I always adore how lyrical Rebecca writes and wild reverence is no different. I will say, this book feels a lot grander with ideas and plot, and it took a bit to get into the world building of it all. It also felt like it was trying to accomplish too much at times, but it still played out at the end. Not my favourite read of hers but it was still very enjoyable!

I love the authors writing so much. It’s captivating and beautiful!

I would recommend reading Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows first as it made me appreciate this story more, especially the epilogue.

The first half for me was slower but I was intrigued and pulled into the story, about 50% I was really interested and couldn’t put the book down. I wanted to know how everything would play out.

This was an amazing love story between a mortal and immortal. I thought we’d get more romance but the moments we did get were beautifully done. Which is why I was left wanting more of Vincent and Matilda…Red 🥹

I think this is a solid 4.5 for me but I’ll be rounding up.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

This book was had an amazing story and evoked so many emotions. The games of powers and descriptions were so intriguing! It left me excited to see what was coming next. There’s lots of world building and it leans more towards fantasy with a hint of romance. There’s a lot to follow but it’s not confusing and flows so well. But it is PERFECT! Romance is my favorite but in this story it felt just right and truly hit differently.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Saturday Books for the ARC!

OMG REBECCA ROSS DOES IT AGAIN!!! 🌟✨ Somehow she manages to write something so quietly beautiful but also punches you right in the feels — like, excuse me while I ugly cry all over my couch? 😭😭 If you loved A River Enchanted, you need to read this NOW!!
Set in the same breathtaking world as Divine Rivals (but waaay before those events), you can totally read this as a standalone — but seriously, why wouldn’t you want to dive back into this universe?

I am SHOOK. This book is EVERYTHING. 5 stars? Nope, give me a million!! 💖💖

Matilda and Vincent are literally the slow-burn romance I’ve been dreaming of. Their love story had me swooning, crying, and hitting repeat on every emotional moment. Rebecca Ross’s world-building is so lush and magical, I felt like I was living inside the story. Plus the gods, the underworld, the politics — so much depth and drama!

The only thing I want is a few happy chapters already!! Like can we please get a wedding or at least some cozy “finally together” moments? My heart can only take so much heartbreak! 💔😭

Bottom line: this book will rip your heart out and then mend it with pure magic. I’m obsessed and counting down for whatever Rebecca Ross writes next.

Rebecca Ross does it again! Somehow managing to write something so beautiful and quiet that, at times, punches you right in the gut. Excuse me while I weep on the couch? If you loved A River Enchanted, you'll definitely love this!!
Set in the same world as diving rivals, but long before, you can definitely read this as a standalone!

5 stars, stunning!!

Wild Reverence
Rebecca Ross
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favorite Quote:
"You are parchment, ink, cloves. You are water dripping down stone, and the smoking of burning scroll. You are something deeper, darker still. Something I am not sure how to describe, which means you came from the realm far below. The only place I have never been."

If I could give this book six stars, I would. Rebecca Ross never fails to sweep me up in each universe she creates. I love the writing. I love the relationships. I love the world building. This was so good. I cannot wait to see more from her.

Wild Reverence was heartbreakingly beautiful from beginning to end. This was one of those books where I had to force myself to read it slowly because it truly felt like an immersive experience I didn’t want to leave.

As a huge fan of Greek mythology, I loved the gods and goddesses aspect of the story and enjoyed Rebecca’s interpretation of them. The characters are multifaceted from the jump, which encouraged me as the reader to overanalyze each interaction and start theorizing early on.

There is quite a bit of world building at the beginning (which is essential to the story) but once you get through the first few chapters, the plot is exciting all the way through and progresses at a nice pace as the story unfolds.

I thoroughly appreciated the relationship growth between Matilda and Bade, almost as much as I loved Matilda and Vincent’s love story. Rebecca knows how to write a yearning man in a way so few others do. But that brings me to my one and only qualm with this book: Let’s normalize giving the reader (and the love interests) a few happy chapters before ending the book! My sanity is begging.

It was very hard for me to endure Matilda being kidnapped several times, being held in the underworld for SEVEN years, just to have one chapter of them happy together when her sentence was finally over. Give us the wedding! Some dialogue! Something!

Aside from the abrupt ending, this book was a genuine 6 star read for me. I laughed, I cried, I set my kindle down and had to walk around the room. I couldn’t recommend it more.

P.S. This was my first ever ARC read so thank you R.R. for setting my standards incredibly high! <3

“For anyone who has ever had to let go of someone they love”
OH. MY. GOSH. If perfection was a book this would be it. I am in awe of everything I just DEVOURED. It was magical in every way I needed it to be and immersed me in Matilda’s world from the very beginning. Thank you NetGalley for the this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Wild Reverence is a lush, emotionally charged return to the mythic world of Divine Rivals. Rebecca Ross weaves gods, dreams, and destiny into a romantic fantasy full of longing, danger, and secrets. With lyrical prose and high stakes, this story of a goddess messenger and a mortal lord explores what it means to be vulnerable in a brutal world. A tale for fans of slow-burn romance, divine politics, and beautifully built fantasy realms.

This book truly moved me. The depth of romance written between the two main characters really touched my heart. The intense connection between them was beautiful, mixed with the deep fantasy of the skylings and the underlings. I really enjoyed reading this, and now going to read divine rivals and ruthless vows. It's been really amazing to read the love story that happened before

SOMEBODY SEDATE ME 😭😭😭😭😭😭

don’t mind me im drowning in a sea of tears…

five stars, six, ten, twelve (iykyk) this book this story is phenomenal. beautiful, tender, UTTERLY HEARTBREAKING. everything about it is magical and enticing, rebecca ross writes like there’s no tomorrow MY GOODNESS beautiful words just ripping my heart to SHREDS and then mending it only to rip into it again!

i am so unwell. matilda and vincent are everything to me and i know i say that a lot but my GOD GET BEHIND ME RED AND VINCE 💔💔😭😭😭

sink your dagger into this beautiful world of conniving gods and mortals and the love that triumphs through it all.

Rebecca Ross is truly an artist. As usual, this book is like her others, beautiful and breathtaking!

Rebecca Ross’s words are as magical as the worlds she creates.

Wild Reverence is as lyrical as it is lovely. It charmed me from the start and did not waver.

It is a stunning cousin to Divine Rivals, delivering the same emotion and beauty.

The hold that Vincent and Matilda had on me is only rivaled by the one they have on each other. I could not put this down.

PS - there is basically a goddess of pockets, what more could you want?!

📚Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating

✨”For anyone who has ever had to let go of someone they loved”

I had the amazing opportunity to read the eARC of Rebecca Ross’s upcoming book, Wild Reverence!

I loved being able to jump back into the world of Divine Rivals. I loved this world so much. This book gives us a glimpse of what happened before the war between Dacre and Enva, but expands more into the worlds of The Underlings and The Skywards.


It takes us through the life of a Goddess named Matilda. The Herald to the gods. As she is growing up and getting stronger. She is introduced to Vincent, a mortal, through dreams.

Together a bond is created for one another. They learn later on that they have a need for one another. Through escaping death, fake marriage, battles on the field, and answering silent prayers. Matilda and Vincent grab hold of each other and don’t let go!

Rebecca Ross shows us a love with no bounds.

“Will you show me? He asked. A throaty whisper that made the hair ride on my arms. “Show me where I should touch you?

You will fall in love with Gods and despise others. Learning that there is so much more to the gods and how they too survive.

“If I am strong, then I will no longer live afraid of being slain, my magic stolen. I can move through the realms, fearless.”

Spoiler!! We finally find out how the Divine Rivals typewriters were created and by which God.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Rebecca Ross, and St Martin’s Press for providing me with this eARC. Wild Reverence will be officially published September 2, 2025.

Set in the same world as Divine Rivals, we learn more about the lore of the Gods and Goddesses.

The book follows Matilda, a new goddess, as she grows and learns how to navigate the tricky line between the three Realms. She repeatedly crosses paths with Vincent, a mortal, both in dreams and in real life. Their love is forbidden but irresistible.

I love the found family, side characters, and watching Matilda grow into her own person. How the Epilogue connects Matilda to the story of Divine Rivals was chef's kiss

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-ARC. in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It does start off slow but it builds to an intense, page turning novel. The FMC Matilda is well written and I actually didn’t hate her. I have a tendency to be very hard on the females in the books I read, but I did not find anything I hated about her. The MMC Vincent was amazing also. He was kind of perfect, close to too much but he never crossed that narrow line. I do wish we had a little more angst between the pair.

The world itself was very inventive. Gods and Goddesses kill each other to gain their magic and their stars. Matilda’s own mother had killed another for their magic. The world was very backstabby and it created a very anxious environment.
The battle was fun and intense. Ross created a lot of tension and innovative ideas in the battle scenes.

The plot was also very different. It’s nothing I’ve read much of before. It had a few twists and you’d think okay we’re good and then something else happens and you are like oh okay! Let’s go.

Synopsis:
Matilda is the herald of the gods. She can go between all the realms of the gods. As daughter of an underling and her father king of the Skyward folk she tries to keep a low profile. She finds herself drawn to a boy that has dreams about her and eventually she finds him but has to leave him. Events happen and time passes. Matilda finally finds the boy again, now a man but he is at war. Will Matilda now a full blown goddess help Vincent the boy who dreamed of her? Or will she become trapped, embroiled in mortal politics?

A page turning, magical romantasy! 4.5 stars.

Thank you St Martins Press/Saturday books and NetGalley for the arc.

This Divine Rivals prequel is all about the gods and gives you the backstory and history of Enva, Dacre, Bade, and Matilda. It talks about the realms and mortals and gods. I read this hoping for more typewriter love stories so it took me a minute to figure out what I was reading. 🫠

When Matilda is born below, she doesn't know who her father is. God's have few allies and she is raised to be constantly alert. She trains with the god of war to protect herself from those that would kill her to steal her power when her power is made known.

Victor dreams of a red haired girl. She never tells him her name, so he calls her Red. He's dreamt of her for so long, he worries she isn't real, until one day he sees her in real life. She is a goddess.

After reading the epilogue, I wish I would have read that first! lol. (but not really because there are some major spoilers in it) It just tied the books together for me and helped me feel like I understood all of the stories better.

Overall I really enjoyed the characters and the backstory, it's a bit of a slow burn, but perfect for fans of epic tales.

Thank you to netgalley for an ARC to enjoy.

Another incredible book by Rebecca Ross. Great pacing of the story. Love the brief connection to Divine Rivals. Beautiful writing.

Quick and dirty review - I loved everything about this book.

A more detailed reasoning:

1) Can you read this without having read Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows? Yes. Are there some nods to DR and RV that you’d not get if you haven’t read them yet? Yes. But I don’t think it would detract from the book at all.

2) The first part of this book is HEAVY on lore and history. For someone like me who absolutely loves Divine Rivals, I’m here for it. I also know there were often comments, especially about Ruthless Vows about how the mythology and lore were kind of random or not well developed. Well, problem solved. This book gives you all the background you could want.

3) Rebecca Ross has some of the most beautiful writing and this book is no different. Matilda and Vincent are both so wonderful. And in true Rebecca Ross form we also get incredible side characters. Vincent’s little brother, Nathaniel, love him. Bade. Don’t even get me started. Every time Matilda talks about wanting to run and hug him - same girl, same. We love a big baddie who’s really a giant cinnamon roll.

Now that I have all this new background into the lore of the gods, you better believe I’m doing another reread of the other books. I want sure how a prequel was going to be or what all it would involve being set in the same world, but this was everything I could have hoped for.

In this prequel installment to the Letters of Enchantment series, a new goddess is born and learns to find her place in the three realms and beyond. Meanwhile, a human boy dreams of a child-god who rescues him from nightmares.

I was delighted to revisit this world and learn more about the lives of the gods, both underling and skyward. There is also a bit of explanation of some of the magic of the original series, but I thought it was a bit of an afterthought and didn’t really add anything to the actual story. It was interesting that this prequel is an adult romantasy novel after the two YA installments in the series - that could be troublesome if you have a teen reader who wants to continue in the series, but the intimacy scenes aren’t terribly explicit or frequent.

One of the things I have enjoyed about Ross’s other books is the way her writing creates such a vivid atmosphere, and there is certainly the same quality on display here. I did start to notice that there is a simile or metaphor in nearly every sentence which started to grate, but that might just be me. Overall, I enjoyed. If you read the other two books in the series, you’ll like this as well, but this is a standalone and you don’t need to have read the others to understand this one.