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June was named after her father, and his father before him and his father before him: her real name is Jack O’Donnell IV. So she’s often called “Junior” — or June, for short. She and her family have lived in their house on top of a hill in a small town in Michigan for generations. Her father told her the stories of how their progenitor Jonathan O’Donnell found just the right spot to settle down and grow the perfect cherries. Their house is a bit magical, and the cherries are known to be not just perfectly tart and delicious but possibly healing.
June’s life is sweet in many ways, with a loving mom and stepdad and two busy younger brothers. But she is still haunted by the loss of her father 10 years earlier, when she was 8. A dark spirit’s appearance shortly before he died was an omen known to her family and to one other family in town that something bad was about to happen. Because the O’Donnells and the Angerts have shared a curse for generations — and the families have hated each other for generations as well.
Then Saul Angert, a couple of years older than June, moves back to town after a few years away at college, and their pull toward each other is undeniable. All they know is their parents have told them to stay away from each other. But they have no idea why. As they secretly meet and get to know each other, magical signs around them seem to be pointing them toward finding out the real cause of the rift between the families decades before. And it may be vital they do so and heal that rift — or the curse will strike again.
Emily Henry creates a beautiful story about love and loss, about grief and vengeance and finally being able to let go. It’s said that the best fiction is the truest, and this story just struck so many true chords. I loved the characters, their flaws and strengths, the history of the families, the wonderful heritage that June carries with her because her father planted it in her through all his stories that were just a bit too outlandish to be completely true but somehow still were at their core. I loved all the bits of magic floating through the story while it still was grounded in reality.
I was moved by the loveliness of The Love That Split the World, too, and I now will eagerly await Henry’s next book. She’s a rare talent.
Rated: Moderate. There is one instance of strong language and occasional uses of moderate and mild language. There are some crude references, and there are a couple of scenes where characters strip to skinny dip. There are some makeout scenes that include some roaming hands, but not much past that. There are a number of instances of teen drinking. There is some mild violence.
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