Standalone Sunday: The Love That Split the World

Standalone Sunday is a weekly feature created by Megan at Bookslayer Reads which aims to showcase standalone books which you loved or would recommend.

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The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” At first, they’re just momentary glimpses—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.

I recently featured Emily Henry’s next book as my Waiting on Wednesday pick because I loved her writing and loved her first book so much. The Love That Split the World is one of the best YA books I’ve read this year so far, a mixture of contemporary and magical realism, and it’s had some tough competition. As I was reading I fell in love with Natalie and Beau’s story and their relationship, it was beautiful and moving but so heartbreaking at the same time. The writing was just wonderful and the whole story completely unforgettable. Even now months after I first picked it up I can’t wait to go back and re-read it soon.

“Grandmother taught me that eventually – whether with a thousand tiny fissures or one swift split – love will break your heart. My heart is breaking.”

You can check out my review for The Love That Split the World here.

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What did you think of The Love That Split the World? Have you read it yet or is it still on your to-read list? Let me know in the comments and let me know if you took part in this week’s Standalone Sunday as well.