Rebecca Ross has done it again! Wild Reverence is a beautifully written adult high fantasy novel set in the mythical setting familiar to readers of the Divine Rivals duology. However, you don't have to read those two books first in order to read and understand this one. If you love fantasy and mythology, you'll enjoy this book!

My Impressions: The over-arching genre for this book is mythical high fantasy. If you are looking for a book that is primarily romantasy, this book is not it. Clocking in at over 550 pages, it took me many hours of deliberate reading to get through it. There were many heavy world-building details, which I thought were very well done, but may not be what some readers are expecting after reading the Divine Rivals duology. Keep in mind the DR series was YA, and this one is adult fantasy. The primary difference between those here, in my opinion, is the heavier fantasy content. This isn't a light read. It's serious and there's nothing cute or funny about it. That being said, it is beautifully written and an incredible book. The way Rebecca wove together different elements through the book and tied it all together is a work of art.

As for the romance, I felt like the main character Matilda made the book by herself. She didn't really need Vincent, and his role in the book was very secondary. I didn't really feel their connection, and they didn't spend much time together.

Parts of this book felt like a 5 star read, and I definitely think many fantasy readers will give it 5 stars. Due to the book length (felt excessive and slow at times), my personal enjoyment, and lower chemistry/time spent between Vincent and Matilda, I'm landing on 4 stars here.

Content Considerations: No profanity, one open door sex scene with mild details and two other quick sex scenes. Most of the details are non-explicit but implied, but there are a few more details than her YA books. One LGBT side couple.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My review is my own opinion and is in no way influenced by the author or publisher.

ahhh I requested this without knowing its the prequel to the DR series and i haven't read those yet!!! I stopped reading this when I learned that because I was told I'd understand everything happening if I read those first and then this one. I liked what i read so far for this one but I don't wanna finish it before reading the other DR books. This is my fault 100%. Sorry!

Rating: 4.5/5
Rebecca Ross has done it again—Wild Reverence is a breathtaking return and poignant conclusion to the Divine Rivals universe.
This novel follows the intertwined journeys of Matilda and Vincent. Matilda, an underling goddess, stands apart from the rest of the divine. Born of both Skyward and Underling lineage, she has only six stars to her name—far fewer than many others—and lacks the unmistakable, showy power of the higher gods. Instead, her abilities are subtle and often overlooked. She is a Herald, gifted with messenger magic that allows her to travel between the three realms—Mortal, Underling, and Skyward—and deliver messages across them. In a world obsessed with strength and spectacle, Matilda’s magic proves that words can be the most powerful force of all.
Vincent, the other central character, is mortal. The two first meet in dreams, forging a deep connection without ever encountering each other in the real world. When Matilda suddenly disappears from Vincent’s dreams, their paths diverge—until fate draws them back together. Matilda must then face a painful decision: protect her heart behind the walls she’s built, or risk everything by letting Vincent in.
The magic system in Wild Reverence is intricate and captivating. Divine power is determined by the number of stars a god is born with, each constellation mapping out their status in the celestial hierarchy. Ross’s prose is nothing short of lyrical. Every sentence feels like poetry—emotive without being overwhelming. Her writing resonates deeply, wrapping around your heart and echoing in your soul.
This isn’t a fast-paced or action-packed story, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s tender, immersive, and quietly powerful.
My only critique is that the beginning can feel a bit confusing due to the unique terminology and slow pacing. But once the story finds its rhythm, it becomes impossible to put down.
Wild Reverence is a love letter written in stardust—haunting, magical, and unforgettable.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. This book was a treasure, and it will stay with me forever.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an Advanced Readers Copy. I really loved the world of Divinal Rivals and Ruthless Vows so I couldn't wait to see what Rebecca Ross had in store for Wild Reverence!

This was an incredible prequel. While divine rivals focuses on the mortals in a war between gods, we get way more of the world building and god lore in Wild Reverence! It was SO interesting to see this part of the world explored. We even see Dacre and Enva, gods who are the main players in the original duology. This book could very easily be read first before jumping into the duology. All the parts that may pop up and relate to the other two books felt like perfect little Easter eggs!

I think the pacing of this one was definitely slower and I found myself a bit bored in the middle, but the ending absolutely destroyed me. I think i will definitely have a soft spot in my heart for Matilda and Vincent. I can't wait for my copy to arrive when it finally publishes! I'll have to dive in for another reread of the whole series i think.

4.5 stars!

I found the book to be quite slow with too much irrelevant detail and not enough of the relevant. Unfortunately was a DNF at about 35 percent in.

The book gods at NetGalley truly smiled upon me and Granted Wild Reverence as my first ARC. I was overjoyed—exuberant! And then I started the book…

Even though I’ve lived under a rock of epic fantasy for most of my reading life, I had high hopes for an author that wrote something as famous as Divine Rivals. I’m sad to say that this was my first and probably last time reading Rebecca Ross.

Unfortunately, the romance starts when the FMC is 13. I say the romance and not just the story because there’s a kiss. It’s supposed to be an innocent kiss, but it’s intended for the lips and lacks any semblance of consent. Taken, not given. But then we are supposed to feel romantic as she decides to kiss him back? The whole thing is cringe and not in a cutesy first kiss kind of way. Honestly it gave me the ick.

And on to the real problem at hand: I can’t find it in me to give a single flying duck about the female main character. She has the personality of a rock. A golden rock of the gods, but still a rock.

Maybe I’ll come back to this closer to publication date but as it stands, I’m DNFing @ 40%. I truly can’t remember the last time I was so disappointed by a book.

Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows were the two books that convinced me to stop writing off fantasy novels and start venturing into the genre a little more, so I was cautiously optimistic about picking up Wild Reverence. Rebecca Ross writes beautifully and it feels immersive, and I'd give her writing style alone 5+ stars. However, I couldn't find myself invested in this story enough and had to convince myself to finish it out. This is likely a genre issue for me, but I also didn't love some of the tropes used in the book (another personal preference)! I really appreciated that this felt like reading a myth in a lot of ways, and again can't say enough about how much I do enjoy Ross's writing style. I can easily see why this book has so many five star ratings and am anxious to try more of Ross's work (and am incredibly grateful that she helped open me up to the romantic fantasy genre)!

5 ⭐️ - Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
✨ARC REVIEW✨

Wild Reverence was everything I hoped for — and then some. Rebecca Ross delivers a rich, emotionally layered story I devoured in just two days and haven’t stopped thinking about since.

Set in the divine, dangerous world first glimpsed in Divine Rivals, this novel feels darker, more mature, and more intricate in every way. While I liked Divine Rivals (3.5⭐️), Wild Reverence is an undeniable level-up: the worldbuilding is deeper, the emotional stakes sharper, and the slow-burn romance had my heart in a vice. Though technically a prequel, this book stands firmly on its own — no prior knowledge required.

Matilda is a quietly powerful goddess with messenger magic and a secret that could unravel everything. Vincent is a mortal lord, hardened by grief and bound by duty — until a goddess he once dreamed of appears in his room with a letter in hand. Their connection is magnetic, tender, and aching with the kind of fate-woven tension I live for in romantasy.

This book checked every box for me:
💌 Dreamy, soul-deep romance
🖤 Secrets and betrayal
🔥 High-stakes power struggles
🌙 Lush, lyrical writing that sinks in like a spell

I’m so grateful to have received a digital ARC, and I’ll be racing to buy a physical copy the moment it hits shelves on September 2, 2025. Easily one of my favorite reads of the year.✨

Unfortunately it is a DNF for me. Maybe temporary or permanently, I’m not sure.

I thoroughly enjoyed A river enchanted duology, I gave both a solid 4.5 star rating, however divine rivals was a miss for me.

Rebecca is a phenomenal writer which made me want to check this one out, her prose is perfect and she creates characters within a world that suck me in.

I enjoyed part of the lore surrounding the gods that I did read in this, however I found most the book to be average, very trope heavy, and uninteresting for me.

If you enjoy any of Rebecca’s works then your opinions will hopefully be different, it’s going to be a book many do enjoy.

It’s a soft dnf for right now. I got to 30% and I was not vibing with that characters as much and was getting bored. Maybe I will try again in the future! Thank you for the arc

If you only read one book this year, let it be this one! Like Divine Rivals, this is up there as one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. This is an emotional masterpiece.

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

The story follows Matilda who is a young goddess who goes between realms delivering messages and letters. She meets a mortal boy, Vincent, through his dreams. Years later, she takes on a quest from Death to deliver a letter to mortal who is doomed to die. As the fates have it, this mortal is Vincent who she does not want to die, and instead chooses to help aid him. The rest I’ll let you read on your own.

Just know this is poetic, beautiful, and emotional. You are going to want to have some tissues ready. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a while.

That epilogue? Perfection! If you have read Divine Rivals, this interconnects the stories PERFECTLY.

There is for you if you love
✨ Divine Rivals
✨ True yearning and longing
✨ Goddess x mortal
✨ Great Twists
✨ Lyrical and magical writing
✨ Political intrigue with the Gods and mortals both
✨ Emotional writing that will likely make you sob 😭
✨ Characters with so much depth
✨ Amazing found family with some of the characters

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Saturday Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

unfortunately this is my third time trying to get into this book and i just cant find the connection with the story/writing. i’ve only done this authors duology and while i didnt dislike it i also didnt love them, so i knew that this story could go either way for me and unfortunately it did not go my way but you win some you lose some.

i feel like a lot of people will end up loving this story, especially those that love rebecca’s writing, however for me when i read these i feel like theres some invisible word count that is trying to be reached, there are SO many words while next to nothing is happening.

upon release i will be giving this another shot eventually through the audio book as thats how i did the letters of enchantment duology and it may help my case!

I was not sure going into this book if I would like this. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!! I love stories that take us as such a fragile age and they grow with us and this story delivered on this. I loved the interesting dynamic of the magic system and characters. There is Romance but it is definitely a “subplot” for most of the book. I enjoyed the love story between Matilda and Vincent. My heart ached thinking that the main characters were doomed to not have their chance. I loved that there was closure between many of the characters.

The gods are definitely something to behold. I would have loved to know more about some of the gods. There was one in particular that I did not feel like we learned enough about. This god was kind of like the “bad guy” at some points but I wanted to really know the “Why” behind it.

The FMC definitely developed rather nicely and I loved how she grew into such a fine goddess.

Also, the little tid bit in the Epilogue about the “typewriters” made so much sense to me! So thank you to the author! If you know you know ❤️

First - Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy!

Now...
Oh. My. Gosh. Can I give this 10 stars?

Rebecca Ross's writing in Wild Reverence echoes the style of A River Enchanted, but it feels more refined here. It is lyrical without dragging, immersive without overreaching. The imagery is stunning and brought the world vividly to life in my head.

Her tone fits this story beautifully. It’s reverent, emotional, and honest. She managed to capture how all of us feel at some point in our lives, and remind us that we deserve love through Matilda and Vincent's story.

Now I’m just hoping she writes another book set in this world. I’d return in a heartbeat!

Unexpectedly everything I needed out of a prequel! I went into this blind and although it was slow in the beginning, I couldnt put it down! It was immersive, a beautiful blend of a river enchanted and divine rivals best parts. It was mythical/fairie esque with a mix of war. The romance was so soft but solid at the same time. It was mainly character driven but i appreciated the strong plot points following Matilda’s life. I loved this and want to reread it when it comes out

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy! I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story was absolutely beautiful. I already loved Divine Rivals, so returning to this world—especially with more focus on the gods—was such a treat. Matilda’s journey as a growing goddess and everything she endured was heartbreaking but powerful. I’m a sucker for a strong, resilient FMC, and Matilda’s quiet strength really stayed with me. I also loved how her life remained deeply connected with Vincent’s, even as time and fate pulled them apart. Their relationship had such a timeless, soul-deep quality to it. And I adored the sweet father-daughter bond between Matilda and Bade.

Rebecca Ross delivers another emotional, beautifully written story. A perfect ending with the final nod to history through the typewriter enchantment—such a lovely full-circle moment.

3.5/5 ⭐️ Divine rivals was my favourite book I read last year, so when I found out there was another book set in the same world, by the same genius author, I frothed at the mouth. And when I got the arc for it? Screamed with joy into the void.

However.

While I did enjoy this book, it did not nearly meet my expectations— perhaps that’s my fault for expecting so much from it due to my love for DR.

I have to say, if the god-lore in DR and RV were your favourite parts of those books, you may like this story more than I did. While it does not cover the same storyline as what we learned about in DR and RV, the general style of god-politics were more centred in this story than DV.

I do need to stop comparing Wild Reverence to Divine Rivals. While set in the same world, these two books could not be more different. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but I found my expectations going in to this book really influenced my enjoyment of it.

I found myself disliking Matilda, and I think it’s because she is so closed off and distant. I understand that’s the point, she was raised that way in order to protect herself, but it made for a character that I disagreed with so much of what she did and was annoyed by her a lot.

The romance was extremely insta-love. I understand it spanned years and years, but somehow these two characters became so infatuated with each other after their first interaction. I found myself not really rooting for them until the very end because I wasn’t convinced of their “love”— it more felt like Vincent was in love with the goddess and Matilda felt the need to protect him.

I think I would have enjoyed this book SLIGHTLY more if I had have read it all in a short amount of time; I put it down for about two months because I really wasn’t feeling it, and that made me forget a lot of small details. That’s on me! But also, this book is detail-dense and takes brain power to fully comprehend haha.

All that being said, I have to admit, Rebecca Ross is a MASTERFUL writer. Her prose is so deliberate and beautiful, sometimes too so haha. Each word is chosen with purpose. Yes it gets flowery sometimes, but emotions are palpable and descriptions are vivid, and what more can I ask from a writer???

The end, like the last 50ish pages had me captivated, and I really felt it pick up. I liked the ending, though the pages right before the epilogue could have been fleshed out a bit more.

Speaking of the epilogue…. AHHHHH!!! LOVED that epilogue!!! No spoilers here, just a great ending.

Overall, I think it had too high of expectations for this book going into it which ruined my reading experiences. I do think it’s worth the read, just don’t expect divine rivals from it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca Ross and St Martin’s Press (Saturday Books) for allowing me to read this book early. All opinions are my own.

I'm so honored to have been able to read this ARC through NetGalley and special thanks to Rebecca Ross as well!

This is how you write a prequel. Plain and simple, I don't think it gets any better than this. I have loved being a part of this world since I first read Iris and Roman's story in Divine Rivals (I still need to read Ruthless Vows...don't come for me).

If you don't already have a copy of Wild Reverence on pre-order, I highly suggest you get one now. Rebecca Ross has done a phenomenal job creating an immersive environment for her readers once again. I could feel the chill brought to the air by the Underling creatures, feel the heartbreak and conflict of each character as they faced trials testing their strength. The sharp taste of betrayal on my tongue and the weight of a shield on my arm was familiar as every scene and emotion was so vividly painted in my mind while I read, and honestly is still very vivid even though I finished this read back in April and type this review at the end of June.

I long to return to Wyndrift and revisit Vincent and Matilda. Everyone needs to find their inner strength like Matilda and "Everyone needs a Vincent of Beckett in their lives." I loved watching the two of them grow together and apart in addition to a few other characters you're sure to grow just as fond of (you'll know who I'm talking about).

Let's not forget Rebecca's amazing job of connecting this back to the world of Divine Rivals at the very end so readers can seamlessly enjoy where one tale ends and the next begins.

Be prepared for longing, anger, sadness, and resolution in this read. I swooned, I foamed at the mouth over lines that I can't quote yet and much like one of the characters I had no idea what to do with my feelings (about the book). This book made me want to rewind time to continually live in the good while going through the bad, made me cry due to a special connection to some meaningful quotes, made me realize Rebecca must have a thing about wardrobes (at least for these three books), and I spent the "entire epilogue internally screaming in excitement, with tears welling in my eyes, and goosebumps littering my arms." What a wonderful, wonderful book. Brava.

I think this has hands down been my favorite read of 2025 so far, it definitely has a permanent place on my shelf and I will be revisiting it often. I've started tying more songs to my reads and if this had a song to describe the book it would be i saw you in a dream by The Japanese House. Give it a listen and once you read you'll see what I mean.

This story really had the vibe of an ancient myth, like it was story that had been passed down and warped and should be taught to young kids learning about religious history. I was fascinated and absolutely couldn't put the book down. Rebecca Ross has again demonstrated why she is an auto buy author for me!

Thank you to the publisher for sending a review copy

MY. HEART.
I will be thinking about this story for ages to come - like a comfort letter you stash away and reread all the time because it reminds you of what’s beautiful and important in this life.

Rebecca Ross is my all time favorite storyteller. The way she weaves words into deep, meaningful, immersive tales is unmatched. She has OUTDONE herself with this incredible story of Matilda and Vincent. I hold this story with wild reverence!

It is really hard to talk about my favorite parts of this book without any spoilers, so I will be as vague as possible, but trust me - there is endless gold to be found throughout every single part. I absolutely LOVED the Skyward, Underling, and mortal worlds - the gods and their magic system, the constellations and power, the fraught relationships between mortal and divine. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these worlds through following Matilda’s journey - from birth to coming into her full power as a goddess. The love, the betrayal, the growth… every second of it had me rooting deeply for Matilda.

Sweet Vincent of Wyndrift, connected to Matilda through fate, dreams, nightmares, love, war, hope… I’m so here for a romantic MMC who is steady, kind, faithful, patient, letting his (literal) goddess shine and live the life set before her. He supported her through every challenge, faith unwavering.

Finally, a cast of side characters that will forever be ingrained deep into my heart- Bade, Adria, Enva, Zenia, Rowena, Orphic… Bade & Matilda’s story is perhaps one of my fav storylines ever. HEART WRENCHING, make me cry at the airport type of deep love and sorrow.

And… this epilogue!!! Make my favorite series my even favoriter 😭😭😭