I need to preface this by stating- I will not do this book the justice it deserves. This might just be the best book ive ever read and I am so happy I had the opportunity to get an arc. I have already ordered a special edition and regular edition to start my collection because I am that obsessed! I strongly suggest going in blind but will leave a few notes.

The dreams 😍 if you (like myself) loved the letters and the friendships and romance started in letter format inDivine Rivals then you will love this just as much, if not more!

There is so much tension and YEARNING! I am obsessed with the MCs, Matilda and Vincent are so beautiful and I feel emotionally destroyed so you know the romance is poetic.

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross is a deep dive into the lives of the gods from her Diving Rivals series. It focuses on the life of Matilda, the youngest god who is a messenger and how her life intertwines with a human named Vincent. As she grows older, her powers grow, and she becomes a target of gods who desire her power. As she helps Vincent, their relationship grows deeper, and Matilda must decide what’s important to her.

I loved this book! It started slowly, but I was drawn into the story and couldn’t put it down! The world building in this book is so detailed and extraordinary. I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think that this is a fantastic addition to the Letters of Enchantment world. When I was reading Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, my MAIN critique was that I wish there had been more history of the gods layered into the story; that we could get more insight into the world that Ross built. This book is EXACTLY that.

It is slow-paced, much like DR and RV, and took me a while to get through...but Ross does not miss this one. If you liked DR and RV, you will eat this up.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for this ARC!

Wild Reverence
Rebecca Ross
Publication date: out now!
5/5 stars

This is one of my favorite books by Rebecca Ross! Rebecca Ross creates such unique and interesting stories that are very different from other fantasy books. Wild Reverence tells the story of Matilda who has “messenger” magic which allows her to travel between realms. Vincent is a mortal boy who begins to write letters to Matilda even though they have only met in dreams.

I recommend this book if you are looking for a unique fantasy story. It takes place before Divine Rivals so it’s fun to recognize characters, but it can be read as a standalone. Thank you Rebecca Ross, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wild Reverence is the prequel to Divine Rivals and this is a book I have been looking forward to all year after reading Divine Rivals. For this one I did a mix of reading and listening to audio as I really enjoyed the audio book for Divine Rivals. I didn’t enjoy the narration as much for this one but it was still enjoyable and I would recommend as it does have dual narration for the dual POVs.

So why did I only give this book 4 stars? For me this story just felt like it was lacking something. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely ADORE Rebecca’s writing. It’s amazing. She paints the most beautiful scenes and pictures in my head and everything is so lyrical and whimsical I can see my self in the book right with the characters at any point. I think for me it was more that the overall plot fell flat. We start with Matilda and Vincent when they are kids and then we see them grow into adults, it almost felt like I was reading two different stories because of this. I was also really intrigued by all of the Gods and their backgrounds but you don’t really get much more explanation on them. I think I just had different expectations for this book so for me it was just missing something so it didn’t make it to a 5 star read for me.

I will say I did really enjoyed the love story in this. Seeing Matilda and Vincent jump through the many many hurtles they go through to try and be together was written so incredibly well.

Overall I did really enjoy this book I think that if you have enjoyed any of Rebecca Ross’s other books you will love this one too! It’s the perfect mix of whimsy, romance, and fantasy.

This is a beautifully written story, rich with romance, magic, gods, and betrayal. The plot is captivating, the world-building is fantastic, and the characters are absolutely stunning. Matilda, a lesser-known goddess, has quickly become one of my favorite female protagonists. I was completely drawn into her journey as she navigates a vicious world ruled by vengeful, spiteful gods, struggling to find her place among them.
The twists and turns were perfectly paced—just when you think you know what’s coming, the story surprises you. Trust no one. My favorite part of the book was the unlikely love story—one that feels like something out of a dream.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this advanced
copy.

Ross' writing is so lush, and I enjoyed being back in this world and seeing all the connections to Divine Rivals. The romance was so sweet and beautiful, a love story for the ages despite how many events and time kept deferring them from actually being together. I struggled with some of the pacing in this one at times, and the worldbuilding as far as how the Gods functioned. They slept, ate, had power yet were immortal, but could be killed or worn down or have their magic stolen in death. Matilda's magic in particular was confusing at times. As was her relationship with Warin, and the little we saw with her father and some of her other decisions, especially when made recklessly only to realize there was a better option in front of her all along. Overall, enjoyed seeing what would happen and how the story went in the end. Definitely some emotional moments that I felt connected to.

This was a lovely read! I can see why so many people enjoy this world. Matilda is strong and her slow-burn romance with Vincent is done so well. The things he said to her had me absolutely swooning. The world-building was deep and I love that they are both adults for once. The journey Matilda has was fascinating to see and I really enjoyed the political intrigue when it came to the relationships between the gods.

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=4.25 | 😘=3.25 | ⚔️=3.5 | 16+

summary: a Divine Rivals prequel of sorts; a goddess and a mortal lord with intertwined fates have a very longing romance amidst a pretty intense war

thoughts: I’m really impressed with the way Rebecca Ross used adult fantasy as a genre to her advantage in this story—-and no, I’m not talking about sex, but rather the way that the story and the world are structured. Ross gets to take her time in Wild Reverence, and that’s so evident in the first 15% or so of this novel, which I actually think was really necessary even if it was slower paced. (as a side note, I think it’s nuts that the main question she got after announcing an adult fantasy was whether or not there would be sex in it. like there are more important things about a novel, and more things that define an adult versus young adult novel. omg.) and yes there was a bit of “FMC very well-developed and MMC very much less so”-itis here, but it’s also very clear that Matilda is the main character and Vincent isn’t, so that’s okay I guess? anyway this is good! I need Rebecca Ross to stick to standalones because the Divine Rivals sequel was not that good and this was pretty great

2.75 - This was so decadent, and yet I found myself so bored for a majority of this excessively long (550 pages!) romantasy.

I am so disappointed that this did not work for me, considering I very much enjoyed Divine Rivals and found Ruthless Vows still solid.

I adore the lushness of Rebecca Ross' writing style, it's creates such a fantastic atmosphere for tender romances to bloom. My favorite dynamic was Matilda and her father-figure Bade. Their relationship felt so wonderfully complex and yet so tender. I really enjoyed Matilda's character, her fierce independence, and competency in both fighting and political scheming felt so refreshingly well earned, especially when it feels like many FMCs in romantasy's are lacking in this department. I loved that we explore Matilda's compassion despite this power-hungry world she inhabits.

Ultimately, I think the main problems for me were the extremely meandering and repetitive plot, underdeveloped sense of the world, and very imbalanced use of telling instead of showing. One of my biggest issues is that THE central premise is that Matilda and Vincent become friends as kids in their shared dreams in the first few chapters of the book - something that we are told in a sentence or two. This lack of emotional foundation made it extremely hard for me to become emotionally invested in their relationship later on. The setting, while incredibly vivid and lush, was limited to only a handful of scene locations that we rotate through in the mortal and immortal realms. This lead to a very repetitive plot where Matilda would travel from one realm to another, engage in some quest or dialogue with one or two other characters and then repeat. There were so many back and forths and side tangents that plot points were dropped, unexplained, or only re-brought up to be resolved when convenient. By the end I was so relieved to be done that I nearly missed the epilogue, where we finally get the connection to the Letters of Enchantment duology, that was incredibly underwhelming for the emotional investment undertook.

Overall, this had so much potential and had several good pieces, but for me could not put them together in a cohesive, enjoyable way. I know many others have loved, so I would still check out if you've enjoyed her other work before. I highly recommend the audiobook - I ended up switching when I was considering DNF'ing and it significantly improved my experienced.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 5/5 ⭐

“We were doomed, she and I.
One day, I would Perish, and she would live on, endless as the stars.
But if we were doomed, then let us finally embrace it.” 💕

Rebecca Ross writes the most beautifully lyrical books and this was another stunning example of her work.

Wild Reverence takes place hundreds of years before the events of Divine Rivals & Ruthless Vows. I would 100% recommend reading this first as it explains much of the world, the gods and the magic at play. We follow Matilda, Herald of the Gods as she’s coming into her power and finds herself repeatedly drawn back to the same mortal boy. Their love story, while grand, was also simple in a perfectly sweet way I didn't expect. I adored Matilda and Vincent with my whole heart and I already know this will be a love story I won't be able to stop thinking about for years to come. 🥰

3.75

Rebecca Ross will always succeed at prose- it's always lyrical and I listened to the audiobook so the voices convey the yearning.

I loved Divine Rivals - I loved the characters and the letters that were sent back and forth so I loved that element of this book. It felt like a mix between Circe and Divine Rivals to me so I did really enjoy the concept

It was a little on the longer side and at times the pacing felt like it could have been tightened up. This book is 500 pages and there were moments where I thought it could have been done with less. I still enjoyed the characters very much though and was happy to return to this world

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, I loved this book ! I knew it was going to be good the way Rebecca Ross writes is beautiful! The characters were so likeable and the fact that she can break your heart and put it back together seamlessly gets me everytime!

The Letters of Enchantment duology is one of my faves, so I was so happy to hear we were getting a prequel.

Although the OG duology remains my faves in this series, I think this prequel was very intriguing and ties into the duology really well. The entire world was so intricate and well rounded - I found it was easy to immerse myself in the story.

I saw a few other reviews mention to use the character list at the front of the book and I think I would highly recommend the same. I didn’t use it much and found myself loosing track of who everyone was, and that took me away from the story a bit.

One thing about Rebecca Ross is that her writing is always next level. I love the poetic feel of her books and this one had those same vibes. I definitely want to give this one another read in the future, cause I’m sure there are so many Easter eggs I probably missed my first read through.

Wild Reverence released on September 2nd and this was my first book by Rebecca Ross and I loved it! This was such a beautiful story! I loved the world she created, divines, mortals, all of it! ⁣
⁣
I am looking forward to listening to Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows!

This is my favorite book of 2025. It will be hard to beat this one. I loved Rebecca’s poetic writing and imagery. My heart was both full and ached for this romance. I loved the different strengths and stories of all the characters and the ties that circled back with brilliant. Rebecca is very intelligent and it’s obvious in her work. Thank you for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review! And in my opinion, this would be lovely to read before DR and RV!

4.5!
Ross” writing is impeccable 👌. I loved being in this world and it is not necessary to read divine rivals before hand, but I feel like it made me more invested in the story because we already know some of the characters and some of their story. The world building was cozy and the perfect fantasy setting you could imagine for gods and monsters aspect. Chef’s kiss

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! I was excited to be back in the divine rivals world but a little surprised by how long it took me to get into this one. I think was truly just a me thing because the writing was incredible and overall I really enjoyed this book!

First and foremost I’d like to say a HUGE Thank You to NetGalley, Saturday Books and Rebecca Ross for an advance reader copy and advance sneak peak listeners copy of Wild Reverence! I had every intention of reviewing this book before publication but I just didn’t want the story to end. I should have known with a tagline like “What happens when a mortal falls in love with a God” that I was done for!

The audiobook sneak peak covered Part 1 (or the first 18 chapters) and boy was I sad when it ended! The narrators did a phenomenal job bringing Matilda and Vincent to life and I will definitely get an audio copy for a future re-read. My one comment on Part 1 was that it read a little slow. I know we’ve got to build the world, but it wasn’t until the characters grew up and the drama started that I really just didn’t want to put the book down.

Jen-uinely, I’m at a loss of words on how to write a proper review for this book. I don’t want to give spoilers but that ending was kind of perfect/the most heart breaking thing I’ve read in a long time (AND THAT EPILOGUE!! Makes me want to go read the Letters of Enchantment Duology all over again). I knew Matilda and Vincent’s fate was inevitable but I was hoping 🤞🏼🤞🏼

For fans of Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows this is a must read! For anyone who has never read a Rebecca Ross book, why not?! The writing is beautiful and poetic. The characters feel so real and you just never want the story to end! Go pick up Wild Reverence today! You won’t regret it 🤓

4.5/5.0 stars

a beautiful, quietly devastating story of love, sacrifice, and the vulnerability.

i don’t really have the words to describe how utterly emotional spent this book left me… wow. the prose was so immaculate, and magical, too. the rich world-building makes the setting and atmosphere itself feel vibrant and somber at the same time in such a unique way and it also makes one feel like they’re there. Ross is excellent in writing her characters: so full of emotion, life, history and culture, and their relationships to each other (divine and mortal) is interconnected in such complex ways.

i do have to admit that the first part was quite slow but it does pick up fast after part two! i loved how Matilda and Vincent’s slow-burn relationship developed and their romance was so beautiful and heartbreaking.