Julie Berry

This is a lovely love story. Actually, it’s three love stories—a braided narrative or two stories within a larger story—that are beautifully woven together by the perspectives of love and war and music and death. All four voices—Aphrodite (love), Ares (war), Apollo (music), and Hades (death)—construct a narrative to show what love looks like in all its beauty and brokenness.

Hazel and James’s love story is classically composed of love-at-first sight notes, while Colette and Aubrey’s love story is arranged around a bluesy shared grief. Each love song—fragile in its own way—has to work even harder to survive due to the casualties of war and the constant threat of death in this WWI historical time period.

While these narratives are satisfyingly engaging, the larger story—the one playing out amongst the gods—is the most captivating, even though their interactions are behind the scenes. They are surprising (Hades as an immortal with a sensitive side.) and entertaining (Hephaestus’s trial and all the banter and egos) and humorous (Hades showing up to the trial dressed as a Catholic priest.). And, in the end, it’s what Aphrodite ultimately wants her husband to know about love that stuck with me: “‘I needed to show you what love looks like,’ she tells him” (450). And despite the scars it can leave behind, love also ignites a bright kind of hope “in a lonely world like ours” (451).… (more)

Lucinda is 15-years old and living and working with her aunt and uncle. She is an orphan and was taken in by them, but her aunt (not the blood relative) hates her and does not treat her well. Her aunt and uncle run a jewelry store where she helps and has two unusual customers in a row. One is a woman who brought in what is obviously an expensive jewel, and the next turns out to be the prince. Lucinda is very charmed by him. When Lucinda’s uncle dies, though, her aunt accuses her of stealing and throws her out. Where to go now?

I really enjoyed this Cinderella-like story, with a few extra things thrown in. It was a very fast read with short chapters. I also loved Dog (a goat!). And Peter (a thief turned friend) was fun, too. Lucinda was very very quick to become best friends with Beryl and to fall for Gregor, but oh, well. It was still fun.… (more)