Wild Reverence
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Synopsis
Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.
As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.
Synopsis source: StoryGraph
Review
Genre(s): Fantasy, Fiction
HB&W Rating: 5 stars
View on StoryGraph | Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon
Releases September 2, 2025
Wow, I can already feel the book hangover starting after finishing this one minutes ago. If you enjoyed the Letters of Enchantment duology (Divine Rivals), you’ll love this companion novel! You don’t need to have read LOE to read this book. Though it is set in the same world, it takes place before the time period of that duo, exploring the mythology of that world in more detail. It was fun seeing little breadcrumbs in this story dropped like Easter eggs for people who have read the LOE duo, though.
This book was on the longer side at 544 pages, but with the exception of the first 15%, it moved at a good clip. All I wanted to do was devour this book. As I was reading, I found myself checking my progress, thinking I had been reading this book for so long that I surely must be coming up on the end, and I was dreading it. Then I would look and realize I still had more to go and the story, thankfully, was not over yet.
Gah, this book! I loved it so much!
Honestly, I liked this book better than LOE. I loved how Ross explored what it must have been like to be a god and grow up amidst the deadly games gods play, never knowing if someone is a true ally or waiting to take their shot, never knowing is someone loves you or feels any real affection for you or if they are using you for their own purposes. I loved the bargaining, the cunning of the gods and their choice of whether to pursue for gain or not, I loved Matilda and Bade’s relationship contrasted with Matilda and Thile’s, and I loved the wise Matriarchs and their knowing ways. I loved watching Matilda navigate this ever changing landscape all while coming into her power and growing, both as a woman and as a god.
The world-building is as we would expect from Ross, borrowing elements of historic settings we readers would be familiar with and peppering it with the fantastical world of the Skywards, the Underlings, and the Wastes. Those fantastical places were described so well I could see them clearly in my mind. The romance is so good, pure. There’s tension in the mortal/immortal pairing, the forced separation as well as forced proximity without any drama of cheating or misunderstanding. It’s simply about trust, patience, and love.
It was such a beautiful story full of love, magic and myth! I would love to see another novel about Bade and Adria and their story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Until next time,
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