Book Review: Rise and Divine

I’m just not ready to say goodbye to Thistle Grove.

Ever since the release of Payback is a Witch, back in 2021, I have looked forward to the next book in this series. They have all the coziness of a Hallmark holiday movie. The witchy vibes are off the charts - obviously, it’s a series about witches - and all the romances were distinct, even though they were mostly happening in and among the town’s four prominent magical families. That all comes to an end, though, with the release of Rise and Divine, the fifth and final book in Lana Harper’s series.

Though all the books are related by virtue of sharing a location and a supporting cast. Rise and Divine feels like a direct sequel to In Charm’s Way, leaning more heavily on the events of that book where Delilah’s best friend Ivy is concerned, and the nature of her relationship with Dasha Aramov, who also played a prominent role there.

Dasha and Ivy’s story is a second chance romance, and a delightful one at that, but Rise and Divine feels so much bigger than the small-town romance the Thistle Grove series used to be. The stakes are unbelievably, supernaturally high, but not in a way that feels unnatural for the series. In retrospect, you can see the story getting bigger and bigger, growing to the point where this conclusion feels like a completely natural one.

I’m going to miss this series. I’m going to miss these characters. But if you have to go out, you might as well go out on a high like Rise and Divine.

Rise and Divine hits shelves on August 20. Special thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy for review purposes