Review: The Love That Split the World
9:50:00 PM
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Stars
Published: Jan. 26, 2016 by Razorbill
Imagine the most beautiful,
heart-wrenching, eloquent piece of writing you have ever read. Or the most
magnificent painting or art installation you’ve seen, or maybe a cinematically
grand film or moving play. Now apply that same emotional stirring you get in
your gut when you feel art on that level, and apply it to this book. Yeah, it’s
just that good. From the moment I
began reading I was hooked. Emily Henry crafts a world so delicate and tangible
that you feel as though you can visualize every detail and clearly picture
yourself experiencing the story alongside the characters. But overall what I
was consistently in awe of was the caliber of writing that this book held. The
way in which Emily crafts her story so intricately around tales passed down
through generations of Native American tribes across the country and weaves
their threads into the plot and the characters is a rare talent – especially for
a debut, no less.
I don’t know where to begin this
review, I’m just overflowing with good things to say about this book. I’ll try
not to divulge too much info because the story is a tad hard to explain without
giving too much away, but I honestly can’t stop saying good things about it. The
world-building is as good a foundation as any to begin with, especially because
it sets the stage for the entire story. Emily immediately establishes the small
town of Union, Kentucky in a way any reader could liken to their local small
town, as it incurs the same sense of nostalgia you get when yearning for a
place you seldom visit or may have never been before. Because of this, I could
so clearly visualize everything laid before me without Henry needing to go into
explicit detail about setting. Every ounce of what makes this book so
incredible is how well-crafted it is. Like I’ve said before, because I’ve been
a creative writing student for the last four years I often read with a critic’s
eye and look for the mechanical side to good writing. Emily certainly did not
fail to deliver, because I can only hope to one day be this good. If this is
just her first novel, what’s to come is sure to be spectacular.
The plot was so massive and
all-encompassing that you can’t help but get lost for hours when reading. You
slip in and drift among the pages so easily, just as Natalie and Beau do
between one another’s worlds. Fans of Donnie Darko will certainly attest to the
parallel universe theory and butterfly effect theory coming into play, but not
in a way that makes you skeptical or would make your brain hurt. This was
logical and felt possible. And as little breadcrumbs are left throughout the
story as to what is to come, a delicate and fragile timeline begins to work its
way into the forefront of the story and completely and totally make sense while
doing so. Beau and Natalie’s love made my heart soar and sing and break and
laugh and cry, rinse and repeat. You never get bored with this story, you never
feel as though it’s a romance novel, you never feel as though their issues are
trivial. It’s all laid out in such a perfectly logical yet somewhat surreal way
that you can’t help but see the story for so much more than a love story.
The characters in this book all
felt so real, as if you had met them once before in your life. Matt, Megan,
Beau, Natalie, Grandmother, Alice, Jack, Coco, and Natalie’s parents were all
so individual and unique that they no longer felt like characters but human
beings. Sometimes while reading, characters will ghost in and out of your
periphery if you don’t grow attached or if they aren’t formed to the point they
feel human; this certainly was the opposite of the characterization in this
novel. Even when the worlds split and came together again, universe parallels
and worm holes galore, the parallel versions of each character felt so natural
and likely to exist in each world.
I sing so many praises of this book
because if you ever read it, you’ll know what it is to feel loved, to feel in
love, to miss a family member, to question your self-identity, and most of all
what it is to grow up. Because my life at this time so similarly parallels Natalie’s
in that I am nearing my final days of high school in my hometown I’ve grown up
in, the story just resonated that much more with me. I liken my Mamaw to the
character Grandmother because when I was younger it was always my Mamaw who
would recite to me stories in the dim of night; stories that demanded to be
felt, rather than simply heard like those in this book. I think it’s because of
this that I liken Grandmother to being my favorite character, but Alice was a
close second because she made me think of Christina Yang from one of my
favorite TV shows, Grey’s Anatomy. I
feel like I see a little piece of myself in each character, but Natalie most of
all (especially because of her love for Stevie Nicks). We’ve all come to a point
while growing up where the ultimate question of “who am I really?” hangs over
our heads, and to see Natalie undertake her journey of self-discovery,
forgiveness, and deep head-over-heels love was so reassuring.
I believe there is a little bit of
something for everybody in this book, because it truly cannot fit into any one
mold or category. It’s got romance, it’s got action, it has the coming-of-age
feeling of growth and nostalgia, and most of all it just feels so real I miss
the characters already as though we were fast friends who spent the past week
with one another.
If you only read one book in the
next few months, it had better be this one.
4 comments
I'm sooo glad you loved this book, it's pretty high on my tbr and I can't wait to get my copy!! Loved your review!
ReplyDelete-Poulami @ Daydreaming Books
Thank you, I am so happy you enjoyed! I hope you love the book even more (:
DeleteCan I just say, I really like how you rate books with coffee instead of stars. It's pretty darn cute. Oh and I also like the neat little summary of your opinion before the actual review.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. I've been wanting to read this for quite some time now. It's received so much positive feedback already, even though relatively, it has only been recently published. I can see that you enjoyed the book as well. Fantastic review!
#Commenting365
Shealea @ That Bookshelf Bitch
AHHH thank you so much!!! Hehe I just recently started making my review overviews, I'm so glad to hear someone say they enjoy them!! I hope enjoy this book as much as I did when you read it (:
Delete