Zoë S.
3.30.2021
(THEDAVINCI-CHARLOTTESVILLE) - I recently read Lovely War by Julie Berry for the second time.
I know. I’m crazy. I reread books when there's so many others to read, but this book is worth rereading.
When I first started reading it, I was skeptical.“World War One romance narrated by greek goddesses and gods, ” was what the backcover stated. I was not impressed (though I do have a small weakness for historical fiction love stories). However, I started to read it and by chapter four I had fallen in love.
Brief Synopsis:
The greek goddess Aphrodite tells a story of four different people living through WW1. The story takes place all over the world, from little London coffee shops to warfields in France, to soup kitchens in Paris, midtown Manhattan, and Carnegie Hall - all while intertwining the lives of these four people.
Sound good yet?
But there's more! Aphrodite calls on her other godly friends, Ares, Apollo, and Hades, to “spice up” the story. The chapters are fairly short and alternate perspectives, which together make the book seem like a much shorter read.The way Julie Berry constructs her dialogue makes it seem real and relatable. Every scene with dialogue made me swoon. It felt so real and I could vividly see a conversation playing out that way in everyday life.
The book is also extremely well researched (which you can see in the historical note at the end of the book), each chapter has a date and some pages are dedicated to setting the scene for the historical context. Lovely War touches on the experience of women who volunteered at the Women's Land Army, the Red Cross, and the YMCA, which led to the women's rights movements. Additionally, it discusses the lives of black servicemen who fought in world war one and the violent threats, mistreatment, and racism they experienced from their own countries.
A little bit of a love story, greek mythology, history, and an adventure through Europe. What's not to adore? So please please please give Lovely War a read! It will not disappoint!