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A review by kennedyevermore
Lovely War by Julie Berry
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
There were a lot of things I really liked about this book, but there were also a lot of things that really bothered me. All in all, I don't regret reading it and I still liked it, but my reaction when I was done reading it was "oh...that's it?"
Let's start off with the good:
The narration. The narration is amazing, unique, and my favorite part of this book. I love that greek Gods and Goddesses narrate and play a role in the story. My favorite parts of the book were when they were interrupting the story to interact with each other. Aphrodite and Hephestus's relationship is so compelling. I also really enjoyed Ares as a character. I love him just being annoyed the whole time and also being a total man-whore. The author does a great job of making each of the gods have a very distinct narrating style and role in the story. For example, when Ares is narrating he is not biased and doesn't interject with what's happening. However, Aphrodite is constantly giving her own thoughts and opinions when telling her parts of the story and she also constantly meddles in what the mortals are doing (I mean, she's the whole reason any of the characters in her story end up together).
I think the beginning of this book is really strong. We start off with meeting Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus in the 40s, and Aphrodite starts telling them a love story from WWI. Then she takes us to the 20s to meet Hazel and James who are adorable and super loveable. The author does a great job of making you root for the characters right away.
I also love the other characters we're introduced to. I immediately fell in love with Collette and Aubrey. I also love the role that Hades plays in the story, and the way he's introduced is very cool and funny (And so very Hades).
I also love Aphrodite's and Hephestus's arc. I think their storyline is super romantic and their ending is perfect.
This whole book, despite its problems, is very pretty. The language, style, and way it's written are very beautiful and there are a lot of great quotes in this book.
Now the not so good:
After James goes to war, Hazel moves to France and volunteers with the YMCA. This part of the book is way too long. The entire middle of this book is so boring. The best part of it was Collette and Aubrey. I was really compelled by their relationship but then the author separates them for the rest of the story. Their relationship also becomes a miscommunication trope which I hate with a burning passion. Once Collette and Aubrey are separated it's almost like the author just forgets about them and shoves them off to the side. Then in the last few pages of the book, they reunite and it flashes forward to them being married and living happily-ever-after? This really doesn't make sense because the whole reason they got separated in the first place was because they were in danger of being killed for being a mixed-race couple. But then we're supposed to believe that they moved to America and were fine? The author tries to say that they still faced racism, but she frames it as "Yeah, there were still a couple of people that were racist to them, but they got through it with the power of ~love~". We really didn't need their story at all. Apollo also didn't need to be in this book to narrate it. It would have been better if they just stayed side characters (which is disappointing because I really liked them at the beginning).
Another smaller thing that irked me was Hazel getting assaulted. It added nothing to the story and was never mentioned again. It was really unnecessary and it felt like it was just there for shock value.
Now onto my biggest problem with the book, the ending:
James gets back from war and is traumatized. He is all angsty about seeing Hazel (which is valid). Hazel goes to his house to see him and James doesn't want to see her. Then she leaves and finds some random old lady that invites her to live with her after playing the piano once? This makes no sense and is really stupid. I could have forgiven this if Jame's PTSD played a bigger role in the story, but he basically gets over it in a few chapters. What was the point? Why did we waste valuable plot time on this?
I really thought this book would have some big tragic ending. We're dealing with greek gods, the author had the opportunity to go crazy but she doesn't. There's this little fake-out where Hazel's train gets blown up when she's on her way to see James but then Aphrodite convinces Hades to give her back "without her beauty" (she actually just has a few scars but whatever). Hades letting her live also doesn't make sense. He's introduced as this cool, seductive character but ends up being a total pushover at the end.
Ultimatley, the story gets wrapped up way too fast and builds up to nothing (I did like Aphrodite and Hephestus's ending though).
If you go into this book not expecting anything super crazy to happen and you just want to listen to greek gods tell a story, this book is for you.
Let's start off with the good:
The narration. The narration is amazing, unique, and my favorite part of this book. I love that greek Gods and Goddesses narrate and play a role in the story. My favorite parts of the book were when they were interrupting the story to interact with each other. Aphrodite and Hephestus's relationship is so compelling. I also really enjoyed Ares as a character. I love him just being annoyed the whole time and also being a total man-whore. The author does a great job of making each of the gods have a very distinct narrating style and role in the story. For example, when Ares is narrating he is not biased and doesn't interject with what's happening. However, Aphrodite is constantly giving her own thoughts and opinions when telling her parts of the story and she also constantly meddles in what the mortals are doing (I mean, she's the whole reason any of the characters in her story end up together).
I think the beginning of this book is really strong. We start off with meeting Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus in the 40s, and Aphrodite starts telling them a love story from WWI. Then she takes us to the 20s to meet Hazel and James who are adorable and super loveable. The author does a great job of making you root for the characters right away.
I also love the other characters we're introduced to. I immediately fell in love with Collette and Aubrey. I also love the role that Hades plays in the story, and the way he's introduced is very cool and funny (And so very Hades).
I also love Aphrodite's and Hephestus's arc. I think their storyline is super romantic and their ending is perfect.
This whole book, despite its problems, is very pretty. The language, style, and way it's written are very beautiful and there are a lot of great quotes in this book.
Now the not so good:
Another smaller thing that irked me was Hazel getting assaulted. It added nothing to the story and was never mentioned again. It was really unnecessary and it felt like it was just there for shock value.
Now onto my biggest problem with the book, the ending:
I really thought this book would have some big tragic ending. We're dealing with greek gods, the author had the opportunity to go crazy but she doesn't. There's this little fake-out where Hazel's train gets blown up when she's on her way to see James but then Aphrodite convinces Hades to give her back "without her beauty" (she actually just has a few scars but whatever). Hades letting her live also doesn't make sense. He's introduced as this cool, seductive character but ends up being a total pushover at the end.
Ultimatley, the story gets wrapped up way too fast and builds up to nothing (I did like Aphrodite and Hephestus's ending though).
If you go into this book not expecting anything super crazy to happen and you just want to listen to greek gods tell a story, this book is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Racism, and War