For my Timeless Tour post today I'm sharing my review for Santa Montefiore's SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR!
Scroll on down to read about SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR and Santa Montefiore, after that you'll find my review. ;)
to participate in the Timeless Tour and give an honest review.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Number of Pages: 528 (Paperback)
DESCRIPTION
Previously published in the US as The Girl in the Castle.
The #1 international bestseller about the enduring bond between three women and the castle they will never forget.
Their lives were mapped out ahead of them. But love and war will change everything...
It’s the early 1900s and Castle Deverill stands staunchly untouched by time, hidden away in the rolling Irish hills. Within the castle walls, three friends have formed a close bond: affluent, flame-haired Kitty Deverill; Bridie Doyle, Kitty’s best friend and daughter of the castle’s cook; and Celia Deverill, Kitty’s flamboyant English cousin. They’ve grown up together, always sheltered from the conflict embroiling the rest of the country. But when Bridie learns of a secret Kitty has been keeping, their idyllic world is forever torn apart.
Later, the three women scatter to different parts of the globe. Kitty must salvage what she can before Castle Deverill and everything she has ever known is reduced to ash. Songs of Love and War is an epic generational saga about the lasting bonds of true friendship and the powerful ties we all have to the place we call home.
About Santa Montefiore
Santa Montefiore's books have been translated into twenty languages and have sold more than four million copies in England and Europe. She is married to writer Simon Sebag Montefiore. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha, in London. Visit her at SantaMontefiore.co.uk.
Follow Santa: Facebook | Twitter
REVIEW
As soon as I started reading SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR, I was hooked! While I was interested in Bridie's parts, and found Celia hilarious (I'm still laughing at one of her lines where she says, "I think I've made a terrible mistake,"), Kitty was definitely the one who absolutely sucked me in and completely wrapped me up in her story! From the first page, I loved the characters, the setting, the writing...absolutely everything! If I wasn't already totally fascinated by Ireland, this book would've sold me on it! ;)As far as characters go, Kitty was definitely my favourite! I loved her passion, her intelligence, her boldness...absolutely everything about her! I really loved her relationship with both of her grandparents, Hubert and Adeline...and I was pretty much living for any and all moments between Kitty and her love interest...who I will resist naming to avoid spoilers, but guys, I ship them so hard! I don't care if it's a doomed ship, I'm going down with it! I loved seeing the differences in Bridie's chapters compared to Kitty's, but by the end of SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR, I have to admit that I wasn't much of a Bridie fan. Her parts were well written and super fascinating, but I was desperate for more Kitty! Celia on the other hand, I grew to love more and more! Her parts were smaller, but she always made me chuckle! The characters in general were fabulous in this book though!
Along with the characters, I also loved how Ireland was described! Santa Montefiore has done an absolutely beautiful job depicting Ireland. She brings it to life, and it feels as if Ireland itself is a character...and I kind of feel like even though I've never been there myself, Ireland is home after reading this. It also made my wanderlust for Ireland even worse! ;)
Plot- and story-wise, I thought that SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR was extremely well written! There was so much going on from World War I to the Irish War of Independence all combined with growing up and coming of age. The interweaving plot points and storylines worked perfectly together, and I cannot wait to read the next two books because I seriously NEED to know what happens next!
Overall, I thought that SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR was amazing! It may be long, but it still felt like a really quick read and I was desperate to find out what would happen next as I furiously flipped through the pages! I loved that this story was so immersive. It focused on so many things and handled them all perfectly from family to friendship to love to adolescence to war...and even politics! It was an absolute powerhouse of a story, and you can bet that I'll be eagerly waiting until I can get my hands on the next two books! I'd recommend SONGS OF LOVE AND WAR to historical fiction fans who enjoy sweeping sagas that draw you in and fully immerse you in another time!
Follow along with the Timeless Tour on the tour website, www.timelesstour.ca.
You can also find a tour schedule on my
[Timeless Tour] Kick Off Questions & Full Tour Schedule post.
What do you think?
Would you like to read Songs of Love and War and the rest of the Deverill Chronicles?
This one was my favourite out of the 4 for the Timeless Tour. Bellewether follows very closely behind. :-)
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