atmosphere i can taste

I'm really happy that I decided to keep reading past the first 100 pages of this novel. They had me kind of unsure if I was going to fall headfirst into the budding romance and extended worldbuilding of one of my favorite duologies. But I really grasp how these first 100 pages have to establish the beautiful complexities of this rich world steeped in mystic gods, fragile mortals, and their tentative coexistence.
I feel like my enduring impression of this story as a whole keeps returning to  how quietly atmospheric the writing style is. The most simplistic of descriptions, from tree leaves to the scent of mist, felt so tangible for me as a reader in a really refreshing way. I knew I was going to at least partially love this book because I love the way Rebecca Ross spins her tales of romance and fantasy and intrigue, but wow, I really loved how this entire tapestry of a story came together. I'm so impressed by the variety of climaxes and denouements, which I feel captures the essence of her immortal characters so well. Having a good amount of the action surround the attempted storm on Wyndrift really grounded the narrative for me. I'm also so impressed by the intricacies of the magic system, how gods can be slain and magic conquered or stolen. From the get go, these stakes are built and endure. 
I also loved slowly learning about how the mortal world functions with a knowledge of the immortal world and way of living. The constant strife and contrast of Matilda and Victor's mortal timeline relationship displayed the kind of yearning and pining I live to read! I especially love how gentle of a masculine character Victor is. He really strikes me as a well written love interest as well as individual main character. While Matilda strikes me as more of an aloof enigma, though she has plenty of moments of beautiful humanity, I think it's fitting for her to feel harder to fit into a mold, being a goddess.
Additionally, having only subtle connections to the original duology content seen in Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows made this novel, its setting, characters, and meaningful story feel appropriately separate from the events of the aforementioned core series. In other words, I would've been a bit disappointed if this novel felt like it was riding on the familiarity of its predecessors, but that was happily not the case.
I chuckled, set the book aside to stare at the wall, and cried bittersweet tears, each in turn. This book is beautiful.




Some of my favorite quotes from Wild Reverence:
​
"My home is your home. My arms are a haven for you to rest. My last name is yours if you desire it. I will love you to my grave, and even beyond it, when the mists welcome me, when I am hopefully very old and gray and grouchy and have spent the seasons beside you when you are here and dreaming of you when you are gone."

"But I think you know that the soul can be found in words, and words within the soul. The two reflect each other in the sky, do they not?"

"I was weak for her alone, and I wanted her to know it. I did not want to keep anything from her."

---