Love & War by Melissa de la Cruz | Rating: ★★★☆☆

As you all know, one of my favourite YA releases last year was Melissa de la Cruz's Alex & Eliza. For a hot minute, I hadn't realized that it was set up to be a series of novels vs. a standalone. Melissa de la Cruz is perhaps one of my most-purchased authors, so there was really no question that I'd be picking up a copy of Love & War. While I do feel as though its predecessor was far better than this installment, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read that I breezed through in one afternoon.

Something I love about Melissa de la Cruz's writing is that she is very... light, but still thoughtful and warm. I think that's one of the things new readers will note in the Alex & Eliza series; there's this quality to it that just brings on the warm and fuzzies and I am totally here for it!

As for the least desirable qualities to Love & War: the historical inaccuracies. I did read de la Cruz's note at the end of the novel, however, I'm not altogether keen on altering history to that degree (Alex and Eliza not having children in the way that their real-life counterparts had)--and had similar issues with the Hamilton musical (though it is one of my all-time favourite musicals) taking such liberties. This is a bit of a mundane thing to note though, as Love & War is a fictional spin on their relationship. For some readers, this may make or break the novel.

That being said, everything you love about de la Cruz's writing is forever present in Love & War. I did find myself struggling with the plot of this one at times--it just wasn't very compelling for me a good chunk of the time--and thought it was less lively that Alex & Eliza, or past releases by de la Cruz for that matter.

Alex, Eliza, Angelica and Peggy are just as lovely as the first time we saw this variation of them. I do wish we could see things from the two other Schuyler sisters at some point. Hint, hint: a spin-off. And I absolutely adored the little Easter eggs Melissa da la Cruz placed throughout the novel as a nod to the musical Hamilton. There was just something undeniably fun about the combination of history and the hit musical.

As long as readers don't go into this with expectations of spot-on accuracy re: the historical events which take place, they're hardly going to notice any flaws. Overall, it was a nice read that will take readers to a place of history and keep them company for a bit of their day. It was exactly what it should be--fun! Love & War arrived just in time for the warm weather.