Review: Lovely War by Julie Berry

I'm in love This book is narrated by greek gods, but are we sure it isn't written by one too? Lovely War feels as if it is on a plane higher than us mere mortals. Julie Berry, I'm not sure what magic you cast over me but please never stop.  It usually takes me around 50 pages or so to get acquainted with a story, the characters and setting. With Lovely War, I was entranced from page one. By page ten I was laughing. By page fifteen I was swooning. By page twenty, I felt as if I knew these characters, their souls.  I cannot properly articulate the beauty, the despair, the magic of this book. Nothing I could ever write about it would do it justice.  “Let them start their dreadful wars, let destruction rain down, and let plague sweep through, but I will still be here, doing my work, holding humankind together with love like this.”  What initially transfixed me was the writing. Julie Berry's prose speaks to me on a spiritual level. I adored the god's narration. It made this seemingly common and overdone story suddenly feel new and, well, lovely. What kept me reading were the characters. They felt real, raw and perfectly flawed. They were endearing and charming and every other synonym.  This book deserves five stars through and through simply for the emotions it evoked in me. In a mere sentence it had me tearing up, in another it had me closing the book and simply whispering 'no no no no no.'  “I envy your mortals." “As Ares says, they die, you know.” “They do. But the lucky ones live first." Lovely War was such a personal experience for me that is impossible for me to think about it in a purely objective sense. It without a doubt has earned its place on my list of All Time Favourites.  read this. experience the beauty. taste the sadness. feel the love. you won't regret it.