Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Lovely War

This is a long book that covers a lot of history, so it makes sense that I would like some elements and not others! I sort of liked the framing where the Greek gods were telling the story (Hades' bits were the most impactful for me), but the initial premise just didn't make sense. Why did Aphrodite get to tell a lengthy love story during her trial for adultery? (I wish I was the kind of reader who didn't get hung up on those kinds of details, but here I am.) I also enjoyed the bits where the gods "interfered" by disguising themselves as mortals, simply because it's fun to imagine.

I loved the inclusion of Aubrey as a character (he was my favorite), and the subsequent focus on jazz and the treatment of black soldiers by American and European troops alike during WWI. And I loved Hazel and Collette's friendship. On the other hand, the majority of the book focused on two romances, and things got too sappy for my taste. I also thought the romance slowed down the pacing and made the book longer than it needed to be; fortunately the audiobook was beautifully read, so I powered through. Overall, this was a well-researched and bittersweet look at WWI through the eyes of 4 young adults and the Greek gods who support them.

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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dwinn5's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Wow. It’s 1:13 AM, I have to be awake for work in 5 hours, and my heart is breaking right now.

This book took me a second to get into, but as soon as it caught me, I was done for. I don’t usually go all in on the we-only-met-once-or-twice-and-then-were-separated-but-it-was-true-love thing, but a couple factors helped me over that hurdle here: 1) the time period and progression of romance back then in general, and 2) the urgency of war and everything that entails for people’s long-term plans.

The author was brilliant to allow each of the (present) gods to offer their perspectives on the timeline of events- it really added some depth and breadth to the story and gave the reader a small amount of peace after tragedy (thank you, Hades).

My main holdup was something about the execution of the chapters where it was just discussion between the gods- it didn’t capture my attention the way the rest of the book did, and the reveal of the final love story at the end caught me a little off guard; I think it could’ve unfolded a tiny bit more prior to the end. But regardless, I enjoyed that little twist as well.

Something about this story transcended beyond being just a book to me, I can’t explain it. But I will definitely be thinking about this one for a while.

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sophiegrubben's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To my dearest sister, who lent me this book: yes I liked it. It's a good book! It just missed that little bit of je ne said quoi.

I liked and felt the most for the characters that we spent the most time with: Hazel and James. That is not to say I didn't like Aubrey and Collette (although I liked Aubrey a bit more than Collette) but we simply didn't spend as much time with them or their romance. It felt just placed there at times. Hazel and James's story just seemed more fleshed out, more thought out and more lovely put on the page.

Overall it was a very well written and researched book, but it missed a sprinkle of magic for me, especially in the Aubrey and Collette parts. I wanted more time with them and more care put into their characterisation. But not a bad book at all!

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mooxine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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