TOP TEN TUESDAY
HOSTED by The Broke and the Bookish
This week’s topic is…
Ten Books On My Spring TBR
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Book Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
Title: The Love That Split the World
By: Emily Henry
Release Date: January 26, 2016
Pages: 390 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased a signed copy at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati
GOODREADS’S SUMMARY
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.
MY REVIEW
The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry is a web of intrigue, love, and sacrifice. The novel is beautifully written, and the Native American re-tellings and creation stories scattered throughout the chapters add a touch of preternaturalism, diversity, and nostalgia. Henry has created an intricate novel by intertwining folklore, time travel, contemporary elements, and psychological spiritualism. When all of these elements are molded together, Henry’s characters come to life on the page and the plot fantastically transforms into a meshing of fantasy and reality.
Natalie and Beau, the major characters, both deal with high school problems: competitive grades, getting into college, participating in sports/school functions, breakups, and self-discovery and self-identity. Their love is never forced, and overall it’s purely spellbinding and heart-pounding. They both hold secrets, and luckily they are able to share a common secret involving their hometown of Union, Kentucky.
The whole book made me feel like I was cocooned in a glow of magic with intense, on-the-edge feelings. The Love That Split the World wraps you in a world of two extraordinary characters that have the ability to flip the world upside down and make the impossible work. When you go to read this book, prepare yourself for comforting stories told by a character named Grandmother and plot twists that will make your head spin (in a good way).
This is a story that will definitely make a reader contemplate identity. More importantly, it makes you think about your own life choices and what paths those choices can lead to.
RANTS: I hate this unsettling feeling, but my mind is still reeling and contemplating that ending. Who needs more Beau? I DO, I DO!
RAVES: The Love That Split the World is so well-paced and every plot twist is articulated so well that by the end of the novel, I felt like I was jerked awake from an obscure fairy tale dream. I still can’t shake this dazed, but poignant feeling that the book left me in. Also, I loved that the book took place in the Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati tri-state area; it was fun to read a book based in my home state/area.
NOTE: All statements and opinions are mine.
4 out of 5 stars
Definitely get you hands on this book from your local retailer, AMAZON, or BARNES AND NOBLE
Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Everyone Loves but I Just Don’t Get
TOP TEN TUESDAY
HOSTED by The Broke and the Bookish
This week’s topic is…
Ten Characters Everyone Loves But I Just Don’t Get
Gale from The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Warner from Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
Darkling from The Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo
Four from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth
Bill from the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
Audrey from Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Captain Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer
Clare from Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
ALL the characters in We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
What characters have you noticed that everyone loves but you just don’t get?
TOP TEN TUESDAY: If you are in the mood for…
TOP TEN TUESDAY
HOSTED by The Broke and the Bookish
This week’s topic is…
Top Ten Books If You Are In The Mood For Something with Magic Realism
Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block
The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn
Magic Realism or magical realism is one of my most favorite genres to read. They’re mysterious, enchanting, and overall, plain magical. Definitely give these above books a read if you are ever in the mood to read magic realism.
What magic realism books have you read and would definitely recommend?
My 25 Bookish Habits
25 BOOKISH HABITS
Last week I posted a blog that listed 25 Facts about myself. Well today, I decided to give you all the inside scoop on 25 of my bookish habits. HERE WE GO!
- Once I start reading, I’m in a zone and nothing distracts me. I can read in the car. I can read with the TV on. I can read with the radio on. I can read while conversations are going on all around me. I can read anywhere!
- I am hardcore TEAM HARDCOVER. I honestly want nothing but hardcover books taking up room on my bookshelves.
- I’m not a big fan of owning paperbacks, especially mass market paperbacks.
- However, I do prefer reading paperbacks, because they are lightweight and easy to handle. I know, I’m a weirdo!
- If I read a hardback novel, I have to take the dust jacket off first. I have lost many dust jackets due to this habit.
- I like to read New Adult and Paranormal Romance books on my Kindle app versus reading a physical copy.
- I have a slight addiction to owning German editions of my favorite books.
- Over 50% of the books I own are signed.
- 99.9% of the time I have a book in my possession.
- I use a book tote bag as a purse. So not only do I have my essentials, like wallet, lipbalm, etc., in my purse/tote bag, but I also carry along at least one book (sometimes two).
- I keep a copy of The Catcher in the Rye in my glove compartment of my car.
- I organize my books alphabetically by the author’s last name.
- The only exception to my alphabetical organization is that I have whole shelves dedicated to my Jane Eyre collection, Harry Potter collection, A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) collection, Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s series, and my Leigh Bardugo collection.
- Last year I started a To-Be-Read shelf on one of my bookcases, but it turned into a TBR bookcase.
- I’m an interactive reader. I write and highlight in my books, and I even add post-its/stickynotes to flag important passages.
- I don’t mind reading secondhand books that are marked up or highlighted.
- If I am unable to highlight, mark, or flag my favorite passages, I will dog-ear the pages. I DON’T CARE IF IT BENDS THE PAGE!
- I don’t have a specific place where I like to read.
- I read every day, but I do a majority of my reading (90% of the time) on weekends.
- If I’m not going through a reading slump, I can read 2 to 4 books a weekend.
- I have to read chapter by chapter. I cannot bookmark at some random page to save my spot.
- I’m not a big fan of audio books. I feel like audio books take away from my interactive reading skills; how the hell do people highlight or note their favorite quotes/passages with audio books?
- I am a mood reader, and I often go on genre binges.
- I don’t really have a snack or drink preference when I read.
- Sometimes I will go to the last chapter and see how the book ends while I’m in the middle of the book. I usually do this with books I’m thinking about not finishing. The process of reading the last chapter, determines if the book is a DNF for me. I really hate not finishing books, though.
What are some of your own bookish habits? Have you ever observed odd bookish habits from your fellow book friends? If so, what were they?
Top Ten Tuesday: 02/23/2016
TOP TEN TUESDAY
HOSTED by The Broke and the Bookish
This week’s topic is…Top Ten Books We Enjoyed Recently that Weren’t Our Typical Genre or that Were Out of Our Comfort Zone:
I’ve stated many times in the past that my go-to genres are fantasy, magical realism, and science fiction. I usually have a hard time getting into contemporary books, but 2015 will forever be known as the year of breaking out of my typical genres and reading all the Contemporary books I could get my hands on!
- My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
- Mosquitoland by David Arnold
- The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
- Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
- The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
- Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
- I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
- The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi
- Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs
- Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry
A lot of these books listed above will definitely be “feel-good” rereads for me in the future.
Have you ever got caught up in a genre and couldn’t stop reading it? What books have you read that took you out of your comfort zone/typical genre?
Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Day 3 #BBAW
Book Blogger Appreciation Week (#BBAW) is hosted by Estella Society.
Day 3’s Prompt:
Have you ever read a book because of a book blogger? Be it a good book or bad, bloggers recommend books every day of the year. Sometimes we take their advice and it’s great! Hello every graphic novel I’ve ever read! Sometimes, it’s not so great. Damn you Like Water for Chocolate (ducks). Today, tell us all about the book or books you’ve read because of a book blogger and be sure to sure to spread the blame around.~Estella Society
I’m not a huge young adult contemporary reader. However, every now and then I get on a contemporary kick, (side note: I blame the romantic kissage), and I read like ten contemporary or New Adult books in a row. As a hardcore fantasy and sci-fi book lover with this odd obsession with contemporary novels, I usually turn to my friends and fellow book bloggers for their recommendations. Now it’s time for the blame game…
I BLAME KAYLA
As I admitted before, contemporary is a hard genre for me to enjoy, but once I get started, I can’t stop reading them. A few years back, my friend Kayla, my brother Johnny, and I went to Decatur, Georgia for their annual book festival. One of the guest authors attending the festival was Stephanie Perkins. So of course based on Kayla’s recommendation and her being the book pusher that she is, I bought all of Stephanie’s books. After meeting Stephanie and acknowledging how sweet and adorable she is, I read Anna and the French Kiss. Then I fell into the Anna and the French Kiss series’ rabbit hole.
Before reading the series, I specifically remember Kayla stating (I’m paraphrasing here), “In Lola and the Boy Next Door, Cricket is sweet and adorable, but Lola is a spoiled brat and does not deserve him.” So obviously, I am going to blame Kayla for my must-read-marathon obsession I had with Stephanie Perkins’s books, but also, as I was reading Lola’s story, I kept thinking, “nope, nope, nope…Cricket you deserve so much better than Lola.” I also did not read Lola’s story until last, because I was so afraid I was going to despise her. HAHAHA!!! Thanks for putting that disapproval towards Lola in my head, Kayla.
rants and raves of a bibliophile 