Reviews

The World in Half by Cristina Henríquez

imdirtysgirl's review

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

allfawkesgiven's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

shawnacrompton's review

3.0

I felt something was left to be desired, Im not sure what. But a generally interesting and moving story about a college student who goes looking for her birth father in Panama.

bbingham's review

inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

teresalee's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

erickasparkles's review

3.0

I really wanted to like this book, especially since I loved The Book of Unknown Americans. But the main character was just...boring. I kept wondering when the pace would pick up but the plot was very slow for the first three-quarters of the book. It could have benefited from an additional narrative point of view (the mother’s from earlier in life would have been a good one) and more explanation of why the men in the book fell for the women they did. Overall, it was decent writing but fell flat in execution.

curiouslibrarian's review

3.0

This is a 3.5 from me.

avacafilms's review

4.0

I started this book at 8 years old. All I knew was that it was a young woman traveling in search of her dad, whom she never met. I stopped reading it after the second chapter and promised myself that I would finish reading this when I was in my 20s. I thought that I myself would also be in search of my biological dad and maybe grow to have a relationship again. I’m 18 now and that is not something I have an interest in doing anymore. I figured that 8 year old me would be just fine if I finished this book now. I’ve romanticized this book for 10 years, imagining how the story progressed and made up scenarios for how Mira would meet her dad and how they’d both be ecstatic to have found each other after all those years. This book had a hold over me despite me knowing nothing of how the story went or what would come to be. I kept this on bookshelf for years, yearning for some understanding, looking to see if I could find my own father somewhere along those pages. Well let me tell you, this book lived up to the expectations I made in my head about it. I loved this book so much. I’m not even upset that the ending was sad because I like the realism of it. I am happy to know that Mira got to know that her father really truly loved her and longed to be a part of her life. I wish they got to meet just once. I understand her mother’s reasoning but I wish she would just have given things a chance, even after she moved away from her parent’s. This book holds a small part of my heart now, maybe one day I’ll be able to visit Panama on my own.

ash97's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

la_karina1818's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

For my first book of my "Around the world in 80 days" reading challenge, it was a gorgeous novel set in Panama, a hidden gem in South America. It explored Mira's journey to finding her father and getting to learn more about her Panamanian heritage. She came over her anxiety about not feeling like she belonged and slowly getting to love the other half of her identity. Mira grew towards the end of the book and was able to take control of her life and to not set herself back towards what she wants to do like her mother. The love story of her mother and her father became a lot more special and fleshed out as the novel progressed, with huge nuances that even towards the end we as readers may not fully understand if we have not experienced such a thing for ourselves. It was heartbreaking to see how 

Spoiler

both suffered in their own separate positions, especially Mira's mum who couldn't let go off everything and be with the man she loved.

At the beginning I felt quite detached from her narrative (as I normally don't like first person narrative), but later on she became a lot more free and emotive, developing her character through her narrative. The significance of the relations between the US and Panama was important in the way 

Spoiler

the relationship between Mira's parents was seen in the eyes of her mother's parents through the class and racial beliefs at the time. I felt this to be particularly heartbreaking for them both in that instance, especially her mother for which her relationship with a Panamanian man wouldn't have been accepted as well as the pregnancy that resulted causing her to become a single mother. She would have also had to be in a loveless marriage with a gay man, also reflectively seen in Gatun's parents' marriage for which his mother stayed even though his father was cheating on her.

Overall, it was a beautiful and emotional read, which caused me to discover a country which I didn't find particularly interesting or important to read about but made me discover something great.