ARC Review: The Love That Split the World

Title: The Love That Split the World
Author: Emily Henry
Publisher: Razorbill / Penguin
Publication Date: January 26, 2016
Format: eARC

“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.”

~


Where to even begin with this review? I’m not sure that I have the words for this book. I had no idea what I was getting into with The Love That Split the World, because this story absolutely blew me away. A book marketed as Friday Night Lights meets anything is likely not something I’d pick up – I just don’t enjoy those types of contemporary stories. And yet, The Love That Split the World is that and so, so much more. This is a coming of age story, a love story, a finding yourself story, a creation story. This is a story that brought me to tears by beautifully written it was.

Our protagonist Natalie has been visited by this “spirit” she calls Grandmother for years, but the summer before she moves to college, Grandmother warns Natalie that she must save “him.” Natalie has no idea who this mystery boy is or how she’s supposed to save him, but soon she finds herself switching over into an alternate version of her town, where everything and everyone is different. The only other person who can switch between towns is Beau. Natalie and Beau have to figure out what’s going on as the switches occur increasingly faster and with no warning, with Grandmother’s warning looming over Natalie.

The very beginning of this book confused me, because I thought this was being set up as a ghost story. I was, thankfully, wrong. The Love That Split the World is nearly indescribable, as is evident by my not-so-eloquent waxing over this story. There is just so much depth to this book, from the stories Grandmother tells Natalie to the possibilities of alternate dimensions, to the difficulties an adopted child faces in forming their self-identity. See what I meant about the lack of eloquence? Probably because my words seem so dull in comparison to this book. Emily Henry’s writing is so lovely that it actually made my heart ache at times.

I know, I’m describing this book to you and you’re probably thinking there’s no way it all works. But IT DOES, DEAR READER, IT DOES. This review doesn’t do the book justice, but trust me when I say that this book is a beautiful, magical tale that resonated with me for days.

Have you ever loved someone enough to split the world?

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Top 10 Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions for 2016

It’s Tuesday, so that means it’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was created by the bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish, and each week there’s a new topic to discuss. This week’s topic is your Top Ten 2016 Resolutions. This was intended to be a pretty broad subject, so I decided to include ten bookish resolutions I’m setting myself for 2016. Let’s get started!

1. Cut down my TBR. I have roughly 40 unread books on my shelves, and I want to have read them all by the end of 2016. My TBR pile is ever changing, but the books I didn’t get to in 2015 need to be read this year.

2. Read diversely. This is an ongoing goal, one that I don’t think is necessarily something to be checked off a to-do list but rather develop into habit. I don’t want to be insular when it comes to my reading – characters and stories and authors who are different from myself can only enrich my understanding and appreciation of the world.

3. Go back to class. Not actual class, because grad school nearly killed me, but in 2016 I want to read more history, philosophy, and classic (ancient and modern) literature. I studied these subjects so intensely in school, so I feel bad for pretty much abandoning them in my post-grad life.

4. Literature? Classic. It is a truth universally acknowledged that I don’t love reading the “classics.” So many people include some variation of this in their reading resolutions, but I want to read more classic literature in 2016, and finally find a classic that I love (besides Pride and Prejudice, of course).

5. Don’t Be Afraid to DNF. Does this book suck? Is it just annoying enough that I’m not actually enjoying it? THEN STOP READING IT. I posted my first installment of the DNF Diaries a couple months ago, and I’m sure there will be many more entries in 2016. Who has time to force themselves to read a crappy book? Not me.

6. Read and Review. Every book that I read in 2016 will have at least a brief Goodreads review. That will probably be a lot, because I read 170 books in 2015. But I want to take the time and say something about each book that I read, even if it is just a few sentences. Hopefully this will help to make me a better reviewer. That being said…

7. Go Beyond Reviews. Reviews are a big part of having a book blog, that goes without saying. However, in 2016 I don’t want to keep posting one review after another. I’m not the most creative person by nature, but I really want to push myself to think more creatively about the content I want to create here and on my YouTube channel. I’ve already started with DNF Diaries, but hopefully that’s just the first step.

8. Resist the Hype. I fall victim to book hype all the time, and that led to some of my most disappointing reads in 2015. It’s hard not to get swept up in the hype surrounding a new book’s release – fancy ARCs! every blogger on the planet singing its praises! But as book blogger becomes more popular than ever, and publishers increasingly rely on bloggers and BookTubers to create buzz, hype is a real problem. In 2016, I want to focus on reading books I actually want to read, not just what everyone else has preordered. I want to be honest about when I think a book is overhyped and undeserving. I want to not waste as much money buying new releases I was convinced that I needed. This is probably the most difficult resolution on the list, but also the most necessary.

9. Stay Organized. When it comes to blog posts and videos, I definitely needed to be better organized last year. Hopefully in 2016 I can really buckle down and find a schedule that works for me. Posting too often makes this feel like a chore, so striking a balance will be key.

10. Don't Buy It If You Won't Read It...Yet. Far too often in 2015, I bought or even preordered a book, only for it to sit unread for months. I still haven’t read Illuminae or Winter, and those were a couple of my most anticipated releases. This is definitely something I need to work on in 2016!

What are some of your bookish resolutions for 2016? Let me know in the comments!

ARC Review: Worlds of Ink and Shadow

Title: Worlds of Ink and Shadow
Author: Lena Coakley
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books (ABRAMS)
Format: eARC*
Goodreads | BookDepository

“Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings find escape from their constrained lives via their rich imaginations. The glittering world of Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy world of Gondal literally come to life under their pens, offering the sort of romance and intrigue missing from their isolated parsonage home. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as the characters they have created—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.

Gorgeously written and based on the Brontës’ juvenilia, Worlds of Ink and Shadow brings to life one of history’s most celebrated literary families in a thrilling, suspenseful fantasy.”


~


I’m going to admit this up front: I don’t know much about the Brontës, and what little I do know has nothing to do with their childhoods or juvenilia. I’ve only read one of their novels: Charlotte’s Jane Eyre.  However, I think this worked in my favor when it came to Worlds of Ink and Shadow, and I probably enjoyed this more because I knew so little going in.

Worlds of Ink and Shadow follows the Brontë siblings during their adventures in Vedropolis, the alternate world based upon their writings. In Vedropolis, the characters and stories they write come to life, and the siblings are able to become participants in these fictional tales in order to escape their unhappy everyday lives back in England. This was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire story for me – I loved seeing how they interact with their characters, how they were able to manipulate the stories while in Vedropolis. Lena Coakley actually uses the same places and characters from the Brontës’ juvenilia; the Angria and Gondal that you read about are as the siblings originally wrote them.

Throughout Worlds of Ink and Shadow, the reader sees connections to the siblings’ future writings, specifically Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. While I appreciated seeing these threads, it came across heavy handedly at times: Emily is always on the moor and likes foul-tempered characters, Charlotte is nearly described just short of ugly but aspires to be more than a governess, and Anne is quiet but likes things to be realistic. It’s nice at first, but eventually these themes become as obvious as the symbols in a Nathaniel Hawthorne story.

You may have noticed that I am yet to mention Branwell, the only Brontë brother. That’s largely because Branwell is made completely unforgettable. This is rather amazing, considering that he takes up so much of the actual story. But I can’t tell you a thing about Branwell Brontë other than he liked to drink and was a decent painter. He is not given the same care as his sisters, and it definitely comes across to the reader. Branwell feels more like a character from Vedropolis than an equal counterpart to Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.

For me, things fell apart at the end. The siblings’ characters are starting to act independently of their stories, and the Brontës are losing control over Vedropolis. While I liked this in theory, in execution it deteriorated into something all too confusing. Further, I genuinely did not like the “big reveal” regarding how it is that the Brontës could create and travel to Vedropolis in the first place.

What made Worlds of Ink and Shadow work so well is that it is a uniquely atmospheric book. I felt pulled into the Brontës’ lives, and the relationship dynamics between all four helped endear me to these characters. I’m definitely intrigued to read more of their novels now, and I think that this book does a great job of humanizing these classic literary figures. If you’re new to the Brontës like me, or a devoted reader already, this was an enjoyable and magical look into their younger years.

Rating: 3.5 stars

*I received a free ARC via Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

ARC Review: Passenger

Title: Passenger
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Format: eARC*
Goodreads | BookDepository

“In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles, but years from home. And she's inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she's never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods-a powerful family in the Colonies-and the servitude he's known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can't escape and the family that won't let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, his passenger, can find. In order to protect her, Nick must ensure she brings it back to them-whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods' grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home forever.”


~


Ever since BEA earlier this year, the hype has been all too real for Alexandra Bracken’s upcoming YA time travel novel, Passenger.  I adored The Darkest Minds trilogy, a gritty X-Men-esque survival story, so I had high hopes that Bracken would knock it out of the park with her new novel, out January 5. At the end of the day, however, I’m not sure how I feel about this. Nearly every review I’ve read of Passenger has sung its praises, touting it as Bracken’s best work. But I felt a bit underwhelmed, which is disappointing. Passenger was a highly anticipated 2016 release, but it ended up being a pretty middle of the road read for me.

I should have loved this book. It’s got time travel, epic romance, adventure, and secrets. Some of my favorite things! Plus there’s a healthy dose of pirates, and a portion of this book takes place at sea. The concept of this novel is so intriguing – a girl gets whisked into the past and discovers that she comes from a family of time travelers, but she has to go on a mission to find a missing object in order to return to her time. (This is like Outlander meets Doctor Who, amiright?) Every character in this book is ruthless, and that really enriched the reading experience for me, knowing that although there are some very likable or seemingly bland characters, each of them is willing to betray whoever it takes to achieve their ends (even in the name of good). We all know I love moral ambiguity.

Although this is billed as an adventure tale, Passenger is ultimately a love story. The romance between Etta and Nicholas, while bordering on insta-love, is sweet and pretty swoony, I can’t lie. They come from drastically different times, so seeing them try to bridge the cultural gap throughout their travels adds so much to their relationship. The tensions that arise between an 18th century guy and 21st century girl (hello, bare calves!), help to provide greater nuance to these characters, who on their own sometimes feel stiff. But the moments between them are very romantic, and I was absolutely rooting for these two throughout the story. I loved that we have an interracial couple front and center in a YA fantasy (YA anything, for that matter).

While I adored the relationship between Etta and Nicholas, this was not just a romance story. And it’s the time travel aspect that was a huge letdown for me. I found the world building and actual time traveling to be very confusing, and the explanations we get are sporadic and unclear. The reader is told that the stakes are incredibly high throughout the novel, but I never quite felt it. That’s probably because the book is so put-downable, which is a word I made up to describe how easy it is to put a book down and walk away from it. I did this several times during the first half of the book, because it took ages for anything to really happen. It isn’t even until halfway into this 400-page tome that Etta is actually tasked with the quest that is supposed to propel the entire duology’s storyline (yes, Passenger is the first in a series so hopefully the second book will clear up my issues with this one).

Passenger was a good read, especially after the halfway points when the action (and romance) picks up. But I was expecting a great read, and I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I pick up a time travel adventure story, I want to be unable to turn the page fast enough. So ultimately, while Passenger was a solidly good first book, it wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped, and I ended up underwhelmed. Hopefully the sequel, Wayfarer, will hit the ground running and pick up the pace from this first installment.

I’d still recommend this for fans of Alex Bracken and time travel stories, especially if you like your adventures with a healthy dose of romance.

Rating: 3.5 stars

*I received a free ARC via Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Top 10 Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases For the First Half of 2016

Today is a Top 10 Tuesday post! TTT was created by the awesome ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish, check out their blog for great reviews and future TTT topics!

  

1. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. The fourth and final installment of the Raven Cycle Quartet comes out April 26, 2016, and I’m already planning to take the day off of work to read it. With a lot of tissues and all my feelings.


2. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab. This sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic is released February 23, 2016, and I cannot wait to dive back into Schwab’s fantastic world of alternate dimensions based in London. Hopefully this time there are more kisses. I don’t care who’s kissing, as long as there are more kisses. I’m easily pleased.


3. The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye. Released on May 17, this YA fantasy sounds like the Tsarist Russian version of The Night Circus – a magical competition will pit our two main characters against each other, but I get the feeling there will be just as much angsty romance as magic, and I’m very excited.


4. Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop. The fourth book in The Courtyard of the Others series will hopefully answer my most burning question: WILL MEG AND SIMON FINALLY GET TOGETHER?!

  

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Y’all, this book. I need this book. After falling in love with Between Shades of Grey, I know that this February 2 release about a ship that sinks during WWII will break my heart in the beautiful way that Ruta Sepetys does best.


6. The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. This May 3 release is a YA scifi of sorts that encompasses time travel, quantum physics, and romance. SIGN ME UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.


7. The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski. After the cover change that was-and-then-wasn’t-and-will-be, I was momentarily put off of this third and final book in the Winner’s Trilogy, coming March 29. But regardless of the cover, I need to know what’s going to happen to Kestrel and, if the title is any indication, just how much she’ll be kissing Arin. Please let the kisses be Kestrel/Arin kisses. (This is becoming a very kiss-focused post.)

     

8. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. After not being super impressed with A Court of Thorns and Roses earlier this year, I am still looking forward to its sequel, coming out May 3. ACOMAF is apparently going to have some Persephone/Hades aspects, which we all know I’m trash for. Hopefully the Night Court lives up to my swoony expectations. Hello, Rhysand.


9. The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine. This is a Snow White retelling, coming out on February 16, and I always keep coming back to fairytale retellings. This seems to have even more magic that the original, and a feistier female protagonist. So fingers crossed this story is deserving of that cover, and we don’t have another Red Queen situation.


10. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. I’ll be honest, the thought of three authors writing this June 7 release makes me pretty anxious. Three authors, really? But the undeniably truth of the matter is that I love Jane Grey and that cover is fantastic. This is pretty much a done deal for me. Plus the synopsis sounds super sassy, so I’m fully committed.

What are your most anticipated releases for the first half of 2016? Let me know!

DNF Diaries: The Casquette Girls

Title: The Casquette Girls
Author: Alys Arden
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Date: November 17, 2015
Format: eARC*

“After the storm of the century rips apart New Orleans, sixteen-year-old Adele Le Moyne and her father are among the first to return. Adele wants nothing more than to resume her normal life, but with the silent city resembling a war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal needs a new definition.

Strange events—even for New Orleans—lead Adele to an attic that has been sealed for three hundred years. The chaos she accidentally unleashes threatens not only her but also everyone she knows. Caught in a hurricane of myths and monsters, Adele must untangle a web of magic that weaves the climbing murder rate back to her own ancestors. But who can you trust in a city where everyone has secrets and keeping them can mean life or death? Unless…you’re immortal.”



I should have posted my review a long time ago – this book was released in November, and I had the ARC for a month or so before then. But the truth is, I didn’t know what to say. This book sounds so intriguing from the synopsis: New Orleans! Magic! Secrets! I thought I’d be reading a post-Katrina version of American Horror Story: Coven. I thought, since the author herself is from New Orleans, there was little chance I wouldn’t love this story. Turns out, I couldn’t even force myself to finish it.

Welcome to DNF Diaries.

I’ve decided to start a new series of sorts on my blog, DNF Diaries, to discuss the books that I simply did not finish. I feel like DNFing books is still a slightly taboo topic in the book community, and many people think that once they start a book, they have to finish it. Life’s too short to read bad books, so I’m going to use this series as a means to have a more open forum about DNFing books, and what leads us to ultimately abandon a book.

For this first installment of DNF Diaries, I’m discussing The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden. Now, I had high hopes for this book. It’s published by Skyscape, Amazon’s self-publishing teen imprint that also put out the Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee. I’ll admit that I have my reservations about self-published novels, which is perhaps elitist of me, but nonetheless true. Unfortunately, this book didn’t change my opinions.

The Casquette Girls tells the story of Adele, who returns to New Orleans after The Storm (never actually named, but obviously meant to represent Hurricane Katrina) and uncovers secrets of the magical sort when she starts exploring in her attic and attending a new school.
The Good: I really enjoyed the concept of this story, and thought a YA novel about post-Katrina New Orleans would be brilliant. There is so much potential! So much of New Orleans’ history and culture is woven into the story in a way that isn’t all Mardi Gras and whatever tourists expect when they visit Louisiana. However…

The Bad: The author is from New Orleans, and she never lets you forget it. The reader is constantly beaten over the head with long, winding, and unnecessary exposition about the neighborhoods in the city, the street names, and how much Adele LOVES NEW ORLEANS OK SHE LOVES IT SO MUCH. This book is over 500 pages long and it felt like the vast majority of the first 200 were wasted in this manner.

The Ugly: The fact of the matter is that the writing is the biggest downfall. Characters are unbelievably written, with little to no personality between them except to fulfill recycled YA tropes. It’s the interaction between characters, however, that was especially unpleasant to read. Every conversation feels forced, like the author is just trying to connect plot points, and the way Adele converses with people is unrealistic at best. I made it to 25% of this novel and literally nothing had happened other than Adele waxing poetically about New Orleans and having contrived interactions with a handful of other characters.

You can probably see why I had to DNF this book. Nothing felt natural, or enjoyable, or gave me any hope for improvement as the story progressed. I had to quit at the 25% mark because I was so frustrated. As someone who experienced Hurricane Katrina and lived close to New Orleans, it’s disappointing that this book fell so short of my expectations. But ultimately, there are far better urban fantasy novels out there to read. I highly recommend you pick up any one of those instead, or watch AHS: Coven.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment of DNF Diaries! Let me know what it takes for you to DNF a book.


*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

LIBRARY HAUL