Literally Leander discussion

Our book for September 2020 is Lovely War by Julie Berry.

Julie Berry has over 15 distinct works listed on Goodreads, and a good amount of those are historical fictions! Lovely War takes place during the first World War, following musicians, friends, and lovers in a time of strife. As her latest work, Lovely War has retained an average above 4 stars and was nominated for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Have you read anything by this author before? How do you feel about historical fiction, and in particular, this time period? Are you looking forward to this book?

I have not read anything by Julie Berry before. I enjoy historical fiction. I have not read a lot of historical fiction set during World War I, but am excited to learn more about the time period through reading the book. However, I am hesitant to read this novel because it is so long. I have checked it out from the library several times but returned it without reading it. I also know that it is narrated by Greek gods, which is a turnoff for me because I have yet to find any Greek mythology I love. I hope reading this book will help me change my mind.

I read this one a while back and really enjoyed it!

Christine wrote: "I also know that it is narrated by Greek gods, which is a turnoff for me because I have yet to find any Greek mythology I love. I hope reading this book will help me change my mind."

While I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum (I love mythology related books) I have to say that to say that this is a book that is barely considered mythology by my own standards. The gods are narrators, yes, in a loose sense of the word. There are few scenes that put the focus solely on the gods.

If I may, instead of thinking them of "Greek gods," if that's not something you enjoy, I would suggest thinking of them as the concept they embody as it applies to the novel. Think of Aphrodite not as her Greek name, but simply as Love, and maybe that'll help ease your discomfort.

And because I like to give way more information than you need, if you decide to use this method in your reading:

Aphrodite = Love
Ares = War
Apollo = Art
Hades = Death

Kristen wrote: "If I may, instead of thinking them of "Greek gods," if that's not something you enjoy, I would suggest thinking of them as the concept they embody as it applies to the novel."

That is helpful. Thank you for the suggestion. :)