Let me start by saying that I don’t read many YA novels but this book caught my attention. And I’m really impressed!  Beautiful written, full of lovely details of culture and history.

You were on the other side of this," said Hassana, spreading her fingers at the sea. "This was separating us." "But it also brought us back together," said Vitória...

Husseina (AKA Vitória) and Hassana are twins connected by their dreams. The two are separated after their town is left in ruins due to a merciless raid. Clues in shared dreams that Hussana can only get when she is deeply sad, is the only way she can find her sister. With Hussana being in the Gold Coast and Husseina in Brazil, will fate bring them back together?

Set in the late 19th century, the young girls are separated in terms of distances tongues, cultures and faiths. The great blue ocean separates them, however they long for each other. 
Beautifully written story about the fate of two young girls who, through their childhood and teenage years spend time missing their other half. The author does a fantastic job of incorporating different places, languages, cultures and faiths in the story. 
I absolutely loved the descriptions used from Hussana's perspective. She describes a woman 'wearing yellowish hair' as she meets a white woman for the first time. Having new experiences through Hassana's eyes made her so charming to me. Innocent and curious as anyone would be in her context. A beautiful story of how the bond of two sisters is unbreakable regardless of what comes their way.

3/5

A stunning story filled with culture and the meaning of sisterhood.

Twin sisters Hassana and Husseina's home is in ruins after a brutal raid. But this is not the end but the beginning of their story, one that will take them to unfamiliar cities and cultures, where they will forge new families, ward off dangers and truly begin to know themselves.

This is a YA book, that NetGalley kindly gifted to me a few months ago, set across the Golden Coast of West Africa and a post-colonised Brazil. Unbeknown to many, Brazil was “home” to more enslaved African citizens than any other country in the world. It is with this as a backdrop that Attar narrates the lives of two twins that have been separated by slave traders, aged 10. For those reading a variety of non-fiction titles on the atrocities of slavery at the moment, I believe this title is the perfect book to complement both your learning and your empathetic understanding. There aren’t a lot of young adult books within the African literary space (yet), so, this book will certainly be making waves when it’s released in October.

I think this title’s discussion on faith, family and identity in the aftermath of colonialism is incredibly educative. In particular, the faith Candomblé – with its soul-guiding deities and enchanting dance ceremonies – fascinated me. Through this book, a dark era of history came to life and illustrated the complexities that have been faced in post-colonised cities. All the while, the subtle nuances that slowly unfold between Hassana and Husseina in response to this environment is interesting to experience as a reader. Indeed, although they are twins – often thought of as sacred in many West African faiths – they are unfortunately forced to grow as individuals. While, at times, their journeys are difficult to read, the ongoing narrative attempts to explore their pursuits of discovering who they are without the other. 

Although the dual narrative works pretty well for the most part, it does slow down the plot substantially. I believe that Attar has understandably focused far more on this title’s historical accuracy than the actual narrative itself. This is logical provided the justice one wants to give a tale such as this. However, characters do lead plot and, unfortunately, the motivations of these characters weren’t always as focussed as I wished them to be. I often lost sight of where each girl was headed. As such, while the backdrop was frequently very immersive (and impressive) this cramming in of historical mise-en-scene, for me, detracted away from the progression of the central plot arc and, ultimately, the emotiveness of the twin’s reunion. This being said, I understand that there are times when a sense of place comes paramount to any kind of plot device. So, although the pace was a little slow for me, I did respect the attention to detail when representing the young girls’ environments and era.

Essentially, I believe that putting ourselves in the shoes of those afflicted – via the likes of literature – is vital to forming a deeper comprehension of the atrocities that were faced by slaves across the world. While neither the central plot drive nor the pace were quite what I anticipated reading this book’s blurb, the literary journey was still incredibly compelling.

This was a wonderful read and has made me think long after I finished reading it. It is a story  of a set of twins who were separated during a raid on their home in Africa. The story is written from the perspective of both girls and is done in a very clever way. The book spans years and continues past the point where they finally reunite. Their lives up to that point were not all straightforward, and neither is their lives after that meet up. Oceans cannot keep them apart but when they do it's not as straightforward as they had hoped. So much has changed. 

A beautiful story about family, friendship, love and belonging.

The story is told through dual narrators, twins Hassana and Husseina, interwoven with dreamscape images linking the two. It follows their struggles to find themselves, and each other, when forcefully separated. The book provides a window into different beliefs and cultures and paints a harrowing picture of some of the struggles faced due to slavery and colonialism. It is an emotional and immersive read.

Whilst I did enjoy the story, I found some parts difficult to follow and some of the references were lost on me, making the narrative somewhat of a challenge to track at times. I would recommend it to children aged 11 and over as it deals with some difficult issues that I feel may be a little too mature for younger readers.

This book follows the story for Hassana and Husseina, twins that have been kidnapped and separated, and their struggle to find each other and be one again. This book stirred a variety of emotions while reading it and kept me glued to me seat wanting to know how their stories will develop. 
This story alternates between their two stories and the writing changes between the two narratives. I very much enjoy reading a story from different perspectives and this one came together beautifully. Personally, I liked Hassana’s story and use of language, but Husseina’s was full of vivid descriptions of Bahia and the Candomble belief. 
The book delves into the African-Brazilian culture and the different languages spoken, the beliefs people fought for and religions in Brazil and Africa and their importance. The story also talks about slavery, European colonisation, and the impact of these on the local people and their lifestyle. 
I have enjoyed this story, but I would recommend reading in paperback as it will be easier to go back and forth. At times I felt the need to go and re-read parts of a previous chapter for clarification and on a Kindle, this is not easy.

A wonderful read focusing om the story of twin sisters with a beautiful sprinkling of magic that I enjoyed. Most suitable for UK ages 10-12 in my opinion.

ARC from NetGalley

Here we have a beautifully crafted tale about twin sisters torn apart at a very young age who never give up trying to get back to each other. Their twin connection makes it that bit more magical. We follow their journeys across half the world and through most of their childhood and teenage years and luckily enough with plenty of hardship also comes plenty of good people along the way.

Overall I enjoyed this story because tales of sisterhood always appeal to me. It did happen on several occasions that I felt a little lost in the story but that's probably due to not having enough time to dedicate to it in one sitting. It pulls you right in but you can lose the thread of thought if you don't get back to it the same day. 

Writing was absolutely gorgeous.

Realistic and creative, a big surprise for me.
I really enjoyed this reading. This story, helped me learn a little more about two unknown cultures, I was completely caught up with some descriptions and facts. 
The sisters' relationships and personalities, in my opinion, give this story "a cherry on the cake", they are very complicated, but they are well written, they are inspiring and tragic enough to understand them.
I like the way perspectives are written, makes of the story more captivating and impossible to drop. With the needed information and the right feelings. 
After reading this book, I think I will keep an eye out for new content from the publisher and writer.

The writing is a nice and the story moves slowly before your eyes. It tells the story of two sisters with a special bond, desperate to find one another.
It is a great book.
However, I didn't find a way ro connect to the characters and story, which made it too hard to keep up with it.

The Deep Blue Between – Between oceans, cultures, languages and faiths, two sisters' search for one another aided by dreams makes for a ethereal, dreamy read.

This was such a comforting read to get wrapped up in. For a novel that blends dual narratives, the descriptions of loss and familial longing are lyrical throughout.

Following the story of two sisters, I did favour Vitoria's chapters, with the vivid descriptions of Candomble. Interestingly,  the Afro-Brazillian religion plays a huge role, especially in the closing chapters with the parallels between the syncretism of Orixas and Catholicism and how Hassana and Husseina's world views are shaped through their respective struggles. 

In all, this a great read, one that explores an era and topic not widely written about in YA and New Adult fiction. I'd recommend for anyone who has read and enjoyed West African inspired YA such as Tomi Adeyemi's Children's of Blood and Bone series. 

Completing the full triangle of  West Africa, Europe and the Americas makes for a nuanced novel, not solely about colonialism and slavery, but with characters full of depth and heart in their own right.

I always like to start my reviews by telling you my overall opinion of the book, I feel like sometimes I can ramble and it gets difficult to discern whether I actually enjoyed the book or not! Here’s my verdict *drum roll*… I really enjoyed it!

Essentially the story follow the lives of these twins after they were separated, and the book is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of twins. I felt like this was extremely useful especially because for the majority of this book both these characters lived in very different places. The author spent enough time developing both characters and the various places they called home throughout this book so (for the most part) I didn’t feel lost or confused. Throughout this book we travel through these characters to Brazil and West Africa, and because of the POV style I was able to compartmentalise these two places and associate Brazil with Husseina and West Africa with Hassana. Whilst reading about these areas the author spared no details in describing the sights, smells and engaging all my senses BUT at a point it did get overwhelming. I sometimes found myself trying to absorb and imagine the her surroundings but also keep up with the thoughts of the character. So at certain points I did feel overwhelmed and to be honest a few too many times I almost zoned out.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where twins were the main characters and so throughout this story you really get to see the role nurture plays in developing our personalities. We see these characters although spending a majority of their time thinking about and looking for each other, slowly drift apart. Slowly becoming comfortable in their independence and accustomed to their new lives, you can see them almost hope that they don’t find each other by the end.

Husseina always grew up in her twin sisters’ shadow, she was always the quieter, shy twin so when she embarks on her own journey she slowly finds herself by embracing Candomblé. I had never heard of this religion or knew anything about its roots but the author did an amazing job of striking a balance between info-dumping content at the reader and giving them enough background so that they can follow the story!

The book also explored the effects of British colonisation at that time and how the African community in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil after the official end of slavery in 1888, were slowly establishing and preserving their culture through mosques, through Candomblé temples (terreiro’s) and the constant persecution followers of Candomblé faced.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a change of pace, or is looking for a thought-provoking read. If you enjoy reading about journeys of self-discovery, REALISTIC character development, or just a beautiful writing style this is definitely worth checking out!

I don't read many YA titles but was moved to read this one given the subject matter and the idea of two sisters separated by country. There's a moral tale to this story and it almost reads like  a story you will find passed down from one generation to the next via a storyteller in a village. IT feels traditional and historical, set in the 1890s but it's relevant to the modern day too.

I didn't realise this was a continuation of the novel The Hundred Wells of Salaga and I do feel I should have read that one before this as it would have been so much more rewarding. I haven't read much historical YA fiction but on the strength of this, I am going to check out her other novel and read more!