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lucyyybee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Racism
dwinn5's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Death, War, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, and Hate crime
Moderate: Grief, Gore, and Mental illness
aimeemg155's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Grief, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Sexual violence
sleeson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is such a lovely novel. No pun intended. Beautiful emotion. Incessant hope. Lavished with love throughout the book towards friendships and relationships. Two worlds merging into one.
No swearing. No sexual content. I actually put off finishing this novel because I did not want it to end.
No swearing. No sexual content. I actually put off finishing this novel because I did not want it to end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gun violence, and Grief
bohdanqa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
this book broke me in the best way possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I really wanted to like this story more. But this book is SO long and I felt like the gods being a part of the story, in theory sounds really interesting, but the way Berry goes about it by having Aphrodite be on trial made the story convoluted, for me at least. I don’t get why there had to be alternating timelines, one from the first World War wherein we have our four mortal main characters and one timeline from the second World War when Aphrodite is on trial, it just felt disjointed to me. Why have the second timeline at all? Just tell the first timeline from the POV of the gods, no need for Aphrodite to be on trial in a separate time period, it just made no sense to me and I feel like made the book more longwinded then it needed to be.
I did love the build up of the two couple’s relationships, how Berry covers what many people went through during the war in these four main characters. However, the ending felt so rushed. We have almost 500 pages of build up to find out what happened to them in like 5 pages at the end of the book, summarized very briefly by the gods.
I loved the journey, the fleshing out of the characters, peeling back the grim layers of war and not shying away from the army’s racism but rather shining a light on it. I loved the history, the feelings of first love and second chances after one had maybe lost their first love. That I loved, it’s just a shame the ending was so rushed kind of helter-skelter like otherwise I probably would have rated it higher.
Berry definitely did her research for this book, I will say that for sure. There is a historical note in the back where she sites many books and a bibliography as well. So that was not a miss, the care in which she took to tell multiple sides of the war (both without and within) must be acknowledged.
But pacing was this book’s downfall, too long and convoluted to get to such a lackluster ending…
I did love the build up of the two couple’s relationships, how Berry covers what many people went through during the war in these four main characters. However, the ending felt so rushed. We have almost 500 pages of build up to find out what happened to them in like 5 pages at the end of the book, summarized very briefly by the gods.
I loved the journey, the fleshing out of the characters, peeling back the grim layers of war and not shying away from the army’s racism but rather shining a light on it. I loved the history, the feelings of first love and second chances after one had maybe lost their first love. That I loved, it’s just a shame the ending was so rushed kind of helter-skelter like otherwise I probably would have rated it higher.
Berry definitely did her research for this book, I will say that for sure. There is a historical note in the back where she sites many books and a bibliography as well. So that was not a miss, the care in which she took to tell multiple sides of the war (both without and within) must be acknowledged.
But pacing was this book’s downfall, too long and convoluted to get to such a lackluster ending…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death, and Hate crime
lauraeerika's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
4.25
immaculate writing julie berry, PHENOMENAL
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
Minor: Ableism
celebrationofbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Of course the day after my boss says we can start getting the store back together and ready for an eventual reopening, that’s the day I decide I can bring myself to read again… Why couldn’t I have felt like reading again at the beginning of self-isolation? But anyway, I’ve been on a World War I kick since re-watching Wonder Woman, which led to watching The Red Baron, which lead to countless wartime aviation documentaries, which led to finally wanting to finish The Enigma Game (now out in November), and finally that brought me to Lovely War, coincidentally the June YA for All book club pick for the store!
I had always intended to read it, and to join in the book club, but given my reading habits for the last two months I didn’t think I’d actually be able to. However, I was immediately sucked in – the story starts with Hephaestus catching his wife, Aphrodite, cheating on him with Ares, the god of war (and Wonder Woman connection so we’ve come full circle) and I honestly hadn’t even remembered what the synopsis, so long ago did I bring the book home and actually read the back.
Never before have a read a love story so immersive, so immediate, so completely overwhelming. I kept thinking how I couldn’t really believe it was a young adult book – I kept envisioning it sitting on a display on par with The Nightingale. I thought I knew a great deal about both World Wars as I’ve been fascinated by them for most of my life, but not only did I enjoy the plot, I learned a great deal about the front in France and how all the different groups of people who came there for many reasons from all over the world interacted with each other.
Julie Berry includes an in depth historical note at the end of the book and goes into great detail about her own learning experience while writing and as a nonfiction lover, I was so excited to be given a reading list of her sources. I have a feeling I’ve found my first true self-isolation staff pick, after making up titles for the past eight weeks for the store!
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, and Medical trauma
emmalovesmycology's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Racism, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Cursing
_kimb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma
Minor: Pregnancy