The history and culture explored within the book were really interesting, the characters are well developed and I feel like this touches on important subjects in an easy to read way for the intended audience.

This book is slow.
I couldn’t be invested in either the plot or the characters
The ending was also a bit staged and too convenient

Thoughtful and informative but unexpectedly gripping- an excellent read with an international perspective for developed YA readers. I wish I had books like this available in my local library when a young reader!

I really wanted to enjoy this one as the premise sounded so good. However it fell rather flat for me. Long winded chapters and I dont think right for the target audience.

I really struggled with the bouncing around of the POV's but I actually find that very clever writing as it was disorientating as were the struggles of the two main characters. It a short insight into the many stories within the slave trade at the time and what came after.

I didn't like this book at all. I realised around half way through that this book wasn't for me. After the first chunk it stopped interesting me.. I've kinda come to the realisation that this wasn't the book for me. Ended up not finishing this book.

Unfortunately I had to purchase a new Kindle device and could no longer access this book. I will come back and review if I read this in the future.

I love books about twins so I knew I was going to enjoy this one immensely. I was correct.

It's a stunning children's book but one I think also adults should read. It deals with grief and loss with such respect and tact.

The setting, mid 19th C Brazil, is one I haven't read much of before but is beautifully brought to life with wonderful descriptions.

Gorgeous, important writing. This is a children’s book but adults should not ignore it. Very memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I struggled through this one. I thought this would be a wonderful story about twin sisters looking to find their sister. Instead, very little searching took place and it becomes a fairly dull tale of how they live day to day lives.

I thought that the characters would drive the narrative and be likeable. Instead, I felt as though I never connected with the characters and it made the whole story feel flat. I couldn't connect with them as I wanted to.

The story also needed trigger warnings as there's rape, violent beatings and animal sacrifice. I had no expectation of reading any of this and it was quite a shock.

This had so much potential to be fantastic. It could have showcased African and Brazilian culture, shown the monstrous things Britain did to Africa (it did touch upon this) and show more of a journey for the sisters.

Stories of separated sisters are often heartbreaking and painful, which was something I felt quite intensely with The Vanishing Half. With The Deep Blue Between, a story of twin sisters torn apart in their childhood is heart-wrenching.

When their village is torched down, 10 year old twin sisters Husseina and Hassana are not only torn away from their family but also each other leading them to find new families in new lands. Yet they never cease to forget each other while their shared dreams keep them connected as one twin resides in Brazil and the other on the Gold Coast of West Africa. As the years pass by, their yearning to find the other never ceases.

My Thoughts
I was a little apprehensive of reading this as I was expecting a harrowing storyline, but I was pleasantly surprised. Ayesha Harruna Attah has written an uplifting, coming-of-age adventure for a younger audience that’ll also be enjoyed by adult readers too.

I found the 19th Century, post-slavery trade setting in Brazil particularly fascinating. Where the colonial history and slave-trade in Brazil goes overlooked, The Deep Blue Between lays down some clues into the historical context which is otherwise brushed over. The narrative through the lens of teenage girls offers a simplistic yet still enlightening insight that young readers will learn from and enjoy and their journey through the sea that separates them opens up questions into the conditions of travel at the time.

Themes in the book grapple with loss, grief, belief, trauma and forging new communities and I loved how the girls grew into young, skilled women who were known and well-loved by their new friends and families.

I love that it’s an optimistic and hopeful story in a historical setting where so many things could and would have gone wrong for girls on their own. But Attah has intricately and exquisitely crafted a well-paced, engrossing story that you’re more than halfway through without realising it. I whizzed through The Deep Blue Between in a matter of days which says a lot as I’m not the quickest of readers!

My only criticism is that I needed a little more guidance with regards to geography and perhaps that’s more a flaw of my own than of the book itself. What this really means is that you are forced to check a map of the world to work out where the Gold Coast is, now rightfully known as Ghana, and how far Brazil is which leads to the realisation that the task of finding a long-lost twin in the 19th Century would have felt insurmountable, if not entirely impossible. Even then, the journey by ship across the South Atlantic Ocean would have covered an immense distance for that period of time.

In my mind, historical fiction has always been associated with medieval British royalty and the World Wars. I read a lot of it genre in my school days & most of it usually revolved around those subjects. Now that I have been reading diversely, it has been great to discover books that move out of those stale settings and try to explore regions & histories which had not been deemed important before. Attah's YA debut moves from West Africa to South America as it follows twin sisters who are tragically separated after a raid on their village. It reminded me of Homegoing, Gyasi is also Ghanian, but Attah focuses on a single generation. The lush prose grips you as the narrative viewpoint shifts between them alternatively. Water divides them in waking, it unites them in dreaming. I loved the tender exploration of their strong bond and how they embodied black agency, powerful girlhood. I would highly recommend it, especially to YA readers.

A heart-wrenching story of two twins who are separated from each other, but are able to reconnect in their dreams. I found this story very poetic, and the writing superb.
I definitely recommend it

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book. Unfortunately I hadn't found time during the year to read this book, and so I will be picking up a paid copy in 2021 to support the author instead as an apology.

I really enjoyed the imagery of this book throughout, but in some ways it fell flat for me at the end. The cover is absolutely stunning, and so was the premise of the book.

I think it seems as through the characters weren't fully developed, or not as developed as I'd like them to be, and I wonder if that's because it's a Children's book and so it isn't delivering what I would want from the book, as opposed to what a child would. I'm certain that I would have absolutely loved this book as a child, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to purchase for that age group.

I learnt a lot from the book through, and was inspired to look up more about Brazilian indigenous culture and religion.

This book was archived before I could read so I can't give a honest opinion on it. I hope I get to read it soonest but for the wonderful reviews I've read, I will be dropping 4 stars.

Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for approving me to read 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗 𝘉𝘓𝘜𝘌 𝐵𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 by Ayesha Harruna Attah.
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The story follows two young twin girls who are separated after their village is raided. The story follows them in the journey of trying to find each other and reunite, and in their journey of discovering themselves as individuals as they grow into young women.
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𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦.
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The novel covers a lot of interesting elements of history and culture, and it doesn't shy away from depicting the truth in some hard-hitting topics like slavery, racism and war. I think honesty is really important in children's books.
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𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴? 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘺.
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The scene setting is beautiful and fantastic, and some of the descriptions are so unique. They really made the story feel richer and more immersive.
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𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.
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I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a book the showcases and celebrates different cultures. Although branded as Pushkin's childrens, the subject matter within the novel is harder-hitting than some children's/YA books I've read.
I would definitely read more from Ayesha Harruna Attah.

A fascinating, well written adventure story! Would highly recommend for young readers who might have an interest in historical fiction.

A story of two sisters and their separation when rebels invaded their village this book truly broke my heart. Forging different families and both living in completely different cultures I honestly couldn't wait to see if they found their way back to each other and were reunited. Both sisters endured many hardships and their courage shone throughout the story.
Attah writes with great vibrancy, I loved that we were transported both to Brazil and West Africa and learn about the history of these places. Slavery is a part of this story definitely but it isn't the only part and I found the storytelling to be fantastic. Not only does Attah give a great sense of place but you really feel like you are on a journey with both Hassana and Husseina.
I love books with dual narratives and I really enjoyed both perspectives although it did take some getting used to and often found the change of narrator quite abrupt.
The ending felt satisfying in a way which is realistic for such an indepth story.
Overall I really enjoyed this book! The level of detail and the way the plot builds is fantastic. I did really have to concentrate on reading so would definitely recommend taking your time with it. It wasn't a fast read for me but only due to the level of detail nothing actually against the book.

Stopped at 31%
I really struggled with this one, I have seen some brilliant reviews, but I just found it a bit difficult to follow on my kindle. There is an awful lot of information to keep up with, place names and characters.
The writing itself was lovely to read, but I lost concentration because I couldn't follow the story.
It is definitely a case of me not the book though.