The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split The World

by Emily Henry

Emily Henry's stunning debut novel 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. 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.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

5 of 5 stars

Share
I am going to struggle with this review, because if I tell you one of the major things I LOVED about this book, I would reveal a major plot point. I will tell you that this is a book about love - familial and romantic. It's about change. It's about choices. It's about identity. It's about love, and this love that split the world.

This is the summer before Natalie leaves Union to pursue her degree at Brown. She should be elated and excited, but she isn't. She has been dealing with a great deal of inner turmoil, and had previously made big changes in her life. While she is trying to deal with the fall out -- the loss of things she loved to do, the loss of close and dear friendships, she is also dealing with nightmares, which she has been unable to get to the bottom of for many years. And then she meets him - Beau. He is a broken boy, as she is a broken girl, but for some reason, he makes her feel safe and understood.

I loved the web that Emily Henry spun for us and the way she challenged me to try and figure out all the connections. I loved the way Henry wove in Native American tales and Biblical stories. I fell in love with Beau and Natalie, and was so vested in their relationship. This story is a journey, and it has many ups and downs. My emotions went up and down with the events in the story and culminated in chapter 31!!!! Chapter 31 was so painfully beautiful. I cried. I shed actual tears and did that sobbing, hiccuping thing too.

The ending was so beautiful, I am starting to cry just thinking about it. But, I shed tears with a little smile, because it was so gorgeous, and perfect.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 November, 2015: Finished reading
  • 29 November, 2015: Reviewed