Book Review | The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split the World

By: Emily Henry (@EmilyHenryWrite)

Published By: Razorbill on January 26, 2016

Genre: Sci-Fi

Pages: 396

Goodreads // Book Depository

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.

“Love is giving the world away, and being loved is having the whole world to give.”

The Love That Split the World is a beautifully written sci-fi contemporary fantasy romance hybrid. I absolutely adore hybrid stories, I just think they're so unique and amazing. (but also sort of a pain to shelf on goodreads but that's beside the point). TLTSTW was unique and incredibly thought-provoking.

The narrator of the story, Natalie, is Native American, which already has me nodding, as DIVERSITY!!! She's just a typical girl, which makes me so happy because realistic stuff! She's a feminist, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. Unfortunately, the romance is just...ugh. It's an instalove, and you can pretty much tell who it is just based on the blurb. One of my favorite things in this novel is the Native American stories. Native Americans are one race that are pretty rare in YA, so reading their mythology and stories interesting.  

Problems? Typically, I love flowery writing, but Henry's writing just felt over the top. The pacing also caught me at times, the beginning being extremely slow, and dragging on. I nearly wanted to stop, but the ending (which I still have an iffy feeling about). The ENDING.

Overall, TLTSTW was a cool hybrid story involving time travel, and great adventures! If you love a good romance, character diversity, and feminism, pick up this novel!

Let's discuss! What did you think about The Love That Split the World?

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄

Book Review | Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Number: 392

Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: January 28, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do—and they are just as determined to stay together.

Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival--he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

My Review:
An excellent conclusion to an excellent trilogy. Bloody flawless. Perfection.
This book was an excellent conclusion to a marvelous trilogy. Everything turned out well in the end. By the end of this trilogy, the world was well developed, as were the characters, plot, and everything else. 
I really felt like Perry and Aria and Roar grew up throughout this trilogy, piece by piece. Aria grew from this weirdo to this amazing badass character. She's awesome. Or, as my friend says, "SO FAB." We really got to see how much Roar loved Liv, and more of Perry's personality as well.
The ending was marvelous.
I CAN'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR THE THIRD BOOK SO THIS IS GOING TO BE SO SHORT. :( But I can tell you it was GLORIOUS.
I would highly recommend this book to scifi or dystopian lovers. This is taking dystopian and scifi to another level. Loved this trilogy.

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice

Book Review | Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)

Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Number: 341

Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction
Publication Date: January 8, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, can their love survive through the ever night?

My Review:
I still don't knowif this trilogy is sci-fi or dystopian. WHY? TELL ME NOW.
OMFG. Whoa.

If I thought the first book was good, this was EXCEPTIONAL. Usually, sequels are like, badish. Well, minus Prodigy and Never Fade.
We got to see an insight of Liv, and her relationship with Roar. *FEELS* asdjfkl;adfjkl;asdfjkl; 
Aria and Perry, or course, had their own cutey moments. Everything was well developed; you could see how Aria got to a more strong and independent character. 
The writing, of course, was beautiful as always. 
In this book, you got to see more of the minorish characters, like Reef and Roar, develop their backstories a bit more, and even more for the major characters, like Aria and Perry, who are on my OTP list now. Quite high, in fact. I connected with the characters a whole lot more, too. 
Action...gods...there was SO much action in this, not much like the more romancey first book. I was hopping on my seat the whole time. Like I always do when there's a good action packed book.
Liv...*SOBS*

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice

Book Review | Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1)

Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Number: 374

Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads:  
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. 
This was worse. 
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland--known as The Death Shop--are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild--a savage--and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile--everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

My Review:
This was not what I was expecting. At all.

I needed more science fiction, so I picked up this book, hoping it would be good.

It was good.

It just wasn't what I'd expected then. I don't even know what I was expecting. This book was on my TBR pile for a LONG time. No, not really.

This book certainly had a plot twist that caught me off guard.

And it was really better than I thought it'd be.

The writing was something I missed, something I hadn't seen in a pretty long time, done well.

The two main characters, Lilac. No. Great. No I'm thinking about These Broken Stars and breaking down. Aria and Perry had alternating POVs, which I hadn't seen done well since the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu.

I really liked that instead of love at first sight, like some authors do, Aria and Perry just form a formal, friendly relationship, that wasn't too deep. Of course, I knew they were going to get together, but I liked how Rossi slowly developed that relationship. 

And of course, there's Talon. He reminds me a bit of Zu from The Darkest Minds and James from Shatter Me. These people all have on thing in common - they're young, but they're awesome.

How could I forget Roar? Roar is really kick butt. I really enjoyed his character, he's probably my favorite character. I also really wanted to see him with Liv, Perry's sister...but that's for another time...right??? *hopeful looks*

Aria was a dry character in the beginning, but she really did develop. I started to find her less annoying as time went on. 

Perry was meh for me. He's the typical hero in a story. I didn't hate him, but I didn't like him that much either.

The world building was also kind of meh for me. Sometimes, I got confused on where and what was going on, which happens a lot in science fiction.

However, overall, I liked this book a lot. Definitely checking out the second book. 

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice