Iris Winnow is hung by anticipation with her brother’s departure to fight in a war between the gods. Life is messy with her mother’s addiction and money being tight. So, winning the columnist position at the Oath Gazette seems like seems like the only thing that can get her out of the mess. She is worried about her brother’s absence, so she writes letters to him and slips them under her wardrobe. All of that only to fall into the hands of her rival at the Oath Gazette, Roman Kitt, who is also fighting for the columnist position. The exchange ends up with a plan to get to the war front and truly discover what is happening to Iris’s brother, Forest.
One of the most disappointing parts of this book was the lack of politics and war details. This affected the world building making the war aspect feel raw and not fully created. Another thing was that I felt like in the beginning Roman and Iris should have had more rivalry. It all seemed more like teasing and having annoying quirks with each other. One thing I did really enjoy was the letters and the writing. Overall, I’d give this book 3.5 stars, rounded down to a 3.