The Love That Split the World

by Emily Henry

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary, Time Travel, Magical Realism, Fiction

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2016

About the author

Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.

Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is almost impossible to rate. Take my 3 -star rating lightly, because it does not even begin to sum up everything I felt about this different, imaginative, weird romance.

I call it a "romance" out of the human need to categorize, but it truly doesn't sit well in any genre. It has paranormal and sci-fi elements, as well as what feels like touches of magical realism - all blended together around a complex love story with diverse characters.

Let me emphasize that once more - The Love That Split the World is a book rich with diversity, feminism, sex-positivism and just good old beautiful writing. The author chooses her words carefully, painting a gorgeous and vivid picture of both the Kentucky setting and this delicate time in Natalie Cleary's life.

Brimming with Native American stories, culture and mythology, the book whizzes along with a magical energy. It is full of many short stories (and through them - life lessons) told by the mysterious "Grandmother" who sometimes visits Natalie at night.

Who is Grandmother? A Native American messenger? A religious apparition? Or merely a figment of Natalie's imagination? Only time will tell.

Natalie is a particularly likable and wise character; she is quick to point out slut-shaming and refuses to see her ex's new girlfriend as her enemy or, indeed, anything other than a human being. On top of this, her mental state plays a large part in this book, asking a question I have personally always loved - supernatural or psychological?

Fantasy and psychology live side by side here, prompting the reader to constantly wonder just what is real and what is imagined.

Given my 3-star rating, you've probably been waiting for it and here it is - the BUT. Well... this book might be a great many things, but it is first and foremost a romance and relies on your attachment to said romance to effectively tell the story. And it breaks my first two rules of writing romance novels.

1) Instalove. Like wow, bang, whoosh, I just met you and this is crazy, but let me talk about your beautiful eyelashes kind of instalove. Romances where emotions are plucked out of midair and built upon gorgeous looks just leave me feeling so cold.

2) You so pretty. Sentences that become paragraphs that become pages about how Beau is a physical work of art.

"His biceps are roughly the size of my head, and his eyes look like summer incarnate, and he has two little dark freckles on the side of his nose, and a mouth that somehow manages to look like a shy kid’s one minute and a virile Greek god’s the next.”

*snores* I just don't care that much about beautiful people. And I especially don't need to be reminded over and over again how good-looking they are.

If you can look past the instalove and eye roll-worthy romance moments, then this really is a beautiful book. Unfortunately, so much rests on the romance that it's quite hard to do.

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[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Sometimes the most beautiful moments in our lives are things that hurt badly at the time. We only see them for what they really were when we stand at the very end and look back.”

I have to be honest, from the title, I didn't expect much of this book. I was wrong, and I love it when I'm wrong in moments like this. This was a wonderfully-written, introspective book of surprising depth.

God is a thing I think I see in glimmers all over: an enormous and vague warmth I sometimes catch pulsing around me, giving me shivers and making tears prick my eyes; a mysterious and limitless Thing threaded through all the world and refusing to be reduced to a name or a set of rules and instead winding itself through millions of stories, true and made up, connecting all breathing things.

This book has diversity (for example, the main character is dark-skinned Native American) and feminism, two traits that are incredibly rare in YA literature. I think it would fit into the magical realism genre, which is surprising, since I tend to think of that entire genre as hippie-dippie bullshit.

I'm not Native American, and I can't pretend to judge the veracity of the short tales and myths presented in this book; all I know is that the writing is beautiful and the legends are respectfully presented.

The main character is great. She's strong without being bitchy. She's not judgmental and she is thoughtful without seeming to be unrealisticly perfect.

“That’s when I fell in love with Matt Kincaid,” Megan says quietly.

It’s like a dagger in my heart. Not jealousy, at least not toward Megan. If anything, I’m jealous that she loves Matt but doesn’t even know me. And I’m jealous that this Megan would tell me about things mine never has. I wonder when her feelings for him went away, if they even did, and how I didn’t notice them.

Had I been hurting her, hurting both of them, for the last six years over something it turns out I’d never been sure I wanted?

So from what I've said, this book is pretty great, right? Well, no. First, it is suuuuuuuuuuuuper slow. The writing is beautiful, but there are entire paragraphs written about one concept, and so the book feels overly verbose. Furthermore, the romance can get too much at times. It didn't feel that way because again, the writing is wonderful, but it can get distracting.

But overall, this was a much better book than the title indicates.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahem. (Picture me gently clinking a knife on the side of a wine glass, or whatever that classy thing is people do before they give toasts at swanky dinner parties.)

https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...

Hello, everyone. If I could get your attention. I just want to say a few words.

So you all know Emily, yes? Emily Henry? The writer of this very book?

I only “met” Emily for the first time in June of last year, when I read her book A Million Junes. And as soon as I picked it up, I knew. It wasn’t just the pretty cover or the compelling synopsis - it was deeper than that. This was love.

But, you know, I thought I’d known before, so I waited it out. I finished the book before I made any announcements. And it was just as I had thought and hoped and dreamed it would be: a beautiful, truthful magical realism with wonderful, funny characters, strong female friendship, a happy family, a charming romance that didn’t take over the narrative, and above all, perhaps the loveliest writing style I’d ever encountered in YA. I was hooked.

Love at first sight turned out to be true love. <3 <3 <3

Still, love is a bumpy road. So I waited six months to be sure before I picked up her first book. With a pretty low average rating, complaints of a slow plot and instalove, I knew this would be the ultimate test of my affections. I entered with trepidation.

From the start, I should have known I needn’t have worried. It was another gorgeous cover, another compelling synopsis. As I began reading, I discovered the same wonderful magical realism, sense of humor, full and lovable characters, friendships, and that irresistible writing that had made me fall in love in the first place.

The romance was a little much comparatively, it’s true, but who has time to be bothered by love being laid on a little thick when there’s time travel and parallel universes and Native American folklore and coming of age and the most nostalgic, caring depiction of the end of high school I’ve ever read?

I guess The Love That Split the World isn’t for everyone, but it is for me. Looks like it’s a question that split the world! I kid, I kid.

In short, Emily Henry, I loved your second, underrated-but-acclaimed book, and I loved your underloved debut. I love the brilliantly done magical realism, the banter, the characters, the friendships and family relationships that aren’t left by the wayside, the realness of the emotions, and above all, the gorgeous writing.

So…(picture me getting on one knee here, or something)...Emily, I have a very important question to ask you:

Will you be the only YA author on my all time favorite authors list?

(Here is either where I’ll insert a SHE SAID YES!!! Or just leave this parenthetical here in the event that she doesn’t respond. I have to be honest with myself and say it’s probably going to be the latter.)

Bottom line: Apparently this book isn’t for everyone. BUT DON’T YOU EVER COME INTO THIS HOUSE AND INSULT MY WIFE FAVORITE YA AUTHOR.

--------------
pre-review

A series of things of which I am totally convinced:

- This book is achingly lovely.
- I want to squeeze every character in it (in a loving way).
- Everyone, straight up everyone, should read this (but only after reading A Million Junes)
- Emily Henry sees the world differently from all of us, quite possibly in the best way possible, and I want to crack her head open and live inside it but only after I give her a big hug and perhaps a kiss on the forehead.

More of a review to come

[Jeff Zentner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this and I'm exhausted in the way of people who are exhausted from a perfect day of standing in the ocean and riding roller coasters. The beauty, intelligence, and profundity of this book are staggering. And the ending. Oh the ending.

There are books with average voices that tell incredible stories. There are books with incredible voices that tell average stories. And then sometimes lightning strikes and you find a book with an incredible voice that tells an incredible story.

This is such a lightning-strike of a book.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

7 Emotions The Love That Split the World Will Make You Feel

1. Suspicion - This book has a pretty unique, fantastical, kick-ass plot that'll make your head go crazy trying to dispatcher what's real and what isn't. It's more of a magical realism novel of sorts, with a hint of mystery thrown in for good measure.

2. Boredom - Okay, can we please talk about the info-dumps? Because Holy Grandmother, this book is FULL of them. You're going to get huge chunks of science-y (in which my brain would like to explode)/medical/story information in a single go, and if you have a short attention span like me, you may or may not fall asleep.

3. (Possibly) Indifferent - The writing's really conversational and easy to read in this one, but personally it sounded like it was trying a bit too hard to sound natural and funny. The humor was COMPLETELY lost on me. But there were lots of lovely quotable quotes if you're into that kind of thing.

4. Pride - Our heroine Natalie is a Native American who's open-minded, is against slut-shaming and is generally what a female lead should be. She's realistic, and isn't that "special snowflake" character we all know and love and want to strangle.

5. Frustration - Because the instalove here is just a big no-no. And also I can't stand it when the heroines let their love lives consume all their time, and that's basically what happened here. OH, and their relationship is just so full of I want yous... And for me, the phrase turns into I want to puke.

6. Love - The family love in this novel just makes you want to give out lots of Xs and Os and asdfghjkls. It has the kind of family where you just want to join everyone in one, big, adoptive group hug! (Especially near the end--the family dynamics there definitely made me cry!)

7. Confusion and/or Mixed Feelings - Because that ending. Eurgh. I stil dont know how to feel about it. It was both brilliant and shitty at the same time.

Edit: Actual rating is 2.5 stars.

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[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was interesting. It got better toward the end so it *may* be a 2.5. Maybe.

While the writing was beautiful (at times) and the story was pretty unique, this book didn't really do it for me.

It felt like it was trying to be too many things at once and not really solidly succeeding at any of them. I really liked the positive elements of feminism, emotional health, etc HOWEVER many of those things felt thrown into the book at the last minute (or maybe were just too in your face) and weren't really woven into the story.

There was some major insta love (and you know how I feel about insta love) with not a lot of character development until MUCH later in the book, so everything felt really rushed.

Pretty much the whole book I was confused, and even when things were revealed and made known I was STILL confused. I'm honestly still not sure I understood any of it. Maybe because there were so many psychology and sci-fi info dumps something went over my head because seriously. There were PAGES of explanation of things. Pages.

Overall, didn't really like this, though it was an addicting read with a beautiful end, it was lacking a plot I could follow and a solid grasp on what kind of book it wanted to be.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I also posted a video review on my booktube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVoRj...

"I want you to understand something, Natalie. No matter how hard it feels, you don't need to be afraid to move on. There's always more to see and feel."

I don't think I can even do this book justice. I don't even have the ability to place this book in a genre. What do I know?

I know that this is one of the most beautiful and moving stories about love -- romantic love, the love between friends, love between family, and most importantly, loving yourself. I just know that this is a story that will stay with me forever. It has taught me and reminded me that I am loved and that even when it seems like the world is ending I will move forward and feel new things and see new things. There are just books that I will be forever grateful for and this is one of them.

"Natalie, the world's going to keep right on being terrible and beautiful all at once"

Honestly, I recommend this to anyone that can read. If you want something that'll make you feel all the feels or something that fills you with hope and optimism and challenges you to live your best life then read this. It's a brilliant book and I cannot recommend it enough.

[Trina (Between Chapters) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2MZ5...

I did not enjoy this book, BUT I definitely think it will appeal to many readers. It has many poignant passages about life and love and growing up and if any of these strikes a personal chord with you then it's very likely that you will love this book.

The parts of this story that I connected with the most were the atmospheric southern small town setting, and the many quotes that perfectly nailed that bittersweet feeling of looking back on lost first love.
However, there were SO many hard hitting quotes about SO many topics that most of the time this book came off as preachy to me. It was trying so hard to impart life lessons that the story got lost.

Another thing I liked about the book was that the main character is Native American and her culture is pretty well represented. (Update: Probably not.) She's been adopted and is on a journey to find out her personal history and there are many folktales scattered throughout the book. The tales were lovely but, again, they occurred so often that it took away from the overall plot. The stories were supposed to contain clues about the plot and although they did help the character Natalie piece things together, I felt the reader could have really done without them. Despite being beautiful and one of my favorite things about this book, they weren't very functional. Every time they popped up in the story I could hear the shrill sound of the plot screeching to a stop.

Another plot-stopper was the frequency of scientific info-dumps. 50% of the book is high school partying, drinking, making out, and general teenage confusion and the other 50% an adult character shows up and starts info dumping. Now look, I've said before and I will say it again that I am a fan of a good old fashioned info dump. I like to know what exactly I'm getting into. The problem here is that they came too late and didn't pertain to the plot, but to various types of therapy techniques. By the time the characters were figuring out what was happening to Natalie and the infodumps switched to trying to explain actual time travel, I felt like it was yet another interruption of the pacing. I'd figured it out long before and have seen/read enough time travel plots to not need it spelled out so slowly.

Plot-stopper number (what number are we on?) were the amount of memory flashbacks, or just plain stopping in the middle of an interaction to tell the tale of every paint color the walls in a room have been throughout all of time, or where every single piece of furniture in the room came from. And that's not even the time travel aspect coming into play, those are just excessive descriptions.

Here's another: The character Matt. He's the former love interest. While I loved all the quotes about first love that his character allowed the story to wax poetic about, he really didn't have much purpose to the story. There's a whole storyline with him that comes to mean NOTHING. He's really only there to give Natalie something to whine about every 5 pages, creating this weird love triangle that didn't need to be there. He could have been in the beginning of the book enough for us to get their history and then peaced out.

On the other hand, Matt and the coming of age story could have stayed and the whole time travel premise could have been left out and you'd hardly even know it was missing.

Basically what I'm saying is this book felt like an "everything and the kitchen sink" kind of story. If you take out all the things that weren't necessary, you'd be left with maybe a 100 page book.

Oh, and another thing? There was some shady behavior happening here in which Natalie kept being assaulted and then DEFENDING and APOLOGIZING to her attacker. Because something tragic happens to him, this is ok?? NAH. Not enough of a redemption arc here for that. Also, I'm not super okay with what was asked of Natalie in the end. And I'm not buying the actual ending. Noooooope. Nope. Too neat.

If you are picking this up because you wanted a time travel story, read the first chapter and then skip to chapter 31.

A better reason to pick this up would be because you want an admittedly cute contemporary love story whose crazy cousin named Time Travel gets drunk and shows up from time to time to spice things up before quickly passing out.

The reading experience was kind of like getting in the car with someone and expecting to go to their house. Then you realize they are taking the wrong route to get there so you must be headed someplace else. Once you finally see a building in the distance and figure 'oh hey, there's the movie theater. That must be where we're headed', suddenly you end up half way across the world in a gas station bathroom with no clothes and no idea how you got there.

Overall, there are many merits to this book but to be pitched as time travel, there wasn't enough time travel for me. But if you really love character driven stories where you will get to know every (and I mean EVERY) detail of the characters' lives, plus the history of their furniture (I am not kidding, see page 282) then Ayyyyy, this is your type of book! I just wasn't in the mood for that at this time based on what I was expecting and unfortunately it spoiled the fun for me.

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

this story is the embodiment of what it means to love and be loved.

emily henrys writing is magically transformative and heartbreakingly real. once i finished this, i couldnt help but tell those close to me that i love them. a very imaginative, yet touching, book.

4.5 stars

[Estefani · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Review also on Fiction Jungle

If you read my ‘Most Anticipated Releases of 2016’ then you know this beautiful gem made the list. The Love That Split The World is one of those books that sound great in synopsis and it’s equally great when you read it.

It’s one of those rare cases where a mix of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Contemporary worlds exist cohesively and actually complement one another within the story.

It started off straight up mysterious. On the first few pages we are introduced to a key character, Grandmother, when Natalie wakes up to realize she’s finally back, someone who has been appearing to Natalie throughout the years. And she comes with an important message "Three months to save him" But who is Grandmother? What is Grandmother? You might be wondering. And more importantly, who’s him? Is he the boy she meets the next day, when the world surrounding her suddenly disappears and there’s nothing in sight but him?

“I stand and lean against the rail in the aisle between bleachers. I want to go down to the field, to stand with this boy between the sky and the grass until every part of me touches every layer of the world. If feels important, but even though I’m so sure this is a dream, I feel a little shy and embarrassed, like I won’t know what to say when I get down there.”

I love that this story tantalizes you and invites you to keep guessing along our main character, it is suspense and romance driven alike. After Grandmother is gone once again, Natalie stars experiencing sudden changes in space and time, she is standing in a hallway full of students in a moment and in the next everyone disappears.

I think after reading this, Natalie Cleary has a special spot on my favorite female leads list. Although the characters are not picture perfect (and they shouldn’t!) each and everyone’s positive qualities are highlighted, and the author doesn’t try to make her female lead stand out, rather she just lets her shine on her own, you’ll notice. I’d like to point out that this book is full of positivism, the relationships portrayed feel real and relevant and it definitely stays away from cliches, and it’s all so clearly refreshing.

“You never owe another person something, no matter how nice they are to you. Relationships aren’t transactions”

Even if romance takes a huge part in the development of this story (I mean, look at the title!) Our girl Natalie never loses her focus on the path she knows she should be following, taking a leap of faith isn’t the same as derailing, her search is first and foremost for her self-discovery. Is being Native American part of these experiences? Or there’s an otherworldly reason?

I feel a bit doubtful about the ending, I wish I could elaborate but I don’t want to spoil anybody. What I did like, however, is that it is those kinds where it might be open-ended but not unclear, and it is satisfactory for me, to see a book succeed at this attempt. This is certainly not a cut and dry book and there’s definitely a lot to examine, and up for debate.

The Love That Split The World is a mix of great complex ideas without being messy. Each relationship between Natalie and the characters contributes and leaves a bit of something to the reader; with Natalie’s family, unconditional love, with Rachel, acceptance, with Matt, understanding, with Megan, mutual support, with Beau, that it doesn’t matter if someone else makes you feel the most. And specially with herself, that it is okay to not know everything about yourself.

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[Giselle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A finished copy was provided by the publisher for review.

Natalie Cleary used to be the most popular girl in school cheerleader and girlfriend to Matt the quarterback. She also has brightest future ahead of her, going to the Ivy League school, Brown University. This is her last summer before college and she should be preparing, yet she can't. Her nightmares are back and with that comes Grandmother. She has been visited by this woman several times, telling her stories of her Native American background. Until things start to change around her. Flickers of the people she knows, doing things they normally wouldn't do. Instantly being drawn by a boy she hasn't seen before and has never existed in her world. Could there be something else drawing them together?

I am happy to report I am not the black sheep, I kind of fell in love with the writing. Emily Henry knows how to pull and tug and twist your heart all around. At first, nothing is really grabbing at me until Natalie started seeing things. The whole time traveler part was the most fun. But then the science behind it was being explained and my eyes glazed over. I tried to understand it but for the life of me I will never understand time and worm holes. It always confuses me.  I liked how it was incorporated though so it wouldn't end being just another love story.

The romance kind of felt too instant for me, but I forgave the book because after reading it, I just couldn't stop remembering the beauty of love. How much love can be found from not only romantic relationships but from family and friends. This is that story, Natalie loves all of her people and they love her back. She never felt so out of place until now. Being adopted and half Native American in a predominantly white community can make you feel like isolated. That's one of the things I loved about this book, hearing and reading about their Native stories. It was wholly new and refreshing. I loved how her family was portrayed. Her twin siblings and even her dog Gus who is just this big drool monster. Her friendship with her best friend is adorable. I like how they spell out all the words when texting and not use chat lingo. Then her relationship with Matt. He seemed like a jerk but there were underlying issues that were only addressed later on in the book. And then there's Beau. He fit the "bad boy with a heart of gold" cliche boyfriend, but for some reason I didn't mind. 

The Love that Split the World is one debut that will have you reminisce how much love can change a person's life. A beautiful coming of age story that will pull at your heart strings! What a fabulous memorable read! 

RATING 5/5

QUOTES

"No story is truer than any other story that has the truth in its heart." (39)

"Funny thing about belonging to two worlds: Sometimes you feel like you belong in zero." (87)

"No matter how hard it feels, you don't need to be afraid to move on, and you don't need to be afraid to stay either. There's always more to see and feel." (133)

"You never owe another person something, no matter how nice they are to you. Relationships aren't transactions." (145)

"You don't know everything. Not yet you don't. And when you see those good things—they're going to be so much brighter for you than they are for other people, just like the abyss seems deeper and bigger when you stare at it. If you stick it out, it's all going to feel worth it in the end. Every moment you live, every darkness you face, they'll all feel worth it when you're staring light in the face." (206)

"This is only the beginning. If you want the good, you can't give up." (206)

"It's true that nothing has the potential to hurt so much as loving someone, but nothing heals like it either." (235)

"Growing up is going to hurt. Only you can decide if the pain is worth the love." (239)

"I am not good enough. I am not good, period. Maybe even, I'm bad. There is something in me that cannot be fixed." (274)

"Sometimes the most beautiful moments in our lives are things that hurt badly at the time." (299)

[Vanessa J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of you may have foreseen my rating for this book based on its title, because I mean, The Love That Split the World?! Sounds like a cheap and cheesy romance, doesn't it?

It does, but I assure you that 1) this was not exactly that, and 2) that is not the reason why I ended up disliking this book.

Natalie Cleary has been getting visions of someone she calls Grandmother ever since she was 6 years old, and they were perfectly normal until now, when Grandmother makes an apparition and tells her she has "three months to save him," without giving her any clue as to who "him" was or what she was talking about, thus leaving her confused and determined to find out what she meant and save this person before it's too late.

Initially, this book could easily deserve 4 stars, and here are the reasons:

• The concept really is interesting. There's a weird blend of sci-fi, romance (laughable, but I'll get to that later), contemporary fiction and magical realism.
• Keeps us wondering who the hell is that Grandmother and why she has been appearing to Natalie.
• The MC Natalie can be different to the typical one, since she's part Native American and is independent and not entirely stupid (although sometimes she made things that made me want to strangle her).
• The writing is decent - for a debut, that is. Not clogged with adjectives or awkward metaphors.

But, I didn't rate the book 4 stars, did I? So, here is a reason why I quit one star: The romance.

It was damn ridiculous. First, we have instalove of the cheapest kind. Natalie meets Beau, notices how beautiful he is (should it be a coincidence that his name is the French word for "beautiful"?), and then boom, just like that, she can't be without him. Can you believe less than three months later they were already having thoughts about marriage?



Second, there's the fact that they had zero chemistry. Seriously, for me their romance didn't exist. They knew nothing about each other, and their make-out sessions felt forced and stupid. I couldn't care about them any less.

However, when I said the romance wasn't the reason I didn't like the book, I meant it. The romance was the least of my problems. And so, here is the final reason why I quit another star to the book: I felt like I've been manipulated a thousand times.

Case #1: My feelings towards Matt.

Truth, I never liked the guy - he reminded me too much to Mal from Shadow and Bone with his whiny attitude and obsession with the MC - and he got worse and worse the more I progressed through the book, but here's the thing: I felt as if the author was manipulating me into feeling like that towards him. Like, she made him an asshole who only got worse just so we could hate him.

Have you read Ignite Me? Remember how Adam's personality suddenly changed and became an asshole who deserved to die? That was manipulation. Mafi manipulated us into hating him and so she got rid of him as a love interest. The same strategy was used by Henry.

Case #2: Everything being pretentious.

Why is that manipulation? Because every time a "deep" quote appeared I felt as if I was manipulated into believing the book was oh so thought-provoking. I would have thought otherwise about this if it weren't for...

Case #3: "Ohoho! I'm so clever!" says the author.

...which in case you don't get it, it means every single turn the plot took again manipulated me into trying to blow my mind. At first, nothing makes sense, and that's when I thought the author was fancying herself clever, but I knew the author was going to get a twist out of thin air to surprise us. That's a cheap strategy, in my opinion.

Turned out I was right, and here's an example: The parallel worlds? The time travel? Grandmother being her? Please, like I didn't think something like that would happen. I felt manipulated like Andy Weir did with The Egg - trying to blow our minds by something so deep or so full with (in this book's case) physics no one understands. I mean, that stupid wormhole thing? It only made me roll my eyes and despise what the author was trying to do even more.

And the end of the book...it was so badly done, and it left more holes in the plot than the ones it already had. Things still didn't make sense, and if anything, they made them worse because of the stupid way of explaining her visions. Seriously, that was a lousy attempt at time-travel, and there were paradoxes that were overlooked, and how about explaining why she really could do that? Why the wormhole thing? Either my copy was missing pages or this was indeed a plot hole. In any case, nope, nope. I guess those were the failed attempts of the author trying to make the book quirky and something unlike I've never read before.



Indeed, no one could have said it better. I cannot recommend this given all the plot holes and the failed manipulation attempts, but maybe this is a case of "it's me not you" and you'll probably like it. The majority have loved it, and well, you maybe already expected me to dislike it, so what's to lose?

[☆☽Erica☾☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am at a loss for words. This was earth-shatteringly incredible. The cover is truly indicative of how beautiful the story is.

If I were to write a book, this would be the type of book I'd be proud to have my name on.

Just a heads up for anyone thinking of reading this: this book is very weird. It is magical, mystical, dreamlike, and transcendental. Don't expect a rational romance. This book is weird and owns it.

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow and very detailed but the beautiful, whimsical writing kept me reading on. Also, I think I won’t be able to sleep if I wouldn’t find out who Grandmother is. Yes, that’s what intrigued me most and not so much the boy that Natalie needed to save. I appreciate the plot devices used in the story. There’s a little of history, a lot of mystery, sci-fi, time-travel, psychology, fantasy and magical realism but as to what the story is mainly trying to say, I’m still not sure. Safest to say, the story is about love.

Grandmother’s stories kind of remind me of A Monster Calls Yew Tree’s stories and for the most part, it’s these stories that mostly encouraged me to keep reading on.

“But until I can figure out my own place in all of this, I want to hear other people’s stories. Knowing stories that have been around forever and have almost been lost a hundred times already, it feels important.”

Also the friendship between the main character and her best friend is very admirable.

“You know, I like to think of myself as somehow expert on my best friend, but the truth is I have no idea how to help with all of this. Okay? Tell me what you need and tell me every single time you need it, and I’ll be there.”

What didn’t work for me is how all these various, diverse elements combined have become overwhelming and confusing and for some reason, that took away the emotional impact the story could have had on me. At some point, I just wanted for the book to be over which is not a good sign because often you don’t want a good book to end. Getting to the end to me felt like running on a street maid of jell-o. The path looks nice but you could imagine my struggle. Alas, the conclusion only left me underwhelmed.

Still a recommendable read for the writing, minor themes and creativity. Ms. Henry is a talented writer and for a debut novel, The Love that Split the World is still pretty decent.

[Dana Kenedy (Dana and the Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time travel, dimension travel, and lots of timey-wimeyness. All the things I love, so I was so excited to get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, it was a bit too preachy in some areas for me to give a higher rating. Also a few too many info dumps for my liking.

However, despite a dull first half, the second half of the story wasn't all that bad. Overall, I expected more though.

[Brittany S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initial Impressions 1/17/16: 4.5 stars
This book was so special. It was beautifully written, full of touching moments, amazing friendships, wonderful humor, and truly a love that was powerful enough to split the world. Emotion levels were high for pretty much the whole book and I was so captivated by Natalie and Beau. I love Emily Henry's ability to bring me into this story, easily convince me that all of this was humanly possible, and even more so, to bring so many emotions into it as well. Every single relationship was wonderful, complicated, and meaningful. From friendships to romances to siblings to parents -- everything was so incredibly well done, realistic, and touching. Even Natalie's own "relationship" with herself (or rather, her own self-discovery) was interesting and beautiful to watch as well as unique.
I adored how Emily Henry took this concept of alternate worlds and/or time travel (I won't divulge exactly what is going on there because the reader needs to discover that!) and really blur the lines between science-fiction, reality, and also the expectations of how alternate worlds/time travel occur and/or function. It felt wholly unique and incredibly special.
This book was truly special and I just was so involved while reading it. One I will absolutely recommend and hopefully re-read too!

Full review as originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 2/2/16: As soon as I started reading, I knew that THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD was a special book. Emily Henry’s writing immediately hooked me and I was instantly transported into Natalie’s world, fully involved in her story. Even after thirty pages, I knew that I would fall in love with this book. With moments that reminded me of childhood favorite WALK TWO MOONS, I was immediately invested (in so many ways, really) and this turned out to be a very special read for me.

At first, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD. From the synopsis, it sounded like a book about alternate universes but I couldn’t tell if it was going to be more contemporary, more science-fiction, or none of the above. I ended up with a lot of contemporary romance feelings as I read about the epic romance between Natalie and Beau and I easily got swept up in their whirlwind romance. I absolutely loved that there was a sense that these two simply belonged together. There are books that proclaim destiny and connections but Emily Henry’s writing truly convinced me that these two souls were irrevocably connected, which left me feeling quite impressed! The way the story was written and how everything fell into place really had me feeling that connection instead of just being told it was there. I become utterly involved in Natalie and Beau’s story and couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page!

The characters were wonderfully developed! Each character had many layers and each of their relationships did as well. Of course I can sing praises of the romance but really one of my favorite relationships in the book was Natalie’s friendship with Megan. Their friendship really reminded me of my own with my best friends and it just felt so genuine and true. It was an easy friendship and the two girls also had an incredibly strong bond, able to talk about anything and everything, including some humor that you only experience with a best friend. I instantly connected with their friendship and it really developed their characters even more!
I was also pleased to see the relationship that Natalie had with her family. Being adopted, she does struggle at times to feel like she fits in, especially when her siblings are actually biological children, but they do have a special familial bond that also just felt so genuine. I could really feel the hesitation as Natalie tries to find out if and where she fits in but she still has a strong love for every person in her family.

Natalie’s self-discovery was also incredibly so well-done. Having her hallucinations/visions sets her apart even more, on top of the fact that she’s adopted and looks nothing like her family (Natalie being of Native American heritage and her family having pale skin and red hair). She struggles to find out where exactly she belongs and as high school ends, the crisis escalates even further. It was wonderfully subtle and obvious all at the same time and I really felt for Natalie as she tried to figure out exactly who she was and where she fit in. I think we’ve all been through a similar phase but Natalie faces much bigger questions, especially as her life comes to a major crossroads with her latest “visitation” from a wise figure that she calls Grandmother.

As much as the book was partially a love story, it was also quite magical. I loved the Native American traditions and folklore that really set the tone of the novel and tied into Natalie’s current timeline. It was just wonderful to read each story and connect it to a specific moment, even if I couldn’t make that connection until later on in the book. Natalie learns and and repeats creation myths, tradition origins, and life lessons through each story and I really loved experiencing and learning about each one as I read. I also felt like it offered a little explanation and left clues for what was happening to Natalie and why.

I do want to touch on large concept of the book involving the concept of parallel universes and the sci-fi/magical aspect but I don’t want to give anything away so all I will really say about that is how much I loved it and how well everything connected. Natalie, Beau, and the readers are really trying to figure out throughout the book why their surroundings keep changing, why their friends are acting differently, and what the deal is with what is happening to them. It was an incredible journey and discovery to witness so I’ll leave all of the details inside the pages of the book but I was so impressed with the way it was done, including all of the reveals. The tension and suspense really picks up towards the end and I had a few rushes of emotion as things finally took shape and started to reveal themselves. It felt like a wonderful take on a commonly used concept and I just really loved how original it all felt!

Oh wow, clearly I can gush for days on end about this book but when it comes down to it, I can sum it up by repeating how special this book really was. I had feelings on top of feelings with a dash of amazement and a thirst for knowledge. THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD was so incredibly well-written and I think it’ll appeal to such a wide audience, spanning genres and age ranges alike. Don’t miss this book, friends! It’s a keeper.

[Adita ✨The Slumbering Insomniac✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★★★★★★[10/10]

“Do you think . . . I mean, is it possible . . . that there is a God?”

She smiles that same smile I recognize from childhood, the mysterious one that makes our eyes sparkle. “Girl,” she says, “how do you think any of this is possible if something didn’t want it to be? Something tore a hole in time just over our bed all so you, lucky bitch, could know what it is to love. Someone tore up a tree and let us look through and decide to fall.”

Time travel. Parallel universes. Alternate reality. Haven't these subjects already become hackneyed and clichéd?
No.
Not at all.

⏩In one world, I am reading books.
⏩In the other, I just came down with the terrible flu.

But,
✅ This book made it possible for the alternate realities to co-exist - the bittersweet situation where a girl with sore throat, runny nose and a mild fever is staring longingly at The End of an incredibly beautiful book, expecting the pages to flutter back to the beginning so that she could start reading it again, anew!

I guess I will love him well until I die. I have to believe the world will pick up where I leave off. I have to believe that, whether I’m there at the end of the world with Beau or not, love is bigger than death.

[Stacee · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing I could say that could express just how much I loved this book.

[Carole (Carole's Random Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I think that my expectations for this book were set way too high. I was really needing to read one of those books that grab a hold of you and refuses to let go. On Goodreads, the reviews are amazing so I decided that this would be the next book that I fell in love with and it almost worked. I liked it but I didn't fall in love with it. I am giving this book a very generous 4 stars but it comes very close to being a 3 star read for me.

The overall premise of the story was very interesting. Natalie starts seeing things wrong. Things in her town seem to appear and disappear but she is the only one who seems to notice. She has been visited by Grandmother for much of her life and has been in a lot of therapy as a result. Grandmother spends her visits telling stories which I found to be very engaging. Natalie meets a young man named Beau just as things start happening rapidly. When Natalie learns that she has three months to save him, she must figure out what is going on and who she needs to save.

This book did have a lot of things going for it. It was truly a unique story that kept me guessing. This book actually kept me up past my bedtime more than once just because I felt like I needed to figure out what was going on. The pacing of the story was nearly perfect with information being share piece by piece in a manner that really kept my interest. I did enjoy the overall writing style.

There were also a few things that I didn't care for as much in this story. I was able to figure out the two main mysteries in the book very early on. I was actually very disappointed when my predictions were correct. I did get a little tired of the focus on the romance in this story. There were so many other things going on that were more interesting that I really wanted to stay focused on. I honestly did not care for how this book ended...at all. When I turned the last page and realized that the book was actually ending as it did, I wanted to throw it across the room.

I would recommend this book to fans of Young Adult novels. I do think that this book will prove to be very popular largely due to its uniqueness. This is the first novel by Emily Henry and I look forward to reading her future works.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Penguin Group - Razorbill via First to Read for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
I am wavering between 3 and 4 stars on this one. It was an unique story that kept me reading past my bedtime. I liked it well enough and had to find out what the heck was going on but I was ultimately somewhat let down at the conclusion. My guess very early in the book regarding the two big mysteries in the story ended up being absolutely correct which my prediction which was a bit disappointing.

[celine (celinereads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

I found this book to be SO confusing, but I kind of liked it because it made me think. I have never read a book like this before or about time travel, which might be why I found it to be a bit confusing, but I enjoyed it! I think my expectations were WAY WAY WAYYY too high going into this book, which is why this isn't a 5 or 4.5 star book because some parts were just kind of "meh" but some parts had me at the edge of my seat wanting more!

I will post an in-depth review on my blog and there will be discussions on this book over on The Readers Guild goodreads group and Instagram!

[Kels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodness. It took me entirely too long to finish this book, and the simple reason for that is because I found it to be remarkably slow paced, incredibly boring, and so exceptionally easy to put down.

Although I do have mixed feelings about the writing, overall I believe that Emily Henry's prose rivals many of the seasoned authors in YA fiction that I've read. It's apparent that she took great care when crafting her sentences; they are vivid and detailed without being too clunky or cluttered, and are downright beautiful at times (many times, actually). But I still felt that they lacked that intrinsic spark that pulls you into the story itself. I was left on the sidelines for the entire read, because the text simply wasn't engaging enough to drag me onto the playing field, and that's always a big problem as well as a huge disappointment for me.

Whereas the concept of the story had me intrigued and thoroughly impressed, the plot and the execution failed to do either. Time travel, alternate universes, and anything dealing with the space-time continuum consists of some of my favorite sub-genres to explore, because in real life these concepts intrigue me and I will gladly spend hours watching documentaries and reading peer-reviewed science journals on such topics, just to idly pass time. The problem though, with such speculative fiction, is the many and varied paradoxes that manifests itself inevitably in relation to a break/shift/alter in time. As one can imagine, it gets chaotic. So yeah, it's incredibly hard to avoid plot holes when dealing with such topics, maybe even impossible, but Emily Henry does not even try to tighten them up. She leaves them wide and gaping, and not only does she put minimal effort in trying to close those holes up, but at the ending she throws caution and apparently all good sense to the wind and gets out a machete to slash what little fabric is holding this story together to shreds.

And can I just say that I knew who Grandma was from the start. It was so obvious, and because the majority of this book was centered on "finding Grandma," it made my interest wan and flatline throughout several portions of the book. But my biggest problem with TLTSTW was hands down the romance. For starters, there was no chemistry. NONE. Beau and Natalie was thrown together so unnaturally and forcibly, it made me cringe whenever they made out. It really bothered me how they met, and suddenly fell in love, and when they started picking out their kids name... I may have gagged a little. For me, I wasn't buying it, and it turned me off on Natalie's character with how her world just suddenly shifted to revolve around Beau. You may or may not believe this, but truly I'm a romantic at heart. So trust me when I say, there's nothing romantic about a teenage girl obsessing over a boy she just met.

And that leads me to the twisted ending.

Okay, I had an inkling to how the ending was going to play out, so I wasn't all that surprised, but what caught me completely off guard was the purpose of Grandma's presence in Natalie's life. For one, she was so incredibly evasive and vague in the beginning, but at the ending she was so long winded with her outrageously ridiculous explanations to why she surfaced in her life. Talk about melodramatic and inefficiency, because Grandma is the very definition of both. She could have saved Natalie a whole lot of trouble and aimless wonderings if she just would have freaking spit it out in the beginning. But of course, no, because then we have no book. But what tops that is what Grandma wants Nat to do and how she asks her to do it. I'm not going to spoil the ending for anyone that decides to pick up this book, but let me tell me you how much I hated the ending: A LOT. Like you know that theory that space is ever expanding at an exponential rate that we can't even keep up with? Yeah, you do? Great. So is my hate for the ending of this book. It just keeps on growing the more I think about it, because how freaking ridiculous.

There were other things, too, that annoyed me. Like how Nat's family conveniently faded into the background as well as her friendships, and her ENTIRE social life. But again, that tends to happen when you make a person the center of your universe.

Emily Henry's debut novel has been embraced with warm hugs, and a great deal of five star ratings--so feel free to consider this review as an outlier--but there were just so many fails happening in The Love That Split the World that I feel completely generous handing out two stars to this novel.

[alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.5/5

TLTSTW is so deeeeeeep. do you ever read a book and feel the need to stop every once in a while to let it sink in? this was that for me. i'm in love with emily henry's writing style, as it gives me an existential crisis but is also light hearted. the writing and thought/themes executed is def my favorite part of this novel.

i don't know how to describe this plot. TLTSTW is a fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi hybrid thing that has TIME TRAVEL. i didn't know that before i began, so that's nice to know. i honestly don't know what to make of the story. i think it's more about "finding yourself" than anything else. the summary in the back really doesn't give this book justice.

i was just the slightest bit annoyed at the beginning and ending. the beginning is incredibly slow, in my opinion. i have no idea what's going on and i don't know where we're going. the ending has a lot of shock and plot twists, which is great, but feels unfinished. like, REALLY unfinished. or implied. i appreciate how we're left to imagine the end ourselves, but really? i just... UGH ONE MORE CHAPTER PLEASE.

the characters are so dynamic and i love it! so much! they're all so unique and beautifully diverse and FLAWED. it's fantastic. the friendships and family love also makes me really happy. the romance seemed just a liiiiittle insta-love-y, but i ended up loving the two of them in the end as well so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

overall, TLTSTW is a fantastic debut. it's different, a little strange, but all-in-all lovely. i especially love the writing and themes, and only wish the pacing were a bit better.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

“This is the story of the beginning of the world, and the woman who fell from the sky.”

The Plot

The Love That Split the World is, at its core, a romance. Honestly though, this book is a lot more than that and it makes it almost impossible to categorize. With contemporary, paranormal, and time travel elements, The Love That Split the World is a unique and refreshing read.

Natalie Cleary is enjoying her last summer at home before heading off to college when she starts seeing things. It leaves you wondering what is or isn’t real. Then she gets a visit from the mysterious “Grandmother”, and gets a vague message saying that she has three months to save him, but she has no idea who "him" is.

I’m tentatively rounding up to 4 stars, but the reason I can’t give it more than 3.5 stars is because of the insta-love. It was pretty intense and I can’t really ignore it.

The Characters

All of the characters were so fleshed out, dynamic, and diverse. Yay diversity! It is so rare, especially in YA. Friendship and family play a huge roll, even with the strong romance present.

Natalie, our Native American MC, is incredibly likeable. She doesn’t slut shame, there’s no girl hate with her ex’s new girlfriend, and her hopes for the future and self-discovery are extremely relatable. Her relationship with her best friend Megan is so easy and genuine, I loved it! And being adopted she often struggles with finding ways to relate to her family, especially her siblings, and I found it to be awfully realistic.

Another interesting character was Grandmother. Is she God? A figment of Natalie’s imagination? A ghost? She has been showing up in Natalie’s life for years. She always brings Natalie stories from her culture and with them life-lessons.

The Writing

The writing was gorgeous! Each word was carefully placed and overall it painted an amazingly imaginative picture. I was hooked from the first chapter. The Love That Split the World is filled with stories of Native American culture and mythology from Natalie’s background and they bring in a magical tone and quality to the story.

If you’re a fan of romances or can just tolerate the heavy romance I’d really give this a try, it really is a unique and strange story.

"Love is giving the world away, and being loved is having the whole world to give."

[Shannon (It Starts At Midnight) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
Since there really wasn't anything I didn't like (though I will say that I was iffy for the first couple chapters- so know that going in, because it gets amazing and you do not want to miss out), I am just going to tell you what I did!


The characters were amazing. They were very well fleshed out, and I loved them. Friends and family were very key, even though there's also a very ship-worthy romance. I liked that there could still be a focus on family and friends while the romance built! Plus, the characters just seemed so, so real. You could really just see why they were making certain choices, because what they were doing truly fit the personalities that had been carved out for them.
The plot is glorious! It's definitely unique, and definitely held my attention. I wasn't really sure how it would all work out, and I was really thrown by a few twists- in a very good way! I was kept guessing the whole time, and since I was so invested in the characters, the stress and emotions were high!
The feels were intense. I think that because the world building, plot, and characters were so well developed, I couldn't help but feel all the emotions during this book. There were swoons, and chuckles, and tears, and I loved it.

Bottom Line: It's glorious! I love it, and I would throw it at any and all of you so you can read it too. Oh, and it totally doesn't hurt that the cover is gorgeous too. But the insides definitely match the outsides, no question!

*Copy provided by publisher for review.

[S.M. Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d heard a lot of positive buzz about this debut and I’d been excited to read it for months. Previous reviews were spot-on in regards to the lovely language and the beautifully crafted characters whose personalities, challenges and triumphs jump off the page. Natalie Cleary is smartly funny and such an original voice in YA. I loved every bit of her, the agelessness of her. Beau is also loveable and endearing. The thing that did surprise me about THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD was the number of creation stories and Natalie’s history with adoption--and both were welcome surprises. “Grandmother” laces Natalie’s narrative with religious creation stories while Natalie literally struggles to make sense of a veil that has dropped between her reality and an alternate reality (hence, her world splitting). All the while Natalie is working through her own origins/creation to make peace with a fractured heart resulting from being adopted. Of this she thinks: “Funny thing about belonging to two worlds. Sometimes you feel like you belong in zero.” And the author allows Natalie to explore her early pre-adoption trauma by working with a research psychologist as they explore EDMR as a way to push through and past early childhood trauma. For me, the author handled this type of therapeutic approach with a smooth and graceful deftness that never felt heavy handed. I connected with so many aspects of this bold debut and it left me emotionally and intellectually satisfied. Plus, there’s football.
(I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review)

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

Not too sure if a time travel book is right for you? The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry will absolutely change your opinion on this genre! With its original plot, perfect protagonist and crisp writing, this whirlwind of a story will leave you wanting more.

The Love That Split the World has such an incredible concept! It is all about time travel. However, this book isn’t the typical time travel book where the characters travel the world and experience many different centuries. This novel focuses on one location and slowly brings in the element of time travel. This is such a refreshing way to incorporate travelling through time in a story.

Also, the main character, Natalie, in The Love That Split the World is so incredibly lovable. She is very strong and doesn’t freak out too much over the fact that her whole world is changing. Another enjoyable aspect about Natalie is the fact that she is Native American. This is a real rarity in YA and I appreciate the diverse character that Henry has created. The cultural aspects in the book are so lovely and enlightening. For instance, Natalie’s grandmother’s stories of how the world was formed are so richly and wonderfully told. This was just such an interesting and unique piece in an already incredible book.

The writing in The Love That Split the World is just so beautiful! Emily Henry describes time travel in a way that seems very logical to the reader. As Natalie begins realizing what is happening, more concepts are explained. Henry leaves no blanks and does not leave her readers questioning. It is incredible how Emily Henry is able to explain such a complicated idea so well that it makes perfect sense. This is what sets this book apart from so many others. Sometimes when reading about time travel, it is difficult to piece things together and with this book things just seem to flow.

The Love That Split the World is a unique time travel book with a diverse and very brave main character. This book is so well-written and filled with perfect explanations that help the reader understand exactly what is going on. Even those who aren’t fans of time travel will undoubtedly appreciate this book as it is so original and eloquent.

[Glire · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There's little to fear when you love. There's nothing to fear when you are loved.”

De vez en cuando, si tienes muy buena suerte —o muy mala, dependiendo como lo veas— te consigues con un libro capaz de hacerte sentir. The Love That Split the World es uno de esos libro. Creía que estaba preparada para esa multitud de emociones, pero estaba equivocada. Y lo odio por eso. Y lo amo también.

Si estuvieron leyendo mis updates probablemente se dieron cuenta que la historia me atrapó desde la primera página; Emily Henry hace magia con las palabras. Su escritura me recuerda a la de Melina Marchetta en On the Jellicoe Road, en el sentido de que es hermosa y no entiendes que sucede hasta un punto avanzado de la trama. Para algunos esto podrá resultar molesto, pero a mí me agrada ese suspenso, ese no saber completamente de que va todo y la ligera sorpresa cuando finalmente la cosas encajan.

Este es un libro que tiene muchísimo que ofrecer al genero YA, se aleja de las superficialidades y lo redime. Así que ahora voy a hacer algo que nunca antes había hecho en una reseña: tratar de convencerlos a TODOS para que lo lean.



- Para los amantes del misterio:

“You have only three months.”
“What are you talking about—”
“Three months to save him, Natalie.”
“Save? Save who?”

Her eyes, immense and milky all of a sudden, dart over my shoulder, and her mouth drops open. “You,” she breathes. “Already—you’re already here.”

I look over my shoulder, neck alive with tingles, but no one’s there.

“Don’t be afraid, Natalie. Alice will help you,” Grandmother says. “Find Alice Chan.”

Así comienza esta historia. Una extraña entidad a quien Natalie llama Grandmother (¿es Dios, un fantasma, un alien?) aparece en el medio de la noche para dejarle una misión: encontrar a Alice Chan y salvar a alguien que esta a punto de morir.

Si he de ser sincera la identidad de Grandmother me pareció bastante obvia desde el comienzo y Alice Chan aparece bastante pronto. Pero a quién debe salvar Natalie es una incógnita que se mantiene hasta el final, con pistas que te hacen dudar una y otra vez a lo largo del libro.

- Para los que están cansados de los padres ausentes:

“You're becoming an adult. You’re going to make your own decisions, and I know you’re a smart girl, but everyone makes some mistakes. I want you to know you’ve got me, no matter what. You can always count on your dad and me.”

Estos tienen que ser los padres mas compresivos y amorosos que he leído en mi vida. ¿Que Atticus Finch es el mejor padre de la literatura? You know nothing.

- Para los feministas:

“I don’t care how much sex your sister is or isn’t having. That’s kind of the deal with the whole "uptight feminazi" thing—we don’t care when other women want to wear stupid orange Soffe shorts with white tennis shoes and have a lot of sex, or when they want to wear habits and live in a convent, or if they want to walk around in pasties and never French kiss, so long as they’re allowed to do what they want.”

Do I need to say more?

- Para los nerds:
Hay conversaciones de la bomba atómica, agujeros negros, alteraciones del sueño y teorías de viajes en el tiempo. Tal vez no son las más profundas ni explicativas, pero Emily Henry investigó y se nota.

- Para los quieren leer una amistad verdadera:

“I like to think of myself as somewhat of an expert on my best friend, but the truth is I have no idea how to help with all of this. So tell me, okay? Tell me what you need, and tell me every single time you need it, and I’ll be there.”

Megan y Natalie son el epítome de lo que una amistad debería ser: comprensión, respeto, amor. Y no solo ellas, también está la amistad entre Beau y Matt, Jack y Coco, Natalie y Rachel. Too much love.

- Para los románticos:

“If I only get to build one porch in my life, I’d like it to be yours, and if there’s one person I never have to hurt or disappoint, I’d want that to be you too.”
I fold over him to whisper, “I would still want you here too. In every version of the world, I would.”

¿Crees que la historia de amor de Jack y Rose es épica? No has leído esto. Me hizo sonreír, llorar y suspirar (mi reputación de Lady Stoneheart se ha visto arruinada para siempre). Es hermosa, es perfecta, es inolvidable. Y sí, estoy segura que es más épica que El Titanic.

Ahora el momento incomodo, el detalle por el cual solo le doy cuatro estrellas: la falta de explicación racional del porqué de los viajes en el tiempo. La explicación final se basa poco en la ciencia y mucho en la fe... y soy una persona de poca fe, así que no funcionó para mi. Hubiese preferido algo más tipo The Time Traveler's Wife, alteración genética o algo por el estilo.

Aún así, debo admitir que me encantó. No he podido parar de pensar en todo desde que terminé de leerlo (a las 3 de la madrugada, porque es así de adictivo). Y no me veo olvidando esta historia en un futuro cercano.

“I missed you.”
“Every day,” he answered softly. “All the time.”

[Brittany Cavallaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I've been meaning to write a full review of this book now for several months, but it's been so hard because I have so much to say.

Emily Henry is more or less a master of lyrical suspense that comes wrapped up in a YA contemporary package. The twin driving engines of this book are love and dread, those same feelings that you have the summer before high school when you can't wait to leave, but you don't want to leave, when you start seeing your town and your friends differently as you're coming up hard on your future. And Henry, pulling my favorite trick from the Joss Whedon playbook, takes those very real teenage feelings and gives them a face and a situation.

Natalie is seeing things that aren't there. Other versions of her town, other versions of her friends, and a boy who doesn't have another version, who she falls in love with in the margins between. All the while, she's dealing with a maybe-hallucination named Grandmother who comes to her at night and tells her creation stories that are supposed to arm her for...something. There's a ticking clock -- something bad is going to happen to someone she loves. There's a good guy ex-boyfriend who might not be so good (or so ex), and there are the smart, complicated, compelling relationships Natalie has with her female friends and with her family.

There's love and the countryside and house parties and a lot of becoming who you are and who you didn't think you could be. And I want to say a lot more but I want you to have your hearts broken and put back together without my spoiling it for you.

Get some tissues and pick up this book when it comes out. THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD totally, absolutely lives up to its hype.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

8,000 stars. Is that an option? It should be because that's how many I would like to give this book.

I was given the opportunity to read an ARC of this book, and I am so so glad because I completely fell in love with it. Billed as a cross between Friday Night Lights and The Time Traveler's Wife, it's a lot to live up to. But it does. It 100 percent does.

This story is epic and stunning. It's the story of a girl named Natalie and a boy named Beau. It's a story about paths not taken and about tough choices. It's a story about high school. It feels so wonderfully high school - football games and best friends and the lives you build together and the way the world seems so big, ready for the taking.

Above all this is a love story. One that made me laugh and cheer and cry. (I sobbed at the end)

The writing is gorgeous. The story sticks with you long after you turn the last page. I can't wait for other readers to discover this magical book.

[Vilma · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s all in the stories. Everything. The truth. The whole world, Natalie. That girl jumped through the hole, not knowing what would happen, and the whole world got born.”

Emily Henry stuns with her spellbinding debut novel, The Love That Split The World—a time-bending suspense which was contemplative and fresh, evocative and gripping. I loved Henry’s lyrical writing, which brought to life a world both visceral and vivid, with a narrative that centered on love, sacrifice, forgiveness and conviction.

“It’s hard to feel like you belong when you don’t know who you are, and it’s hard to know who you are when you don’t know where you come from.”

Weaving together threads of the past, present and future with accounts that were both foretelling and mythical, the story had a level of depth and complexity that drew you in.

We meet Natalie, whose last summer in small-town Kentucky proves to be magical and mysterious. Her surroundings begin to blink in and out of existence, her world fading in seconds. Things don’t look the way they should and she can’t seem to understand what’s happening. Natalie has always felt as if she didn’t fit in, as if she didn’t belong, and each time her world dims, she’s more positive something is wrong with her.

One night, a woman she calls Grandmother appears. Grandmother has been telling Natalie stories since she was a child—oracular stories inspired by Native American myths. But it’s been years since she’s seen Grandmother, and now she’s back with prophetic words that would change everything.

“Three months to save him, Natalie.”

But save whom? How?

Soon after, Natalie meets a boy, Beau, who is there when time stands still, who is as mysterious as the unexplained things that are happening to her. A connection sparks to life, evoking feelings which quickly—and surprisingly—burrow deep into her soul.

“Seasons stretch into years stretch into decades stretch into centuries, all in moments, while I can hear Beau’s breath, make out his edges through the millisecond of dark before another morning comes.”

As Beau and Natalie’s lives entwine in ways unforeseen, her current life is thrust into chaos as time counts down the three months to save him. Beau and Natalie must find the hidden truths in Grandmother’s stories if they are to change the outcome of their fates, avoid the death of a loved one, and somehow, hold on to each other in a world not meant for them.

“I grab the sides of his face and kiss him again, slowly, deeply, his hands coming around me and lifting me over and on top of him. I fold over him to whisper, “I would still want you here too. In every version of the world, I would.”

The plot takes some time to set up, but if you love beautifully written stories imbued with mystery and romance, you’ll love this book which very much felt fresh and different than what’s out there.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Read my interview with Emily here

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