfect book!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book

"I think you know that the soul can be found in words, and words within the soul. The two reflect each other in the sky, do they not?"

I’ve been a Rebecca Ross fan since reading Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, so revisiting this world was an absolute TREAT.

This story follows Matilda, the god-child of a Skyward and an Underling: two opposing divine factions that almost never mix. The youngest goddess of her clan, she’s gifted with humble messenger magic. But in a world where gods kill to steal power and alliances shatter overnight, she must remain alert and trust no god (except her salt-sworn ally, Bade the god of war) in order to survive

Dreams tie her to Vincent, a mortal lord who once sought her help in his darkest moment, only to be forgotten. Now, when Matilda literally tumbles through a window into his world, their fates entwine once more.

I loved the dual POVs, being able to see not only how Matilda and Vincent perceive themselves but also how they perceive each other. Their connection has such depth, and the slow build toward a fierce, beautiful romance felt so satisfying. The title couldn’t be more perfect: their wild reverence is a love that’s passionate, equal, and devoted in a way that feels almost impossible between a goddess and a mortal.

Matilda herself is such a layered character. She is Underling. She is Skyward. She is both and neither... and somehow more. Much of the story wrestles with her sense of belonging, and I loved how she ultimately finds it not in her bloodline, but in the bonds she chooses. Yes, she has her parents, but in Vincent and Bade she finds the ones she loves most, and that was one of the most beautiful themes of the book: the importance of love and the bonds we choose to ground us.

I swooned, I worried, I teared up. This is easily one of my favorite reads of the year. And while I loved catching little easter eggs tying back to Divine Rivals, this story also stands perfectly on its own.

A breathtaking tale of love, words, and belonging and a reminder that what makes us human (or god) is the devotion we choose to give to the ones we love.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I appreciate the chance to read this prequel to a series I love so much.
It was exciting to finally get more context about Enva, Dacre, and what happened before the war. After reading this book a lot of details started to make more sense for me.

I especially liked Matilda’s character. She is strong and intelligent, and even though she has endured loss and hardship, she doesn´t let those experiences close her off from her curiosity about the world and humans. That mix of resilience, cleverness, and curiosity made her one of the brightest points of the story for me.

When it comes to the romance, I found it a little underwhelming. The fact that Matilda meets Vincent through her dreams, influenced by a third party always felt more like a manipulation than a genuine encounter. Because of this, it took me a long time to really “buy” into their love story. There was some tension between them, yes, but not as much as I would have liked or expected given how central their relationship becomes.

I liked Vincent as a character, he’s layered and also brave and strongminded, but I think Matilda carried the story. And I think that's why I found myself more invested in Matilda’s personal growth and the larger conflict than in their romance.

Plus, the story itself is slow-paced, and personally, I don’t enjoy that because it affects my overall reading experience. Also, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the storyline involving Vincent and Matilda’s ex-lover, it didn’t work for me as strongly as other parts of the book.

Overall, I’m glad I got to read the prequel, and I think fans of the series will appreciate the added depth and background it provides!

3.5 ⭐

This was such a fun prequel to Divine Rivals! I loved that the vibe of the book strongly resembled a mythic tale of the gods that Iris or Roman could have heard growing up (if they had been taught the true history of the gods). I loved how Matilda told her own story and how she refused to be bound by anyone else’s story lies. I also loved her relationship with Vincent and how their relationship drives the story but in a far more complex way than I expected. Rebecca Ross is a new favorite author so I should not be surprised by how much I loved this book, but she has done it again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

First of all, THANK YOU to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Rebecca Ross for the opportunity to read this amazing ARC. I was so shocked when this arrived on my NetGalley shelf.

This story is incredible from start to finish, though it does start off on the slower side. The world building was amazing and I loved learning more about the gods, their powers, dynamics, etc. Matilda is a wonderfully written character with a powerful story. So much wanting, loss, grief, and love all wrapped up in one novel.

Now on to the other characters of note - Vincent, Bade, and Warin, and Grimald. Vincent and Matilda’s connection that spans a lifetime was so beautifully written. The YEARNING! I love that we see their background as kids all the way through adulthood. I also adored the father-figure relationship with Bade and found his character to be so multilayered and interesting. And finally, without giving too much away, Warin and Grimald are a great example of villians that are easy to hate!

And the epilogue? CHILLS. I love how it tied into Divine Rivals.

Well done, Rebecca Ross. Thank you for a story with found family, fake marriage, and emotional damage that doesn’t feel like it’s been done a thousand times before.

4.75 | I loved this story (more than Divine Rivals, honestly) and it is written so beautifully. My only gripe with it was that it the first ~10% was incredibly slow, so much so that I almost wanted to stop. I am so glad that I did not!

This is set in the same world as Divine Rivals but hundreds of years before and focused on a god that we had not yet been introduced to: Matilda. Matilda, a herald, has such a great character arc and grew so much from her childhood, through a lot of trauma unfortunately, but was still able to keep a strong heart. We also follow mortal Vincent who met Matilda in his dreams when they were young. With dual first-person narrations, we get to see the trials and tribulations of both characters. These characters are easy to love and you want to root for them always. The side characters are also well-fleshed out and I got attached to some of them too (i.e. Bade the God of War and Nathaniel, Vincent’s brother).

This is written beautifully and reads like a myth retelling. I 100% recommend to anyone who likes stories like those, even if you have not read the Divine Rivals duology (it can be read without having read those). So happy that I was able to read this!
___________________
Thank you to NetGalley, author Rebecca Ross and St. Martin's Press | Saturday Books for this eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who has not yet read any of Rebecca Ross’s other books including Divine Rivals or Ruthless Vows this was such a beautiful first novel. This book was such a wonderful introduction into not only the worlds of divines and mortals, but also Rebecca’s writing for me. This story follows a young goddess and a young boy as they embark on a lifelong friendship that follows the span of many years. Matilda has been born to a mother in the underworld, but secretly has lineage in the skies, the enemy of the underlings. Vincent is the third born son of a Lord who fears the river he lives on and is haunted by his nightmares of drowning in it. Matilda is a messenger to the gods and a traveller of dreams, one chance meeting in Vincent’s nightmare begins an innocent infatuation, however when fate pulls Matilda from her home and Vincent’s family from him both children must find a way towards safety even if it breaks them apart. Many years later they are brought together by an impending tragedy and must find the way back to trusting each other. In a lush and picturesque setting filled with war, death, love, and fate this is such a fantastic story. It shows that the most unsuspecting people can be the strongest given the motivation and that love might be able to conquer all. With notes similar to Throne Of Glass and nods to what I am sure is Divine Rivals it was my first five star read in awhile. I don’t want to give to much away with fear that any small piece could take away that first time feeling for any reader because this is one of those novels. This is a novel that will impact you for many days after. It is a novel that is so wonderful, it will be one, so beloved as to read again and again. I loved Wild Reverence and look forward to reading again in the future as well as finally getting around to Divine Rivals.

This book a simple fantasy. It was good enough, but not a lot of depth in plot or characters. If you liked Divine Rivals-you will likely love this one as well. Very similar.

first, i would like to give a huge thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

i think i fall into the minority here, but i wasn’t as obsessed with this story as i thought i would be. i think my problem mostly lies with the fact that i found the pacing to be too slow for the most part, and Matilda and Vincent were underwritten. they had a lot great romantic moments together, but the progression of their relationship wasn’t my favorite. this is not to say this was a bad book, but i feel like it was missing something for me. although if you are a fan of tragic fantasy romances, i would still say to give this a shot! you don’t need to have read Divine Rivals beforehand.

I am not often left speechless from a book, but this one did a number on me emotionally. I was sobbing around 85% in and the tears have yet to cease. It’s been 30 minutes since I finished.

What a beautiful story of gods and mortals. It started slow, but quickly picked up. And just when you thought the story was peaking, there was so much more that had yet to come. I found myself checking the percentage quite often because I kept thinking “there is no way this is how it ends” or “wait, there’s more?!”. Truly. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

It was a genuine love story, told from the very beginning of two different lives, worlds even. It was poetic and suspenseful. It was beautiful and heat breaking. It was love and war. It was everything.

I’m not sure how RJR did it, but she slayed me. This will stay with me till the end of my days. I loved Wild Reverence and the journey it took me on. The epilogue was PERFECT and so heartbreaking at the same time.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

One of my absolute favorite books this year! A gorgeous, riveting read plus brings even more meaning to the world of Divine Rivals. A book where I cried, annotated frequently, stayed up until 2am, and immediately preordered. This is an automatic 5 star book for me.

Spoiler:
She pressed down on the key marked by I, then R. The M and the V.

IRIS AND ROMAN, MATILDA AND VINCENT.

So incredibly beautiful. I loved the story of Matilda and Vincent!!! Im so emotional from this novel, and the letter of enchantment easter eggs brought me to my knees!! Rebecca Ross’ writing and story-telling is just absolutely superior. I will forever read anything she creates!!

This is up there with the best books I’ve ever read but I would expect nothing less from Rebecca Ross.

Like many, I was very excited to enter this story, so I’m quite torn to share that I did not find Wild Reverence as enjoyable as I had hoped.

While I do think Wild Reverence is beautiful and romantic in feel, I dominantly felt it lacked restraint and brevity with its length and prose and this negatively impacted my ability to connect with the story being told.

For me, the pacing was uneven, and though I felt the length dragged, I did not feel emotionally connected to the characters, the love story, or any one setting. Somehow the story felt too long and too rushed in the same breath.

I wanted the heart and warmth I’ve experienced with other works by Ross to be unearthed, and it sadly for me just remained buried under excessive stylization. I never felt rooted enough in one place during the story to develop that wanted connection.

In my opinion, there is a fine dance between flowery language and descriptions delivering an impactful message and overly verbose language and metaphors becoming too heavy and frequent that the plot and pacing becomes bogged down and hard to navigate through. I love a beautifully written sentence, but also think there is a balance to be found, especially in a larger novel.

Maybe a bit oddly, the Coco Chanel quote kept coming to mind as I lived in this story: “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror, and remove one accessory.” I felt the story was there, it just required a little less to really let its’ beauty shine through.

As always a huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

📚 ARC REVIEW 📚

Wild Reverence ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Matilda is the youngest goodness of her clan, she has been blessed with messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power, she must come of age sooner than most. She may carry words and letters through the realms, but she also carries secrets of her own. To make matters worse, there’s a mortal boy who dreams of her even though he has never met her before in the waking world.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent are destined to find each other beyond dreams. But she must face her fears of being loved in order for that to happen.


Overall, this was good. The beginning was a little slow but it picked up more in the middle and the ending was good. I loved the epilogue. I also liked how the story was broken down into different acts and was a dual point of view. I liked the slow burn and the yearning Vincent had for Matilda. I also enjoyed the magic elements and the mythology. This is the prequel to the Letter of Enchantment duology (Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows) but can be read as a standalone.


This book will publish on September 2, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Saturday Books for the advance reader’s copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

I really truly wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

The book centers on Matilda who randomly appears in Vincent’s dreams when they’re kids and then when he calls on her one time, she doesn’t go to him (because reasons) and then 13 years pass and they haven’t seen each other.

Wild Reverence serves as a prequel of sorts to Divine Rivals, but it can totally be read as a standalone. I knew going into it that it’d be about the gods and goddesses and expand on that whole aspect from the Letters of Enchantment duology and the synopsis for Wild Reverence sounded intriguing so I was looking forward to reading it … until I wasn’t.

Every bit of this book felt slow to me. I didn’t like most of the characters (MCs included), there was more telling than showing, I didn’t care for anything going on, the pacing felt off, the plot seemed all over the place at times, and the interactions between the MCs felt so rigid that I couldn’t buy into their connection. By the time we got some romantic quotes, I just didn’t believe the love and emotion.

I was curious to see how things wrapped up and it was nice to see the Divine Rivals connection at the end, but I really struggled through this book. If you’re a Divine Rivals fan, I’d say maybe try giving it a shot?

I will say that these books are definitely unique and the premise seemed intriguing, I just wish it was executed differently and that it stuck the landing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Characters: 4.5⭐️
Plot 4.25⭐️
Writing style: 5⭐️
Enjoyment: 4.5⭐️
Overall a 4.5⭐️!!

Rebecca Ross knows how to expertly write an interesting world and captivating romance full of longing and tension. We follow a goddess named Matilda who was recently born between an Underling goddess and Skyward god, something that has never happened. The main part of this story involves 13 year old Matilda reading about dreams from a fellow mortal boy her age, Vincent. Matilda appears in his dreams despite them never meeting before and they develop a connection through these dreams. Fast forward to when they’re both the ages of 26 and have been separated for some time, they reconnect and undergo a variety of challenges and threats to them both as individuals.

The writing in this book, like with Divine Rivals, is outstanding. Very descriptive, flowery, full of symbolization so maybe stay clear of this book if that isn’t for you. I will say that this type of writing I felt prevented me from fully connecting to the characters, but I still loved Matilda and Vincent so much as individuals and seeing their relationship (as friends, lovers, comrades, EVERYTHING) flourish.

I felt the plot was very ambitious with this book. I loved learning more about this worlds magic system and gods, it definitely expands a LOT beyond the information we got in Divine Rivals. A lot happens and there wasn’t a singular climax; as one ends, another begins. While still interesting, the plot definitely had me questioning at times “where are we going with this?” and “what could possibly happen now?”. Ross had a lot of loose ends to tie up by the end and while I still have some questions about how this magic system works/the logistics of everything, I felt to overall conclusion to be quite satisfying.

If you loved Divine Rivals (as I did), I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by this newest book set in the same world. While this takes place before the Letters of Enchantment, I don’t believe the reading experience would change depending on if you read this before or after the duology (i.e. neither book spoils the others). The epilogue of Wild Reverence does however centre around the main enchanted objects in Divine Rivals/Ruthless Vows which I thought was a nice way to explicitly tie these two together.

*thank you to SMP and netgalley for the ARC 🫶🏼*