Bright lights, a Kentucky night, and football stars taking the field on the eve of high school graduation. Ivy-bound Natalie Cleary can’t wait to trade pep rallies for poetry readings in the fall, but tonight, surrounded by her childhood friends and all the love and sorrow of endings hanging in the air, she feels perfectly at home for the first time in her life. But then the lights flicker and Nat’s world just…disappears. She opens her eyes to see a tall, good-looking guy she doesn’t recognize, standing on the field with her classmates. She blinks again. He’s gone just as quickly as he appeared, and Nat’s world as she knew it slips away forever.

THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD is the story of Natalie and Beau, two teenagers who discover they’re the only people who can see two different versions of their small Kentucky town. They try to unravel the mystery behind this dreamlike rift and fall in love so epically it makes the ground shake. But the clock is ticking, and soon they’ll be closed off from each other’s worlds forever. Nat and Beau must reach back through time and uncover the secrets of their pasts so they can somehow create a world where they can have a future together.

Debut author Emily Henry has expertly crafted the page-turning cosmic mystery at the center of her story to communicate and practically translate the specific yet universal emotions particular to young adulthood, when the past, present, and future seem to be pulling you in three different directions at once. This novel is gorgeous, earth-shakingly so, with a fast-paced plot and stunning final twist that will leave you breathless.