The World As We Know It (2011) I'm not one for writing reviews but...this is one of my new favourite books. The author's writing style was lovely. The entire novel was somewhat dreamy and ethereal. I loved the inclusion of details concerning the setting and the nature around them. I fell in love with all the characters as soon as I started reading. I couldn't put it down. It was a really emotional and beautiful book and one that I'm sure I'll read many more times and recommend to friends. This language throws me back, somehow. It feels like words I read in books from earlier times - 1920's or 1930's, maybe? I think we've lost a richness in our language and depth of vocabulary, and this story gave me a lot of the feeling I love from earlier works. That said, I agree with complainers that the plot is given away by the blurb on the back cover. However, the ending is still unclear, and I was drowning in rapture over the language and the fleshing out of the story that even though I thought I knew what might happen, it didn't quite work out that way. Which was fun, too. Do some people really have soul mates? Are we destined to be together because something tragic happens to us? Does that bring us together or drive us apart? Should we have to be together because of it? Read this to find out about simple views and loves of nature and children growing into who they become because they're outside most of the time. Nothing wrong with that. Did I mention I LOVED THE LANGUAGE???