Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross is officially on shelves, and the romantasy novel delivers on one thing we wanted more of in Divine Rivals, making it an excellent addition to the duology’s world. Released on September 2, Wild Reverence is a standalone adult story set 600 years before Ross’ BookTok sensation.
As our recently shared excerpt of Ross’ new novel reveals, it follows a young goddess named Matilda as she uncovers her powers and learns to be a messenger between worlds. It also unravels her unconventional relationship with a human named Vincent.
Matilda and Vincent’s story has quite a bit in common with Divine Rivals, as Ross uses the same lyrical prose and well-crafted build-up to piece it together. However, Wild Reverence does one thing even better than Divine Rivals, making it a great choice for those who wanted even more thorough world-building from the duology.
Wild Reverence Is The Answer Who Wanted More Of Divine Rivals’ Gods & World
The Spinoff Book Shows A More Magical World
Divine Rivals is an incredibly atmospheric novel, and its central love story is set against the backdrop of a war between the gods — gods who appear in Ross’ new standalone book. However, Divine Rivals spends more time building the bond between its main characters, both of whom start out as professional rivals in their journalism careers.
The gods and world-building become more of a focus in Divine Rivals’ sequel, Ruthless Vows, but even the duology’s conclusion can’t spend too much time on them. It has a lot of ground to cover, wrapping up all its storylines, and many of the gods are no longer on the playing field. This makes it hard to delve too deeply into this aspect of the lore.
Wild Reverence more than makes up for that, transporting readers to a version of Ross’ world where the gods are still abundant and powerful. Not only do we get more insight into the histories of the gods still alive in Divine Rivals, but we get to see the many deities that once existed alongside them, some of whom are referenced in the former books.
In this sense, Wild Reverence is a lot heavier on the fantasy elements, while Divine Rivals leans deeper into the romance. Fortunately, Wild Reverence has plenty of that to spare as well. But its elaborate depiction of the gods is what really makes it complement Ross’ duology so well.
Wild Reverence Perfectly Complements Rebecca Ross’ Duology
The Spinoff Strikes The Right Balance Between Fresh & Familiar
Wild Reverence connects to Divine Rivals in the ideal way, as it’s not necessary to read the duology before diving into Ross’ new romantasy release — but having knowledge of the previous story will help readers pick up on things they might not realize are references to it.
Those who have read Divine Rivals will get a history lesson about Ross’ world, but it won’t feel like it. Wild Reverence stands on its own, pulling you into a narrative that feels fresh and exciting, even if the setting is familiar. The new romantasy novel is exactly what a spinoff should be, never depending too much on what came before but still managing to enhance it.
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