Review: Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)

Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
By Rebecca Ross

Published By: Magpie / Harper Voyager
Publication Date: January 4, 2024
Date Read: January 4, 2023
Genre: YA – Historical Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 400

From Goodreads:
TORN APART BY WAR. REUNITED BY LOVE?

Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

The minute I finished reading Divine Rivals, I couldn’t help but dive straight into Ruthless Vows. I am so glad I waited to read Divine Rivals when the sequel was released as I was just dying to find out what happened to Iris and Roman after that cliffhanger ending. Yes, you read right… a book I actually DO consider a cliffhanger. I never usually binge read series, not even duologies as usually I have had enough of a world/series just with the one book and need a break, so the fact that I dove straight into Ruthless Vows really does show how incredible this series is.

Ruthless Vows picks up right where Divine Rivals left off, with Iris and Roman separated, and with Roman having no memory of his life before Dacre saved him. I know that this sort of storyline was a cause for concern for some readers as they have the separation and memory loss kind of tropes but let me tell you… this is how you do a memory loss trope RIGHT! I actually loved that Roman lost his memory because we kind of got to see him falling in love with Iris all over again and it was so sweet and adorable and I loved every moment of it!

In my review of Divine Rivals, I said one of the things that I loved most was that it didn’t focus on the ins and outs of the Gods but more the impact of the war on the families and communities of the human soldiers. Ruthless Vows is where we get to see more of a direct view of the war and the Gods. And honestly, I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed getting to see Dacre and Enva and their motivations. It was a different take from the first book but I really love that throughout the duology we get to see both sides of this.

Ruthless Vows is without a doubt one of the most emotional books I have ever read. I can’t lie, I absolutely sobbed! I was utterly heartbroken at parts and it has been a while since I cried that hard at a book. Initially I was deciding whether to rate this one 4.5 or 5 stars, as while I loved it, I definitely loved Divine Rivals that little bit more. But when I get this strong an emotional reaction to a book, I can’t really give it anything but 5 stars. Ruthless Vows was just… phenomenal in every way.

This book has once again cemented Rebecca Ross as a potential new favourite author. I just flew through this entire duology and it is one of my all time favourite duologies. I am definitely going to be working my way through her backlist in the coming months as I am just utterly obsessed with her. If you loved Divine Rivals, you will absolutely obsess over this one too. It’s a definite must-read!

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