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The Love That Split the World

Emily Henry

Start date: March 1, 2016

Finish date: March 31, 2016

Discussion: The Library (BoTM Discussions)

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'The Love That Split The World' Discussion
By Emmanuel · 18 posts · 35 views

last updated Apr 01, 2016 05:49AM

What Members Thought

Mar 16, 2016 Emmanuel rated it it was ok

*2.5 stars

'The Love That Split The World' by Emily Henry is an adventure through time, and space. It's an adventure in young love, and hope, and sacrifice. Just as Natalie prepares to leave hometown Kentucky by Summer's end, the strangest things start to happen, and suddenly to leave is no longer to escape.

I'm just gonna be straight and say that this is far from a perfect book; there were aspects I liked, and aspects I really didn't like. But I'll start with the plot and the premise, because tha *2.5 stars

'The Love That Split The World' by Emily Henry is an adventure through time, and space. It's an adventure in young love, and hope, and sacrifice. Just as Natalie prepares to leave hometown Kentucky by Summer's end, the strangest things start to happen, and suddenly to leave is no longer to escape.

I'm just gonna be straight and say that this is far from a perfect book; there were aspects I liked, and aspects I really didn't like. But I'll start with the plot and the premise, because that's what initially drew me in.

The storyline, at surface-level was great! It was such an interesting, compelling combination of realism and surrealism. The problems, however, start to arise when you look beneath it's surface. It just wasn't sufficiently developed to properly discuss the topics it attempts to discuss. The time-travel, alternate timeline aspect was handled so loosely, that even having finished the book, I'm still unsure of what actually happened. It was either long stretches of no explanation or development, or too much all at once, a lot of which was contradictory and didn't make much sense.

The writing was also a double-edged sword. A lot of it felt like your stereotypical YA writing, example being certain character descriptions, but there were also memorable parts of the prose too. The little short-stories interwoven with the main narrative were very interesting and captivating, despite not having a clear connection to the story.

As aforementioned, the development seemed very 'all-or-nothing' in nature. As a result, the exposition felt far too heavy-handed. Meetings with Natalie's therapist/councillor felt more like info-dumps than actual parts of the story. It made it all too easy to check out for pages at a time, which further confuses the reader when it comes time to recall this information.

The last of my problems with the book, was the inclusion of themes like faith and religion and the question of whether there is a God or not. They were presented with such little subtlety, that it painted the ending in an almost negative light for me. It just felt too overbearing for such a sensitive topic, particularly at the end.

So all in all this is a book, brave enough to tackle various significant topics, but one that doesn't quite hit it's mark. I'd recommend to younger readers intrigued by romantic Science fiction, because despite the many problems I had, the majority of this book was quite enjoyable, with valuable advice and lessons for young people. ...more

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Mar 11, 2016 mia rated it really liked it

***4.5 ✨***

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Mar 23, 2016 Heike rated it it was amazing

LOVED this book! The characters and all their wit and humor, the friendships, the romance(always the romance), the little stories in between that make the big story and the always there feeling of "what could this really be" that makes any story that much better... Thanks to The Readers Guild bookclub for suggesting it! ...more

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Aug 31, 2015 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own

This book has left me in one of those trances where when you close the book you can't seem to stop thinking. Emily Henry touches on SO many of life's lessons in just a short 396 pages.
By using Native American influences stories, she is able to recreate a surreal story that has readers impossible to turn away.

Let me just admit in the very beginning of the novel I was quite confused. (PS: this is NOT a good book for people easily offended by different religious views... good thing I'm not one of This book has left me in one of those trances where when you close the book you can't seem to stop thinking. Emily Henry touches on SO many of life's lessons in just a short 396 pages.
By using Native American influences stories, she is able to recreate a surreal story that has readers impossible to turn away.

Let me just admit in the very beginning of the novel I was quite confused. (PS: this is NOT a good book for people easily offended by different religious views... good thing I'm not one of those people because I liked this book!) For me, this book didn't completely capture my attention until about 100 pages in, BUT once I was in, I was IN. The world Emily creates is gorgeous and although obviously is fiction is surprisingly good at mirroring our world.

My favorite part of this had to be the Native American stories. Some just had the purpose to connect with the plot, but many really had me thinking about life. Each and every story drew me in and left me feeling sad, happy, confused, and about every other emotion possible.

The fantasy aspect of this novel was very fitting with what seems to be very popular in 2016: Time Travel. Yes time travel is a very large part of this novel as well as traveling through dimensions. This was another aspect of the novel I really enjoyed. Emily Henry really knows how to describe the smallest details and makes it feel like all of us are right in the scene with Natalie and Beau!

Talking about Natalie and Beau, this is how the young adult aspect kicks in. Their love is just the typical YA love, but just as cute all the others. It starts quick and feels slow until they hit a problem that threatens their relationship. The novel infers their love is true, yet at the same time I felt a bit skeptical even with their obvious connection with their abilities, it felt too quick of a romance for me.

Overall the novel was an incredible read, but my one complaint would have to be the ending. I was SO CONFUSED. I still am... I understood some parts and others I really have no idea. I may just have to read that again. (Though I don't think I'm the only one who thinks this because I asked a friend in hope for some answers, but she was confused as well.) Oh well.. maybe we just weren't deep enough to understand the philosophy and analogies?

I would really recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance + life lessons sort of book, someone who really wants to think about life, or even people who are solely interested in only the Native American stories (because those were quite amazing!).

see more at: ...more

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Mar 24, 2016 D Roberts rated it liked it

Shelves: own

Intriguing main character and storyline, romance portion was predictable. The paranormal aspects make my rating lean higher than three, a solid three and a half for originality.

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