A review by avacafilms
The World in Half by Cristina Henríquez

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.