“A girl who writes letters to her missing brother, and the boy who reads them.”

Thus we have the first thoughts of this beautiful novel. The tale is set in a world where two gods who were previously defeated by mortals are awake and at war with each other. 

At the beginning this is a distant war not changing the day to day life of the city of Oath. Iris (our leading lady) is fighting her good looking but arrogant rival Kitt for a position at the local paper, caring for her alcoholic mother and worrying about the whereabouts of her solider brother. 

When her secret letters to her brother disappear and then suddenly are magically answered by another man everything begins to change. 

I adored this book. The 1940’s type era with some magical occurrences (not your wizard and wands type) that are sprinkled throughout daily life. The use of letter writing adds such a beautiful romantic use of words to create bonds and really adds to the beauty of the book. 

It was also important that war was not romanticised in this book. The descriptions of trench warfare and invasions was realistic and brutal and added a fantastic juxtaposition to Iris’s personal life. 

This would be a great book for those wanting to have a little dip into fantasy while still similar to a 1940’s war romance. But oh it is so much more than that simple explanation.