{"id":5073,"date":"2019-06-08T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=5073"},"modified":"2021-07-06T13:40:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T20:40:41","slug":"lovely-war-teen-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2019\/lovely-war-teen-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Lovely War — Teen Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by\u00a0Kira Toal, 17<\/p>\n

Lovely War\u00a0<\/em>By\u00a0Julie Berry<\/h3>\n

“Lovely War”<\/em> by Julie Berry is a historical fiction romance novel set at the height of World War I and (here’s the interesting part:) narrated by Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It features two main couples: Hazel and James, a talented young pianist and a newly recruited soldier; and Colette and Aubrey, a Belgian refugee and musician-turned-infantryman in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

Personally, I never felt too invested in the novel’s human characters, but I absolutely loved the Greek gods. They all were written with such acerbic wit and each god had a unique and animated personality that felt authentic to their portrayals in actual Greek mythology.<\/p>\n

Speaking more broadly about the insertion of the gods into the narrative, because I do feel that it was the most unique and well-done characteristic of the novel, I think Julie Berry did a good job of balancing the WWI storyline with the Greek mythology storyline. The gods never felt invasive to the main storyline, which was my first concern when I read the book’s synopsis. I particularly enjoyed the contrast between Aphrodite’s and Ares’ perspectives on the nature of life, love, and war.<\/p>\n

I really appreciated how much care Julie Berry put into “Lovely War”<\/em>. Her meticulous research is evident in all of the little details she incorporated both into scenes about World War I and scenes about the Greek gods.<\/p>\n

One criticism I have of the novel is that the pacing occasionally felt off — it felt like scenes were being dragged out in some places and raced through in others. I also wasn’t a fan of how the chapters were incredibly short, often less than 5 pages, and new chapters would often mark a change in time or a change in perspective from one character to another. It gave the story a weird, almost fractured feeling at times.<\/p>\n

I rarely enjoy reading YA romance novels, but Lovely War is not your average romance. Julie Berry has crafted a unique narrative about love and war, history and mythology, and loyalty and betrayal, and I am excited to explore more of her work. 4\/5 stars.<\/p>\n

\n

Find this book in our catalog: Lovely War<\/a><\/p>\n

Catalog Number:\u00a0YA FIC BERRY,J<\/p>\n

451 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review by\u00a0Kira Toal, 17 Lovely War\u00a0By\u00a0Julie Berry “Lovely War” by Julie Berry is a historical fiction romance novel set at the height of World War I and (here’s the interesting part:) narrated by Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It features two main couples: Hazel and James, a talented young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":5105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2019\/06\/download-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-1jP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1833,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2015\/all-the-truth-thats-in-me-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":0},"title":"All the Truth That’s in Me — teen review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"June 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Review by Hadley, teen reviewer All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry Two best friends end up missing from hometown Roswell Station only days apart from each other. Lottie Pratt winds up a floating corpse in a river. Judith Finch finds herself wandering home two years later. Alive,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Teen Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Teen Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"allthetruth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2015\/05\/allthetruth.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1030,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2014\/dreams-of-gods-and-monsters-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":1},"title":"Dreams of Gods and Monsters — teen review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"August 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"--review by Kara, teen reviewer Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor Summary: \u00a0When a brutal angel army trespasses into the human world, Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat -- and against larger dangers that loom on the horizon in this thrilling conclusion to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Teen Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Teen Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.syndetics.com\/index.aspx?type=xw12&isbn=0316134074\/LC.GIF&client=pasap&upc=&oclc=","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5147,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2019\/new-books-september-2019-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":2},"title":"New Books – September 2019 edition","author":"Jane Gov","date":"September 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Ziggy, Stardust and Me James Brandon \u00b7 G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers Pages: 368 Format: Hardcover In this tender-hearted debut, set against the tumultuous backdrop of life in 1973, when homosexuality is still considered a mental illness, two boys defy all the odds and fall in love.The year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bookdb.nextgoodbook.com\/assets\/newsletter\/simple_news\/Blue\/HTML\/images\/split.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bookdb.nextgoodbook.com\/assets\/newsletter\/simple_news\/Blue\/HTML\/images\/split.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bookdb.nextgoodbook.com\/assets\/newsletter\/simple_news\/Blue\/HTML\/images\/split.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5062,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2019\/lovely-dark-and-deep-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":3},"title":"Lovely, Dark, and Deep — Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"May 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Review by Jasmine Sov, 13 Lovely, Dark, and Deep\u00a0By\u00a0Justina Chen Lovely, Dark, and Deep is the tale of Viola Wynne Li, a girl who\u2019s hosted bake sales for about a thousand different causes. With two best friends and ambitions for becoming a foreign correspondent, life couldn\u2019t be better. But when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4534,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/black-swan-green-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":4},"title":"Black Swan Green –Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"January 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"review by\u00a0Kristina Yin, age 17 Black Swan Green\u00a0by\u00a0David Mitchell \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Black Swan Green is the spiritual descendant of coming-of-age books like Catcher in the Rye and Great Expectations, but because of its modernity and realism, it is far more interesting and relatable than its ancestors. Although it is not a page-turner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2018\/01\/black-swan-green.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4751,"url":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/nothing-but-sky-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5073,"position":5},"title":"Nothing But Sky — Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"August 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"review by Jacob Chon, age 15 Nothing But Sky\u00a0by\u00a0Amy Trueblood \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the aftermath of the First World War, many pilots from the war returned home. \u00a0Eager to continue flying, they began to perform daredevil tricks in front of crowds, and the tricks only became more insane. Nothing But Sky is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2018\/08\/nothing-but-sky.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5073"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6518,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions\/6518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}