Book review: Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross

Genre: Fantasy

Release date: September 2, 2025

Goodreads rating: 4.5

My rating: 4.0

 

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Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross is a great book!

The story follows Mathilda, a young goddess whose magical powers allow her to carry messages between godly realms. She is born during wartime, when gods kill other gods to steal their powers (so is at risk herself!). We follow her as she matures, discovers her abilities, learns to distinguish friends from enemies, and falls in love with a mortal boy.  

Ross’s writing style is amazing! I’ll be honest, I was a bit worried when I first opened the book and saw the long list of characters. In past experiences, this sometimes indicates that it will be challenging to keep everybody straight, but this couldn’t have been further from the truth here. Each character was well introduced and well referenced each time they appeared. Each character was also quite unique, making them memorable. I got quite attached to most. Ross did a great job on this front.

I also loved that the story followed a love interest that didn’t overshadow the rest of the story. The themes of family, loyalty (or lack thereof, sometimes) and courage were equally as strong.

If you read Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, it’s worth noting that this story is set in the same world but don’t worry if you didn’t read these… it is not necessary to fully delve into this book.

I recommend this book for all fantasy lovers, as well as readers who want to get into fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Book review: Julia by Heather B. Moore