Review: Lovely War

Lovely War by Julie Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this ARC from the publisher. No quotes are included since I read the advance copy.

I knew I would love this one going into it because of the awesome cover. I'm a sucker for historical fiction, especially the World Wars. I'm glad this one focused on WWI, along with the Harlem Hellfighters, jazz music, women's roles in society, shell shock, and race relations. The four main young adults are very distinctive, and readers will have no problem keeping their stories straight and cheering for them.

At first I wasn't too thrilled with the concept of Aphrodite and Ares being on trial for sleeping around on Hephaestus, but I grew to love how they told the stories of the four human characters. The old mythology legends and Trojan War histories kept coming back to me as I read, and it really did help improve the novel. I came to love Aphrodite (what the heck?), as well as pity Hephaestus and his love for his cheating wife. That's just weird because it's not like I usually develop feelings for Greek gods.

If you love historical fiction, read this, no matter your age. Sure, it's written for teens, but adults will pick this one up, too.

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