LOVELY WAR

Author(s): Julie Berry

Stand-alone or Series: stand-alone

I have been hesitating to read this book for so long. I’ve seen it around all the time, but I just never picked it up. Finally, at a time when I was in the mood for some historical fiction, I put the book on hold at the library.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Lovely War just might be one of my favourite books of the year (or even all-time). I could not put it down, and I stayed up late reading and reading and wanting to know what’s going to happen next. I was completely immersed in the reading, laughing, crying, swooning, and worrying. I wanted to see what will happen to the characters, but I also did not want the book and this marvelous experience to end.

Where can I start? Let’s start with the whole premise of the book.

The idea of the Greek gods narrating this story is so unique and different. I haven’t read something like this before, and I haven’t seen them represented in this way—more human, emotional, vulnerable. Aphrodite was a grand character who I enjoyed and felt for, which is usually not the case when she appears in other works of fiction.

All the characters were just so well-crafted, and I was invested in them all. Hazel, my sweet piano playing girl who just wanted to play music and be with the people she loved. James, an innocent soul that suffered at the hands of war but still managed to heal and get better. To live the life he was meant to have—one filled with love and joy. Colette, a girl who felt the horrors of war early on but still prevailed. She worked to be better, found love and gave love and never stopped being a light. Aubrey, a boy who was fighting a war long before the battles in the trenches. But even with all that, he still played the piano and brought joy and music into the world.

These four individuals who would admittedly not have met if not for the war. Brought together by the worst of things, but emerged as the best of things. As long life friends, as long life partners. They found love, both platonic and romantic. They suffered and cried and laughed and loved.

This is a love story, through and through. The best love story. It has been too long since I’ve been captivated by a story in this way. I shed tears, laughed, worried, and smiled. My heart is both heavy and light at the end of this story. Heavy that it ended, light for the love and hope I found interwoven amongst the lines and passages of this story.

It’s so easy for this book to have been monotone and overdone. When I first saw the amount of pages I was worried that it would be too much. But it wasn’t. Even the times when the characters weren’t together, when it was more focused on the war or the music (which I’m not a usual fan/interested in), it was still okay. It didn’t put me off. It was perfect—even though I wanted more and craved more time with these characters, I will still admit that the author finished this story in the best of ways.

If you have not read this book, I defiantly encourage you to. It’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever read.

My final rating is:

Thank you for reading and see you next time ❤