I have to say that this author gets better and better every time I read one of her books. It was beautifully written and I couldn’t put it down! I will be adding her to my auto buys and picking this one up!

She has done it again.

This was so so well done. Rebecca Ross is truly a master of romance and writing. I can see that her craft and skill have continued to improve since Divine Rivals, which I didn't think was possible. Her writing is gorgeous, and she is such a talented author. I love her way of storytelling, and every single time I think "wow, I wish this would happen," it always does. She knows her audience so well and knows what they want and how to deliver. And deliver she did.

The magic in this world was fantastic. I love the mythical and celestial core, but with her own twists. It does still take place in the same world as Divine Rivals, and you do see some characters you might recognize, but she expands on it and lets the world grow. I hope she continues to write in this universe because everything about it--characters, lands, magic, creatures--is fascinating.

The romance was wonderful, although a bit quick for my taste, it was still perfection, and I swooned. Her MMCs are always so dreamy and just everything you could want in a character. Her MMC Matilda was also such a great lead and didn't suffer from any of the faults that I find in a lot of annoying FMCs. I truly loved all the characters we were introduced to here, and all seemed purposeful and well executed.

The epilogue almost made me cry. I adored it and the way it wove all the timelines together from this book and the Divine Rivals Duology.

The only reason it wasn't a perfect five is that some moments of slow pacing took a bit to get through. This is more of a slow but steady-paced book and could be called cozy in some ways. Because of that, it wasn't extremely action-packed with a cliffhanger on every page, but I was still deeply invested and drawn into the book the whole time.

I cannot wait to read the rest of her backlist. Every single book I've read from her is amazing.

4.75/5 stars. Almost perfect.

Another amazing soul touching book by Rebecca Ross. I didn't quite know what to expect with this book, but I devoured it! It was very different from Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, but do I dare say I liked this more?! I didn't think that was possible, but this book took up my every thought for days. I loved every single character. I laughed with them and cried with them. Oh dear Bade, you might have been my favorite one of all.

Matilda and Vincent's story was beautiful and well told. I liked how their story wasn't the only main plot throughout the book, because it kept every chapter feeling high stakes. I've read some reviews that say they didn't like this one and that the entire book felt too chaotic, but I thought it was the right amount of chaotic to tell Matilda's story and everything connected well in the end.

I also really enjoyed how this book mainly focused on Mythology. That was one aspect of Divine Rivals that I thought could have been explained in more detail...but this was so much better to connect the humans and gods stories together. Definitely on my top 10 reads of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the chance to read and review this arc!

Wild Reverence is a beautifully intricate story about the goddess Matilda growing up and finding her place amongst the gods. From a young age Matilda has been drawn to a mortal boy, Vincent. Their fates are intertwined but can a mortal and a goddess end this war and survive to tell the tale?

I appreciated that we alternate POVs between Matilda and Vincent, it led to such a beautiful story. The world building is so well done, you genuinely care about these characters, even with their flaws. Have some tissues ready because you will feel all the feelings while reading. While this is in the same world as Divine Rivals, you do not need to read those books before trying this one. If you are a fan of fantasy books with mythology mixed in, you need to try this book!

Rebecca Ross is a poetic master at telling ethereal stories and Wild Reverence is no exception. The entire story feels like a song sung softly during midnight that sweeps you in its tides and carries you deep into the unknown.

What a perfect return to the world of Divine Rivals this was! It was a treat to learn more about the gods and goddesses before humans and technology took over the world and forgot about many of them. Matilda is the unsung hero both of this story and the Letters of Enchantment duology, weaving words and souls together to craft hope, love, and new beginnings. I loved the tie-ins between DV/RV and Wild Reverence, even with hundreds of years separating them.

Vincent and Matilda have become one of my favorite Ross couples and I adored the yearning and faithfulness they had for one another, even during long separations. Their romance was sweet and precious and brought me to tears so many times, ending with me sobbing on the couch at the final page.

This was a mastery of a book and I feel like my soul has been torn, hugged, and put back together gently into something better

2.5/5 stars
1/5 spice

An adult installment in the world of Diving Rivals sounded like a gift from the immortals themselves. However, I really struggled to get swept away into this story like I was with Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows. There were times where I would find myself finally getting sucked into, just to find myself losing interest once again. The pacing didn't work for me. Unfortunately, I also found that Wild Reverence was simply too long, and had a very meandering plot. I also was annoyed by the overuse of the word "ichor" and hope that some of the recurrences are edited out in the final version. It's a fun word but yikes was it overused.

It took me until about 25 to 30% to finally feel like I wasn't slogging through backstory and worldbuilding. At that point, I finally thought that I was getting into it. I did, however, fall right back "out of it". I just never was grasped by the book like I wanted, needed, to be. The romance also never swept me off my feet like I had desperately hoped. The setup for our FMC and MMC was so great but the execution didn't follow through.

There is no question that Rebecca Ross has enchantingly lyrical prose. She is very clearly talented with words, however, it's her plot's that I've found can be lacking, and unfortunately Wild Reverence fell in that group. While I enjoyed getting a better idea of the world of the gods and even getting in one of their heads, it wasn't as enthralling as I had hoped.

I think plenty of people will adore this book. There is still a wonderful presence of Divine Rivals, with dreams and letters that make the heart swoon. She absolutely keeps her magic touch of yearning and longing going in this installment. So, I do believe that those that hold The Letters of Enchantment duology close to their heart will have much love for Wild Reverence as well. In my case, Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows were good but not life changing. Maybe I just don't have a great enough connection with this world to fully appreciate this book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this arc! I actually have not read Divine Rivals yet but it has been bumped up on my TBR after reading this book.

As I started this book, I was absolutely in awe of Ross’s writing. It is so lyrical and the world building is so intentional and beautiful, while all of it still making sense. It did take a while for it to get going and was not a quick and easy read. However the love story was beautiful and I am obsessed with the world she created. The set up and slower start were absolutely worth it.

Because of Ross’s intentionality in her writing, I felt every single thing mattered. I am not a reader that cares about details and will gloss over things but this book had me not letting any small detail go.

I highly recommend this book and you should definitely read it!
Once I read Divine Rivals, I will let you know if I regret going ahead to read this book but as of now - no regrets except for not reading one of her books earlier!

Not on my Goodreads/Storygraph/Fable review:
Because I was stuck in some details I have questions that I really hope are addressed in the published book.
1. In the last battle, was Matilda wearing pants? I could not let it go that she seemed to be just in a tunic in battle lol
2. What happened to the eitheral after it flew away and what about the other ones?
I don’t normally care much about these things and they will just go over my head but for some reason I just have to know. I’m obsessed with this book.

Wild Reverence is a wonderful reading experience, and one I am happy to recommend to many readers. It is a prequal to the Letters of Enchantment duology, though I would argue that it can stand on its own quite well to readers who aren’t familiar with Rebecca Ross’s other works. It is also a book of complex loyalties, heart wrenching love, and stunning prose.

Matilda is the youngest goddess, and the first born to both godly courts: her mother is an Underling and her father a Skyward. Possessing only minor magic, she must navigate the cutthroat dynamics of godly existence, where killing a fellow deity steals both their magic and their rank in society. Her story intertwines with Vincent, a human who she meets as a youth and who she sees come to power as an unwilling lord of a riverside people under siege from his uncle. What follows is a complex story of love, loyalty, and identity. Vincent and Matilda must navigate loyalties that span realms, bloodlines, and even pantheons.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The prose is beautiful; using really interesting descriptions and metaphors to enhance the mystical atmosphere of the story. The story is mythological in nature, and the writing really enhances this aspect. It is written in first-person narration bouncing between Matilda and Vincent. I am not often a fan of first-person narration styles, but, in this book, it is used perfectly and is very effective at communicating the emotions and thought processes of the characters. I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Matilda and Vincent grow and change over time; navigating Matilda’s shifting loyalties, Vincent’s experiences of war, and the godly forces threatening to keep them apart for selfish gain.

My main complaint about the book was that it was difficult to understand Matilda’s character, and Vincent’s to some degree. The book leans towards plot over characters at time, making it a bit challenging to understand either of their personalities. It resulted in both of them feeling a tad flat. That being said, I didn’t feel that this took away from the reading experience in any major way. The book is still emotional and heart-wrenching and drives you to read more; I just wish I had a better understanding of either main character at the end of the book.

Ultimately, this was a 4.5-star read, rounded up. I really enjoyed my time with it and would recommend it to readers who enjoy stories of mythology and explorations of complex relationships.

Thank you to Saturday Books and St Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This it. This is my number one, my six star read for the year. Wow! Everything about this story was incredible. The character dynamics, the lessons, the beauty, the power, the grace, the action, the romance was all just so well done. Perfectly crafted in an enchanting and entertaining story.

I truly feel for Matilda and Vincent. Their love and passion is so deep and true and they would do anything for the other. It takes a strong bond to know that your love will age and change and grow and that you will inevitably lose them.

I also loved reading about the relationships between all of the gods. The power dynamics, the betrayal, the lack of trust, the vulnerability. There are so many lessons and elements and strong emotions and thoughts that this book provokes. I found myself laughing, crying, throwing down the book in shock, and every second of it was incredible. The element of a fault line either being mind or heart was so powerful and that directly translates to so many individuals out there and I think is a really important lesson and shows what's important to people.

I think that Bade is an incredible character and having him be involved in Matilda's life the way that he was and him being her first exposure to her herald powers was so important because he was her guiding light for SO LONG and then he's the one who is helping her grow into her own (for the sake of his lover) but it truly was a powerful moment. And he kept coming back for her, even after breaking the salt vow and she would not admit it but she loved him and when she finally did and called him "Father," I lost it. Their relationship shows just how important it is to have a true friend.

While it’s not necessary to read the Divine Rivals duology, I do think having read that previously helps with some of the other characters and it makes the epilogue a whole lot more fun! But this book also makes me want to go back and read those two books again knowing what I know now.

I also think that the writing in this book is so well done. The imagery is perfectly descriptive and I could imagine every scene of the book. Rebecca does a wonderful job with portraying her thoughts and the characters actions and the beauty of the scene/writing.

Seriously such a powerful book, a great read and I will highly recommend this to everyone I know!

I was very excited to receive an advanced reader's copy of this book. But now, my 'ichor' flows.

I will confess, I did not read every word of this book. I skipped and skimmed quite a bit of this book past the 60% mark as I was bored out of my mind and dreading reading this. And I hate how harsh this review will be, but this book did NOT work for me.

This reads more like those Greek retellings that are so popular lately but with Ross' own set of gods and goddesses. There is some interesting world-building elements with the dragon scales and the gemstones that serve as directional lights in the hallways? I thought it was interesting, but unnecessary. The dramatis personae in the front will be most helpful for readers as the world-building in the first 20-30% was heavy and difficult to sort through at times.

The main female character, Matilda had ZERO personality (I mean her family member dies and we don't really see her dealing with it/caring At ALL, so I didn't even care that it happened) and same with Vincent the love interest. Flat and boring. I did not understand why they liked each other at all. He dreams about her a few times, then suddenly sees her and that's their relationship development? I wish more time was spent on relationship development than on similes and metaphors, and the amount of time the word ichor was used made me want to throw the book.

This book did not need to be over 500 pages to tell this story, and we spent so much time with the flowery language and side-tangents that at times I got lost on who was even speaking or where we were in the story. I feel like this needed to be edited down some more? Also, a few spelling mistakes but it's an ARC so I get it. Very disappointing.

As for the connection to Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows, I mean....I guess it's there. <spoiler>Matilda is the goddess who enchants the typewriters that Roman and Iris use?</spoiler> But, as for the ending being powerful and gut-wrenching, I didn't see it. Mostly because by the time I got there I was exhausted with reading so many words and the plot not plotting. Looking back on my opinions of Rebecca Ross' other work I realized I had similar opinions of The Elements of Cadence as well as the Letters of Enchantment series where each of her books feels like disjointed parts strung together to make a story.

Phew, massive miss for me.

Rebecca Ross continues her incredible storytelling and complex characters we all love in Wild Reverence. Set before Divine Rivals, we follow the finicky gods and goddesses shaping the world. Matilda is a young goddess who falls for a mortal, Vincent, who dreams of her from a young age. Their story is anything but forgettable!

Matilda’s journey throughout the story brings her to new realms that were so interesting! She experiences a lot of pain and heartache but still maintains a sense of innocence and hope.

Learning more about the lore behind the gods was my favorite part of this book. Rebecca did a fantastic job creating such a complex set of characters that readers will want to know more about. Bade was my personal favorite and very unexpected to me!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is beautifully written and utterly captivating. The story is complex without being confusing or dense, the characters are well developed, and plot had just the right twists to stay unpredictable while realistic. I was reading this while in the middle of one of the largest moves of my life, helping my family dissolve a house after four generations of accumulation, and when by all rights I should have been collapsing into sleep as soon as getting into bed, this book kept me engaged and excited well into the night.

A fitting prequel that uses elements of the pre existing books. The magic though vast isn’t hard to understand and is explained well. And it ties in well to Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows

I'm obsessed with the magic and world building between all the gods and mortals across the different realms. The love story is slow burning and at times minimally there but I ate it up nonetheless.

This arc sat on my virtual shelf for months, I really struggled wanting to pick it back up for the first quarter of the book. Its hard to determine why because I do really love the world that was being built. Maybe it just needed to be built a little faster.

I also struggled a lot towards the last third with pacing. The plot was moving along but there were so many high stress events, one right after the other, that it became unbearable and killed the enjoyment. Anxiety dragged on and on with no urgency to get to the resolution. This is my only reason for removing stars, it was that frustrating of a reading experience. Plus, I think a certain god(s) deserved something more in the last chapter or epilogue and they got zip-nothing. I have questions about the epilogue too, the magic math ain't mathing for me; questions I won't spoil here.

If you haven't read Divine Rivals duolgy, this epilogue will likely confuse you. But I loved it, despite not being a huge fan of those books. Ultimately, this was a great story. I was attached to our characters and plot, still thinking about them days later. I think this author's writing style just isn't for me. I definitely still recommend this, for sure! 3.5 stars

The events of this book take place before the events in Letters of Enchantment. While you will understand some of the history of the side characters more if you do read LoE, it is not at all necessary to understand the story told in Wild Reverence.

I have read both books of Letters of Enchantment and really enjoyed the series. Though, I do think that this is a far more interesting story. Wild Reverence has the feeling of an ancient epic. If you are a fan of stories like Circe by Madeline Miller or the Peaches and Honey duology by Rachelle Raeta, you will likely love this story.

There are three realms, the Underling (gods/goddesses that live in the under realm), the mortal realm (humans), and the Skyward realm (gods/goddess that live in the sky realm). The gods/goddesses of the Underling and Skyward realms are not friendly with each other, but a coupling of a Skyward god and an Underling goddess leads to the birth of a goddess who is our FMC, Matilda.

Being a goddess is dangerous business and most children of the gods/goddesses are killed before growing up as they pose a threat to their parents and other members of the divine. For this reason she raised in secret by her mother and three members of her mother’s inner circle for the first few years of her life. The three each give Matilda a gift, information, or training that will be important to Matilda’s journeys as a messenger that will travel between the Underling, mortal, and Skyward realms.

The gift she receives from the goddess of dreaming and nightmares are the records of a mortal boy’s dreams. As she continues to read the dreams, the boy begins to dream of Matilda and his nightmares subside and become pleasant dreams where their friendship blossoms.

Just before her 13th birthday, Matilda begins her journey as a messenger of the gods when she is sent to the Skyward realm to deliver a message to Fate, a goddess of the Skyward realm. While trying to find the Skyward realm, she travels to the mortal realm where she finally meets the dreaming boy, Vincent, by accident.

Vincent and Matilda find themselves separated by years and realms until they meet once again. Their story is filled with heartbreak, betrayal, and struggles. It is not a happy story as is common with the divine, but it does have a satisfying ending. Do have your tissues nearby because you will need them.

The story is a dual POV told by Matilda (FMC) and Vincent (MMC). It does have romance and some brief open door sex scenes. Wild Reverence can be enjoyed as a stand alone.

For many of us, the story of Matilda defeating Miss Trunchbull was one that we read or listened to at school or in classrooms. Her story of courage and overcoming adversity was central to our upbringing. In Rebecca Ross’s new book Wild Reverence, readers are introduced to the Matilda of our generation today. The youngest goddess of her clan, she is also fearless, courageous and resilient. Ross takes readers through a world of gods that live above as Skywards, and below as Underlings. With the mortal realm in between, the gods and mortals navigate a system set up to divide each of the groups, only to find that they’re more alike that they realize. Matilda is born a herald, or messenger between worlds, which allows her to navigate these different relationships since she belongs to multiple realms. Initially her lack of power as a herald seems like it will keep her safe in a land where the gods often kill each other to steal someone else’s power, but as she grows into her power she becomes unlike anyone else. Ross’s writing is lyrical and vividly paints a picture of the world that these characters navigate, which makes it easy for readers to be swept into the story.
The relationships that Ross creates between Matilda and other characters is beautiful and complex. It’s a story of a young woman who sees the god of war, Bade, more as a father figure than her biological one. He teaches her to fight, to survive, and above all to think for herself. It’s also the story of the power of love, especially your first love. Readers meet Vincent, someone who Matilda has only read about in dreams as a young girl, only to later find that their lives and stories are intrinsically linked. Their love between a god and a mortal is tested in many ways, but reminds us all of the pricelessness of time and spending it with the one’s who matter to you the most. It’s hard not to be drawn in this beautiful narrative, with an ending that will keep readers immersed until the very end. This book is great for readers who love Romantasy, Fantasy, and stories that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

wild reverence ~ 5 stars ₊⊹ ೃ࿔

“for anyone who has ever had to let go of someone they love”

a HUGE thank you to netgalley for giving me an arc to this book, it was the best email i’ve ever received.
i absolutely fell in love with iris & roman’s story; the yearning, the letters, and then we have this book set in the same world? but with mortal x goddess? sign me up immediately. unsurprisingly, Rebecca Ross’ writing was beautiful, melodic, inspiring, sorrowful, and so moving. i was transfixed with her writing while i read. there’s so many quotes i want to pull from and talk about, but i will wait for my physical copy on release day. i have so much more to say and i will spend the next few weeks digesting this story.

adding the moonstone belt to the list of magical items i need from books.

Wild Reverence is a prequel to Ross’s Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, however, Wild Reverence introduces us to new cast of characters. This is the story of Matilda, a goddess, and Vincent, a human lord. There are some characters that overlap in the other books, but Wild Reverence can be read as a standalone as well.

The writing is atmospheric, and I think that what this book does best is the world building. In Divine Rivals we don’t really get much information on the gods as both of the main characters are human. The relationship between Iris and Roman takes center stage, whereas with Wild Reverence we get more details on how the magic works.

Even though romance is one of the main themes of the book, it does a great job of showing unique fantasy elements. Oftentimes, in romantasy books, the fantasy element is lacking, but I thought this book was good at balancing both genres.

Overall, it was a great book and I would recommend to anyone looking for a fantasy/romance book with solid writing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! :)

I really wanted to love this book—but unfortunately, I didn’t. Maybe my expectations were too high, but overall, it left me a little disappointed.

The writing itself is gorgeous: lush, whimsical, and full of atmosphere. It perfectly fits the story’s tone and the female main character, Matilda, who is a goddess. I truly enjoyed the prose.

Matilda is a goddess born in the underworld, among cold, cunning deities who seek to kill one another to steal power. At the start, she is a naive, carefree child, but over time she grows into a strong and independent goddess, determined to protect the people she cares about. I loved watching her character development, especially how she faced challenges and solved problems on her own.

On the other hand, I found Vincent, the mortal male lead, underwhelming. His life has been tied to Matilda’s since childhood, but compared to her, he feels weak. While Matilda wages wars, forges alliances, and takes on immense responsibilities, Vincent doesn’t contribute much beyond his devotion to her. He seems kind, but he lacks strategy, alliances, or plans to engage with the opposing gods. His character arc revolves almost entirely around his endless love and admiration for Matilda—and I’m not sure that alone justifies her love in return. I understand the mortal-versus-god imbalance, but I wish the author had given Vincent more substance—perhaps intelligence, strategy, or leadership that could shine in contrast to Matilda’s power. As it stands, their romance felt unbalanced and somewhat odd.

Surprisingly, my favorite character was actually Babe—loyal, strong, caring, and dependable. He’s the one who truly saves Matilda when she’s in danger, and I found his role more compelling than Vincent’s.

Overall, this is still a solid book. The writing is beautiful, and Matilda is an engaging heroine with meaningful growth. But personally, the romance didn’t resonate with me.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Rebecca Ross, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Absolute masterpiece of a story!

I really thought it couldn't get better than Divine Rivals but I love the more mature themes and fantasy settings of this book.
The love story was so well-drawn out and just so so good.

The beginning part, where we follow Matilda and her time with the gods in the under realm, was a little slow going. I understand why it was needed, but it does require some patience in order to get to the good parts. Aka, the love story between her and Vincent.

I'm so excited for the release of this book and to own a hardcopy! I don't know if Rebecca Ross could possibly top this one, but I guess we will see!