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ghostlyprince's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism, Rape, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
claireelyse06's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
Every time I read this book, I never fully emotionally recover. This was my third time reading this book and it still hit just as hard as the first time.
The premise of this book is the Greek gods telling the two greatest love stories of all time. And dang it hits. There are two couples: Hazel and James (my personal favorite of the two). Hazel is a sweet, quiet girl who loves to play the piano. James wants to be an architect but has to join the war (World War 1). Then there is Collette and Aubrey. Y'all are going to love Aubrey. His sense of humor and personality just fly off the page. Collette is from Belgium and everyone she loved has died, so she deals with grief. Aubrey is a black man from New York City who loves jazz and playing the piano (yes, music is a big theme in this book and I actually really like it despite not playing any instruments).
Why is this book so great? The writing at many points just punches you in the gut. One of the things that stuck with me the most is why human imperfection and mortality is so important in love. It's just such a beautiful sentiment. I don't think I can fully express how it is conveyed in the book in a review. But basically, the idea is that the gods can't love because they are perfect, but humans love because they are imperfect. It's a lot deeper than that, that's not even the cliffnotes version of it. But it really made me appreciate what it means to be human and what it means to love.
Another theme that I think was done well was war. James is very affected mentally by the war and the story talks a lot about such affects. And the way the actual war part is written is haunting is some parts. The author does a great job at pointing out how easy it is to kill a man yet how damaging. How war turns people into machines and activates their survival default.
Racism is also a big theme in this book, which was nice, because you wouldn't expect a book like this to tackle such a loaded topic. It was interesting seeing a glimpse of how black Americans were treated in World War 1, how Aubrey's unit was literally dumped on the French and before going to the battlefield had to lay train tracks and stuff like that. I will say though, the one thing I didn't like about this was there were pretty frequent obvious outbursts of anger against the racism from the characters. While I love how the theme is tackled, I wish it had been more seamlessly sewed in like the other things, especially since it's a bit of a clunker when mixed in with the other themes. Like the depiction of violence against black people and how that affected Aubrey and others and how Mrs. Davies treated Collette and Hazel when she found out they were fraternizing with black people were very good ways of showing the reader the racism that was around back then. But there were just a few "speeches" if you will? I can't think of any better word but they weren't really speeches. Conversations? I don't know. That just felt kind of clunky and just had the main point of "racism bad". Show don't tell! But I honestly didn't really mind these parts (the book is still five stars). The author did enough showing not telling to make it not that big of a deal to me. But overall I did appreciate her insight into racism during World War 1. It's an important topic that isn't really often thought about or taught in school, so I think it's a very good thing that she included this.
Those were the main themes in the book. For the most part I loved the writing, the only thing I had an issue with were there were a couple of cringe lines and a couple of parts that were a bit repetitive (like how there were three different points in the book where Hazel or James were begging the other not to leave). But honeslty, they didn't affect the reading experience much and don't change my five star review.
Part of what made this book so great was how much I felt connected to the characters. They were lovely people and I wanted them to succeed. I wanted them to end up together. No spoilers if they do or don't though. There are parts you will sob though. Julie Berry loved to throw in a few good plot twists. Also, there is kind of a miscommunication trope, but for once it's actually done well. Like it didn't bother me. It it was really only half miscommunication. I won't elaborate further.
This time around, I tabbed and underlined all the quotes I liked. My copy of the book is now absolutely filled with sticky tabs just to give you an idea. This is the kind of book that will make you stay up until two in the morning wanting to find out what happens next. It will seriously always have a special place in my heart. I read it before my freshman year of high school and absolutely fell in love with it as a history buff and a hopeless romantic. You don't even have to be a history buff to read this book.
I also thought it was very interesting howthe author included Greek mythology in this book. But somehow it fit and didn't feel out of place? It's Aphrodite and a couple of other Greek gods telling this story to Hephaestus. And the author pulls it off so well. I love Aphrodite so much. The way she got involved in the two couples and just everything she did. She was just an all around great character and I think anyone who reads this book will agree with me. Honestly I didn't know if having this in the book was going to work out when I first picked it up, but God I was so wrong. It really just elevates everything and takes it to that next level.
This book will seriously make you feel every emotion on the emotional spectrum. It will break your heart, glue it perfectly back together, and do it about five more times throughout the book. The author really invented the phrase "say sike right now". Anything goes in this world. This book is a journey, and trust me, you need to stick around for the end. I felt emotions I didn't even know existed while reading this book. A book that can do that is truly a great book. I cannot emphasize this enough.
To sum up, I think there is something for everyone to take away from this book. I'm trying to say as little as possible because this story is best when you are completely surprised. So before you learn anything more about this book, get yourself a copy and read it. You will not be disappointed. It's such a beautiful book and I can tell how much the author cared about it. I hope one day to be able to write books like her. I think this is also my sign to read more of her books.
The premise of this book is the Greek gods telling the two greatest love stories of all time. And dang it hits. There are two couples: Hazel and James (my personal favorite of the two). Hazel is a sweet, quiet girl who loves to play the piano. James wants to be an architect but has to join the war (World War 1). Then there is Collette and Aubrey. Y'all are going to love Aubrey. His sense of humor and personality just fly off the page. Collette is from Belgium and everyone she loved has died, so she deals with grief. Aubrey is a black man from New York City who loves jazz and playing the piano (yes, music is a big theme in this book and I actually really like it despite not playing any instruments).
Why is this book so great? The writing at many points just punches you in the gut. One of the things that stuck with me the most is why human imperfection and mortality is so important in love. It's just such a beautiful sentiment. I don't think I can fully express how it is conveyed in the book in a review. But basically, the idea is that the gods can't love because they are perfect, but humans love because they are imperfect. It's a lot deeper than that, that's not even the cliffnotes version of it. But it really made me appreciate what it means to be human and what it means to love.
Another theme that I think was done well was war. James is very affected mentally by the war and the story talks a lot about such affects. And the way the actual war part is written is haunting is some parts. The author does a great job at pointing out how easy it is to kill a man yet how damaging. How war turns people into machines and activates their survival default.
Racism is also a big theme in this book, which was nice, because you wouldn't expect a book like this to tackle such a loaded topic. It was interesting seeing a glimpse of how black Americans were treated in World War 1, how Aubrey's unit was literally dumped on the French and before going to the battlefield had to lay train tracks and stuff like that. I will say though, the one thing I didn't like about this was there were pretty frequent obvious outbursts of anger against the racism from the characters. While I love how the theme is tackled, I wish it had been more seamlessly sewed in like the other things, especially since it's a bit of a clunker when mixed in with the other themes. Like the depiction of violence against black people and how that affected Aubrey and others and how Mrs. Davies treated Collette and Hazel when she found out they were fraternizing with black people were very good ways of showing the reader the racism that was around back then. But there were just a few "speeches" if you will? I can't think of any better word but they weren't really speeches. Conversations? I don't know. That just felt kind of clunky and just had the main point of "racism bad". Show don't tell! But I honestly didn't really mind these parts (the book is still five stars). The author did enough showing not telling to make it not that big of a deal to me. But overall I did appreciate her insight into racism during World War 1. It's an important topic that isn't really often thought about or taught in school, so I think it's a very good thing that she included this.
Those were the main themes in the book. For the most part I loved the writing, the only thing I had an issue with were there were a couple of cringe lines and a couple of parts that were a bit repetitive (like how there were three different points in the book where Hazel or James were begging the other not to leave). But honeslty, they didn't affect the reading experience much and don't change my five star review.
Part of what made this book so great was how much I felt connected to the characters. They were lovely people and I wanted them to succeed. I wanted them to end up together. No spoilers if they do or don't though. There are parts you will sob though. Julie Berry loved to throw in a few good plot twists. Also, there is kind of a miscommunication trope, but for once it's actually done well. Like it didn't bother me. It it was really only half miscommunication. I won't elaborate further.
This time around, I tabbed and underlined all the quotes I liked. My copy of the book is now absolutely filled with sticky tabs just to give you an idea. This is the kind of book that will make you stay up until two in the morning wanting to find out what happens next. It will seriously always have a special place in my heart. I read it before my freshman year of high school and absolutely fell in love with it as a history buff and a hopeless romantic. You don't even have to be a history buff to read this book.
I also thought it was very interesting howthe author included Greek mythology in this book. But somehow it fit and didn't feel out of place? It's Aphrodite and a couple of other Greek gods telling this story to Hephaestus. And the author pulls it off so well. I love Aphrodite so much. The way she got involved in the two couples and just everything she did. She was just an all around great character and I think anyone who reads this book will agree with me. Honestly I didn't know if having this in the book was going to work out when I first picked it up, but God I was so wrong. It really just elevates everything and takes it to that next level.
This book will seriously make you feel every emotion on the emotional spectrum. It will break your heart, glue it perfectly back together, and do it about five more times throughout the book. The author really invented the phrase "say sike right now". Anything goes in this world. This book is a journey, and trust me, you need to stick around for the end. I felt emotions I didn't even know existed while reading this book. A book that can do that is truly a great book. I cannot emphasize this enough.
To sum up, I think there is something for everyone to take away from this book. I'm trying to say as little as possible because this story is best when you are completely surprised. So before you learn anything more about this book, get yourself a copy and read it. You will not be disappointed. It's such a beautiful book and I can tell how much the author cared about it. I hope one day to be able to write books like her. I think this is also my sign to read more of her books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs
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: Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Medical trauma, and War
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: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical trauma, and War
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, and Grief
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: Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence
sleeson's review
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: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
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: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation
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, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism
celebrationofbooks's review
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: Death, Medical trauma, and War