Enjoyment rating: 5 

Quality rating: 4 

 

 

What if everything I didn’t like about Divine Rivals was fixed and made into a different book? That is The Otherwhere Post for me. 

 

I loved Divine Rivals for the *vibes*. Typewriters connecting people who fall in love? Adore it. But I didn’t love some of the darker elements or some of the plot issues. I wished there was something else that gave me academic, bookish type vibes without those issues. And boy, did The Otherwhere Post deliver for me. 

 

I loved the magical writing elements, the school and the aspect of trying to avenge her father/trying to find out the truth of what happened with her father. The characters were delightful, the mystery was fun and the magic elements made sense. The imagery in the writing made me feel like I was really in the world. I adored the magic coming from writing — what bookish person wouldn’t? 

 

The slow burn between Tristan and Maeve is well done. It didn’t feel like it switched from strangers to lovers too quickly, and they had some great banter. Overall, I adored the romance between them. Tristan easily could have gone into the too cliche to like category with his background, but it’s unique enough and he’s sweet enough that it works well. 

 

I did think the ending was just a little too abrupt, but otherwise I enjoyed the pace. I wish it had been just a little bit longer for more time for the climax and for just a little bit more slow burn. 

 

If you want a magical dark academia setting with a fun magic system and great banter, I recommend picking this one up.