Review: The Love That Split the World - Emily Henry

Synopsis

"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."  (Goodreads)

That Cover, Though

So, let's all be honest: This cover is ridiculously, insanely, beautifully, wonderfully gorgeous. I swear that not even pictures do it justice. The dust jacket is glossy and if you're not in awe of the gorgeous sunset shades making up the middle, then you're probably getting lost in the gorgeous galaxy that surrounds it. And the silhouette of the girl falling? UM HELLO. It. Is. Freaking. Beautiful. 

Now that that's out of the way, this wasn't a cover buy. This was a hype buy. Everyone on Bookstagram was sharing photos of their (gorgeous, did I mention gorgeous?) copies. This is Emily Henry's debut novel. The reviews are rather mixed, mostly on the average side, and that intrigued me even more. What's the deal with this book?

Dog-Earred and Highlighted

Emily Henry is a wonderful writer. Beautifully descriptive, emotional, and witty. I tabbed and creased and highlighted so many pages and passages because there were so many wonderful observations about love, friendship, fear, life, and death. Even her acknowledgements were gorgeous. A particular line from the acknowledgements that stood out to me:

"Everyone who picks up, reads, borrows, buys, or lends this book: if you love this, I hope you know it is yours. If you don't, I hope you find $20 in your dirty laundry to
make up for it." 

There is no denying that Henry has a way with words, and I'm curious about what she will come up with next.

My Weakness

I didn't know a lot about this book going in and I think that's always a smart thing to do (stick with the brief descriptions on the covers and give them a whirl). That being said, the description implies that there's a time travel aspect to this book and, duh, there is. I. Don't. Understand. Time. Travel. Sometimes I can do the suspension of disbelief thang and roll with the punches (like Landline, which never got too complicated). Other times, there are complex explanations (or, in this case, info dumps that come SO LATE in the story...like, almost too late) that take multiple re-reads to understand and even then I still don't get it. Unfortunately, that was the case with this book. I am still confused. How does one rate a book when they really feel like they don't get it? 

Her Weakness

Though Henry writes beautifully, I really feel that she could've provided better explanations while still keeping some ambiguity to the story. Other reviews on Goodreads shed light on various other things that bothered readers. Still, remembering that this is her debut, it's a pretty strong book for a first go!

Overall

I hope Emily Henry gets to publish some more books because there is plenty of potential here. That being said, I'm going with 3/5 stars. It's so good to have different kinds of storytelling in YA, but I also feel that it fell a little short. It's definitely one of those books people will either love or hate. I'm so curious to see what others think!