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olivialandryxo 's review for:
Lovely War
by Julie Berry
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This review is spoiler-free. Content warnings for the book are listed at the end.
Lovely War is one of the most unique historical fiction novels I’ve read to date. Narrated by some of the Greek gods, it’s a story of love, hope, music, and tragedy, set during World War I. The gods come into play in a separate timeline, thirty years later, when Hephaestus catches Aphrodite and Ares in the midst of an affair in a Manhattan hotel room. A sort of mock trial occurs, wherein Aphrodite defends herself by telling two wartime love stories, with the help of Ares and, eventually, Apollo and Hades.
While it’s certainly one of the most interesting roles I’ve seen Greek gods play in a story, I didn’t understand why they were included. Aside from a few amusing snippets, the narrative method and even the whole second timeline seemed rather pointless. Maybe there’s some symbolism I missed; that was never my strong spot in any high school English class.
But you know what? Sometimes I enjoy things even if they don’t make sense to me. I do play The Sims, after all. The Sims 4 is a weird game. Anyway, my point here is, I enjoyed Lovely War despite not understanding some of Berry’s storytelling methods.
The best part of the book was, undeniably, the characters. Hazel, James, Colette, and Aubrey are all wonderfully written and developed, with charming personalities and multiple sweet dynamics between the four of them. One romance developed much faster than the other, bordering on insta-love, but they were both so touching, I couldn’t be annoyed. I especially liked Hazel and Colette’s friendship.
This could’ve been a four star read if not for two things: 1) the significantly uneven pacing and 2) the use of one of my least favorite tropes. I’m not sure if “trope” is the right word, but I’m referring to when an author kills/nearly kills a character and instead, said character miraculously recovers or is resurrected. This is obviously not something I can elaborate on, but in my opinion, it rarely works. It often feels like a lazy way to further the plot and/or up the page count, and such was unfortunately the case here.
Although, I will begrudgingly admit that end of the book was cute. I really liked how everything wrapped up. Happy endings get me nearly every time, and this was no exception. The ride was a bit bumpy, but the final destination satisfying nonetheless.
I did enjoy Lovely War, despite the issues I had with it. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, romance, and/or Greek mythology, you definitely want to read this.
Representation:
• Aubrey is Black
• There are some Black side characters
CW: war, explosions, death, murder, grief, PTSD, mention of rape & arson (both prior to story), lynching, attempted sexual assault, racism, Blackface (condemned on-page)
Lovely War is one of the most unique historical fiction novels I’ve read to date. Narrated by some of the Greek gods, it’s a story of love, hope, music, and tragedy, set during World War I. The gods come into play in a separate timeline, thirty years later, when Hephaestus catches Aphrodite and Ares in the midst of an affair in a Manhattan hotel room. A sort of mock trial occurs, wherein Aphrodite defends herself by telling two wartime love stories, with the help of Ares and, eventually, Apollo and Hades.
While it’s certainly one of the most interesting roles I’ve seen Greek gods play in a story, I didn’t understand why they were included. Aside from a few amusing snippets, the narrative method and even the whole second timeline seemed rather pointless. Maybe there’s some symbolism I missed; that was never my strong spot in any high school English class.
But you know what? Sometimes I enjoy things even if they don’t make sense to me. I do play The Sims, after all. The Sims 4 is a weird game. Anyway, my point here is, I enjoyed Lovely War despite not understanding some of Berry’s storytelling methods.
The best part of the book was, undeniably, the characters. Hazel, James, Colette, and Aubrey are all wonderfully written and developed, with charming personalities and multiple sweet dynamics between the four of them. One romance developed much faster than the other, bordering on insta-love, but they were both so touching, I couldn’t be annoyed. I especially liked Hazel and Colette’s friendship.
This could’ve been a four star read if not for two things: 1) the significantly uneven pacing and 2) the use of one of my least favorite tropes. I’m not sure if “trope” is the right word, but I’m referring to when an author kills/nearly kills a character and instead, said character miraculously recovers or is resurrected. This is obviously not something I can elaborate on, but in my opinion, it rarely works. It often feels like a lazy way to further the plot and/or up the page count, and such was unfortunately the case here.
Although, I will begrudgingly admit that end of the book was cute. I really liked how everything wrapped up. Happy endings get me nearly every time, and this was no exception. The ride was a bit bumpy, but the final destination satisfying nonetheless.
I did enjoy Lovely War, despite the issues I had with it. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, romance, and/or Greek mythology, you definitely want to read this.
Representation:
• Aubrey is Black
• There are some Black side characters
CW: war, explosions, death, murder, grief, PTSD, mention of rape & arson (both prior to story), lynching, attempted sexual assault, racism, Blackface (condemned on-page)