The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Ruthless Vows

Series: Letters of Enchantment #2

Author: Rebecca Ross

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

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. – summary from Goodreads

Ruthless Vows is a thrilling ending to the Letters of Enchantment series with romance, war, and magical typewriters that is heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measures!

This book was absolutely amazing! I loved the conclusion to this beautiful story.

The setting was, again, wonderful and atmospheric. We did get a little bit of a better look at Dacre’s realm, though this could have been done a little more in depth. We also got more of a feel of the city than we did in the first book. One of the things I appreciated was seeing the peoples’ responses to the war, which was largely absent in Divine Rivals. It added another layer to this world.

The gods were a prominent figure in this book, and they had even more of a place than in the previous book, especially Dacre. Dacre was a central figure throughout the course of the book, and we truly got to see him on a deeper level. Enva started to become a more prominent figure, especially towards the end of the book, but she was still largely a background character. I did appreciate being able to understand them on a deeper level though.

Other side characters also got to be more central figures, namely Attie. Marisol and Keegen were in the story a few times, but I did wish they were in the story a little bit more. Attie was a wonderful character, and I loved getting to know her more and meet her family. She also had a little bit of a romance storyline, and I hope in the future there is a novella or something where we get to see more of this! Iris’s brother, Forest, was also in this book a little more and we got to see and understand the trauma he went through, as well as how brutal Dacre’s army could be. I liked his storyline with Sarah, as well. It was cute and I wish there was more of them. I will also say that Forest being back helped show Iris how much she had grown and changed, so there were elements of outgrowing your past present throughout the book.

The war was intense in this book, and while it was a huge focus of the first book, it was even more prominent in this book. We got to see the impact of the war on the landscape, as well as on the people in more depth. One of the things that was much more part of the story this book was how the affluent influence the course of the war. We also got to see Dacre’s soldiers more and how they came to serve him. As shared in the ending of the first book, Roman was taken by Dacre and now we get to see what happens. That was definitely a heavy part of the story.

I love Iris and Roman so much! They are so sweet and they are soulmates! They truly fought to be with each other, despite the vast divide between them and the amnesia. I don’t think I have ever read an amnesia book, but it was very interesting. Iris and Roman got to fall in love all over again. They were also separated for most of the book, but it made the moments they were together all the sweeter. Through their story we got to see the impacts of war. For Iris, she lost a lot in the war, while Roman was more physically damaged. I thought the author did a wonderful job of showcasing both the physical and emotional damages of war.

Iris and Roman do take a more active role in this book, which kept the story engaging, but I did like how they were in more of a witness role in the first book. I understand why the story progressed this way, but a part of me wishes that they could have stayed in a witness role rather than the heroes.

I loved the ending, though I feel like the author could have spent a little more time on it. It was a nice ending, but the more that I think about it, it was a tad abrupt in my mind.

Again, this book is definitely 16+. There are fade-to-black scenes, as well as violence and bodily damage.

Ruthless Vows is a heartbreaking and heartwarming conclusion to the Letters of Enchantment series, with romance, war, and magic!

Quotes:

“Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me and fill my empty spaces.”