I received this Arc from Netgalley. Thank you for the chance to read this book early. My review is honest and 100% my own thoughts about the book.

This story was interesting. The main Characters are twin sisters, named Hassana and Husseina. They were separated after their village was raided during the year 1892. Hassana was taken to Accra. She throws herself into changing the social and political world. Husseina ends up in Salvador and becomes immersed in her faith. The one thing that kept them together is being able to connect and communicate though shared dreams.

I loved that this is a coming of age story and loved that it was about sisterly love that transcends space and the conscious mind. I thought the book was magic. I also enjoyed learning about the culture through food, dancing and the community.

The Deep Blue In Between is a YA love story that transcends space and consciousness. Twins, Hassana and Husseina, are tied to each other, until they are stolen from their families and separated from each other. The story follows the twins trying to find their way back to each other and fighting the deep blue rift in between them.

So, I will let you know, I do not read a book’s synopsis nine times out ten. I like to be completely surprised. I live for the thrill.

When I first started this audiobook, I thought it was going to be just another slavery. I don’t I could have taken reading a books about slavery right now; they just take a lot out of me emotionally because of the war I feel inside between guilt, shame, pride, and disgust.

I was pleased to see that they shortly find freedom, so for most of the story, the twins are grappling with how the trajectory of their lives has been drastically altered as a result of their kidnappings and time in bondage. During their time apart, Hassana and Husseina (who becomes Victoria) come to learn what it means to become their own person, yet part of them still feels missing without each other.

I liked the spin on this coming-of-age story. Twin identity seems complicated to me. I think there is a connection between twins that non-twins will just never understand. However, growing up around many twins, I saw that sometimes it hurt them to not have their own individual identities validated in the eyes of others.

You see this dynamic in The Deep Blue In Between. There is a point where Victoria wonders if she ever wants to find Hassana again. She has grown to like being her own person, but she realizes that she won’t be complete without Hassana.

The Deep Blue In Between was the first book I read that talks about slavery and the aftermath outside of the United States context. It was fascinating to read about the lingering horrors of continuing to try to sell and enslave other humans, even on the motherland. The Deep Blue In Between also gave me a glimpse of the rampant colonization and rise of white supremacy that was occurring in Africa and the diaspora in Brazil.

The Deep Blue In Between had scenes full of rich color, from the ocean to people of all shades. I think seeing so much of the depth in color really made the story come alive.

One thing I didn’t like as much was that I felt like there was a lack of differentiation between the voices of Hassana and Victoria. I knew which chapter I was reading because of the different settings and characters featured at the time. When they were in their perspective, their voices felt too similar. It almost felt like the same person was going through alternate universes. Which might have been the point, but I felt like it took away from the emphasis of finding themselves and then finding each other.

Overall, this book was magical. Getting to experience the culture through food, dancing, and community was amazing. Hassana and Victoria aren’t the only ones connected, as we are all connected throughout the diaspora.

2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I don't think it was bad-- I just didn't particularly enjoy it. I had a hard time telling Hassana and Husseina apart. Their voices were so similar to me-- the only thing separating the girls was their experiences. I often had to figure out which sister was which by looking at the other characters around them.

Hassana and Husseina are twins who were split from one another following a raid on their village where they were each sent in different directions. They continue to dream of one another and know that someday they will find each other. Their lives spiral out and become more and more separate until the day they finally do find one another and realize they have basically nothing in common anymore.

The story isn't meant to be happy or lighthearted, but I found myself just hoping that the book would end so I could move on to something else. This book definitely has an audience and it tells stories from an interesting place in history. If you are interested in this title, you should definitely pick it up and take my review with a grain of salt.

This is a dnf for the time being. I hope to come back to it and finish it but it was slow and not what I was hoping for

This was a moving #ownvoices YA story about West African twin sisters torn apart who are set on different paths but eventually find their way back to one another. Set in the late 19th century, this book gave me lots of Girl with a louding voice vibes. Great on audio and highly entertaining. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!

This was a really beautiful sweeping story about two twin sisters as they navigate life apart while dealing with grief and loss and faith and spirituality all while trying to find each other.

Hassana and Huseinna were separated at 10 years old when and sold into slavery. They were each forced to deal with pain and loss and grief without their other half. Each of them start their own journey that's begins with a goal of survival and ends with them each separately thriving in different parts of the world. It is set in the 1800s and the girls go from 10-17 on page. One stays in Lagos (Nigeria) and the other spends a large portion of time in Brazil.

As much as I enjoyed this one, I couldn't tell you which sister was which and the POV changes were very hard to navigate. The audio is mostly well done but some slight inflection for each twin would've been immensely helpful.

I really loved all the characters that formed these twins found family and while I do wish for a bit more from the ending, as a whole, this is a really stunning story about sisterhood and found family and trying to thrive when the world literally trying to stomp you out.

Big CW for slavery, physical abuse, gaslighting, death, hinting at sexual assault for secondary character.

The Deep Blue Between
by Ayesha Harruna Attah

Thank you to @netgalley for this #audiobook !

This story kind of initially reminds me of The Vanishing Half as it involves two sisters that once shared a life together and then were separated. But then this story creates a world of its own. While separated, the sisters still are connected by sharing dreams.

I thought this was a good story. I think the book itslwf may be better than thr audiobook. I had a hard time connecting with the narrator but that could just be me.

Synopsis:

Twin sisters Hassana and Husseina have always shared their lives.

But after a raid on their village in 1892, the twins are torn apart. Taken in different directions, far from their home in rural West Africa, each sister finds freedom and a new start. Hassana settles in in the city of Accra, where she throws herself into working for political and social change. Husseina travels to Salvador, Brazil, where she becomes immersed in faith, worshipping spirits that bridge the motherland and the new world. Separated by an ocean, they forge new families, ward off dangers, and begin to truly know themselves.

As the twins pursue their separate paths, they remain connected through their shared dreams. But will they ever manage to find each other again?

I was drawn in by the premise of twin sisters being separated during a raid that landed them in slavery, and I was interested in how the story would shape once these twins found each other. Unfortunately, the book fell a little bit flat for me.

I read and listened to the audio and e-galley to fulfill my needs, so NetGalley, you're getting double reviews from me! I listened to the lovely Zoleka Vundla narrate the lives of Hassana and Husseina. I could never tell which twin I was focusing on at times (thank God for the chapter titles), but Vundla did a good job bringing the story to life.

TDBB didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I thought I'd see grit and hardship. I wasn't expecting anything brutal because it is a children's book, but a little more pushback going against the mission? Everything felt too easy. While the characters did reach their objectives, it wasn't the big huzzah I was looking for.

I did enjoy the girl's journey of learning about religion and faith. When we connect slavery with religion, it's always forced teachings to diminish whatever God or Devil they worshiped. Here, the girls got a chance to explore and choose whether they believed in the creed and wanted to practice it. I also liked the twin's connection through their dreams. I always found it fascinating that two people will always be connected because they share the same DNA. That will always be a mythical wonder to me.

In turn, I didn't know how I felt about the book. One minute I'm super into it, and then the next, I'm bored. It read very middle grade. It had a little childlike suspense, like we were about to see something devastating and epic, but it lulls as the author shies away from further trauma.

I think doing the audio lowered this rating for me.
The narration was a bit stale.
Not enough emotion inflected, and no distinguishing between character' s voices (unless the names were said).
If you read this I would highly suggest the print version.
The story itself is pretty interesting, it just gets muddled when you have trouble keeping track of the changing POVs.
Much love to NetGalley & Tantor Audio for my DRC.

I wanted to like this book but completely struggled to connect to the characters the entire time. Everything felt so surface level. I think a part of it was the choppy, childish writing style. I’m not sure if that was intentional to convey learning new languages but at 16, I don’t think it should’ve seemed like that. Besides that though, we couldn’t always get into the characters thoughts and feelings, which is a big problem to me as a reader. I absolutely hated seeing Victoria only go “on walks” with her friend. While it was easy to infer they liked each other, I was dying to know what they talked about, what attracted them to each other and so on. I also couldn’t see why they continually kept the twin thing a secret over and over. Again, it was all just so surface level and I was dying to know their hearts instead of just being told.