The Divine Draft
S.A. Rodgers
Romantic Fantasy
“To be chosen by a god is not an honor, it is an erasure.” —Enmity Self-Guided, Head-1.
Daughter of the only rebellion, Waverly Mavros is sharp, daring, and unafraid to question the world around her, even when doing so carries risk. From an early age, she was taught that divine intervention is the root of all evil and that any mortal affiliated with it surrenders their soul in the process.
When Waverly is selected in the Divine Draft as a vessel for a goddess, her carefully controlled world collapses. She is thrust into the ranks of the empire’s divine militia, where failure is fatal, and power comes at a devastating cost—her old life for one she never wanted. Her new duty demands loyalty, but the goddess within demands everything.
Brutal combat training tests her limits, mythical trials challenge both her mind and body, but her General may be her greatest danger. He is the empire’s perfect soldier, the last person she should trust, yet the only man who meets her darkness without flinching. Survival now means more than completing the trials or surrendering to the goddess within, but resisting a forbidden desire that could destroy them both.
Can she prove herself worthy of her goddess’s power, or will the edge of duty and desire be the one line she cannot survive crossing?
Uncaged Review: Waverly Mavros knew where her life was going to lead. She was engaged to her fiancé Chris and couldn’t escape that. Even when someone from another sector tried to have Waverly escape with her. Waverly watched the young woman die and did feel bad, but when Waverly was chosen for the draft, she is given a choice to take one thing with her. Waverly chooses the ring that Chris has given to her. As Waverly is pushed to fight continuously, she meets General Beau Zervas, whom she also despises. Waverly realizes, though, with each successive fight, that she can also never return home or to Chris. By the time she becomes a force to be reckoned with, she has also fallen for Zervas and he is with her, or has he? Waverly is in a battle that will cost her everything, including her very life and everyone she holds dear too.
This book with the beautifully done cover is what drew me in. The story is wonderfully drawn out, and the world building is amazingly inventive! Ms. S.A. Rodgers really built up the suspense and tension that kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing what was going to happen. The book does have a lot that at first seem a bit much, but after you get deep into it, then it becomes hard to put down, and you realize how truly complex the characters and the story truly is. So definitely an intriguing tale that will immerse you but can be a bit confusing too. Waverly seems a bit naïve and doesn’t listen, but as she is thrust into the militarian lifestyle, she grows up and learns to adapt to it. Waverly was pretty easy to relate to too. While Zervas wasn’t a great guy to like and made me wonder what Waverly saw in him, he did kind of grow on me. I even got the bonus book just to read Zervas point of view and I do look forward to the next in the series!
Reviewed by Roslynn Ernst
4 Stars
