DRC Review: Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross

Release date:  2 September 2025

Rating:  2.5/5

Book box(es):  TBD

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.

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Review

Before Ross’ first duology even released, I read and reviewed it.  I fell in love with the writing and story and loved that I could share it with YA readers without reservation.  Again, with Sisters of Sword and Song and Dreams Lie Beneath, Ross continued to enchant me.  I won’t say I was becoming a bit of a Stan, but I might have been close.  With A Fire Endless, however, I felt the muchness slowly start to disappear.  Ironically, the Elements of Cadence duology put Ross at the top of the bestseller charts, though the first four novels already should have already been there.  As such, this review will probably be in the minority of opinions.  That’s okay.  I’ve always been an outlier; I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.  I rather like it here, anyway.  It’s far less crowded.  Whatever.  On to the meat of the review.

Wild Reverence is a long, hot mess.  The foundational story has heart, but the wobbly structure atop it tries to support too many levels and hold too many imbalanced rooms.  Its telling reads like a procrastinated term paper handed in at the last minute, which the acknowledgements section seems to confirm for me.  Usage inconsistencies abound, and the gross overuse of simile bogged my reading with a repetition that made trudging through the book a month-long chore.  By way of support, I’ll give a few instances for the sake of brevity, but I don’t want to make this review a giant harpy fest.  

First, the correct term for putting an arrow on the string of a bow to prepare it for firing is called nocking.  One nocks an arrow on a bowstring (or to—I’ve seen heated debates over the preposition use).  If one notches an arrow, one cuts into the end of the shaft where the fletching is attached in order to be able to nock it.  Though I don’t need to look that up because I’m familiar with the terms and know what the parts of a bow and arrow are called and how to use them, any person unfamiliar with the same can quickly look up the terms to be sure.  Also, subject/object pronoun alternated back and forth between being correct and incorrect. More stuff was inconsistent; a couple of examples must suffice.

Second, and probably most inhibitive for my reading adventure, simile and metaphor can be used effectively to produce lyrical writing, but only in moderation.  My eye started twitching early on, and I wondered why.  Not long after, I noticed a pattern of repetition.  “Like” similes crop up in the book about 870 times and “as if” ones about 425.  I could only take so much of it at a time; hence, my month-long span from start to finish of this nearly 550-page tome.  

Finally, the story lacks definitive focus and symmetry.  The great love built up in the story ends abruptly.  Magic use sometimes just happens with no logical explanation.  What applies for one character in one instance does not apply for the next.  If the universe were governed by Discord from 2012 MLP, I might understand the randomness of it all.  Yes, I’ve read the other books in the universe (I even remember when the Letters of Enchantment duology was called Iris at the Front).  Even if I hadn’t, Wild Reverence is a standalone; and the magic still needs logic, explanation, and order.  There isn’t much here.  

Wild Reverence kicks off Saturday Books, the new NA imprint from St. Martin’s Press (Macmillan US).  I can’t say enough how happy I am that NA imprints are starting to crop up.  I hope more and more will in the future so the adult content in YA books can move on out and join the age-appropriate ranks it belongs in.  Unfortunately, the book is still YA in UK, so like the Letters of Enchantment series before it, it contains explicit sexual content in it not suitable for the children’s audience it’s marketed to.

Ultimately, Ross has published 9 novels; the writing should be much more polished.  This was a rushed mess.  If I had to grade this for a class, I’d have handed it back after the first few pages.  I was not impressed, and this book was too long for that much meh. In future, I think, after 5 chances, I'll have to have a high recommendation from a trusted bookish friend to convince me to pick up another Ross book.

My thanks to Saturday Books for the DRC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

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