Book Review: Lovely War

Lovely War
Julie Berry
5/5

I was hesitant with this one, because it started a little slowly for me and there are many different story lines and characters which usually makes me lose interest. But after I got a hundred pages in, I was hooked. Two love stories during World War I, narrated by a goddess on trial along with the testimonies of other gods. Hazel and James, Colette and Aubrey, both couples have suffered and prospered at the hands of the gods, and we get to hear a little about their love stories.

It had a great vibe, the tragedy of the war, the agony of living when those around you die. There was also the struggles of race and working past physical and mental scars. It might not be the perfect book for hardcore war enthusiasts, because while the war is an integral piece, the narration style would take some getting used to. It's not a hardcore fantasy, but it has the fantastical element of the gods.

I think that everything had a great balance, no one was suffering more than anyone else, they all had their own stuff to deal with. Which goes for the gods as well. I don't know if I bought the whole line with Hephaestus and Aphrodite at the end, just because it's not very consistent with the flow of Greek mythology, but I still appreciated it for the extra happiness it brought. Overall, it was a great read that had a lot more to it than I had anticipated and I would totally recommend.