Actual rating: 3.5/5

It took me a while to get to this book, so that once I did I had basically forgotten the synopsis entirely and went in almost completely blind. I have to say, it was probably for the best, as I probably would have ended up expecting something different!

The Other Half of Augusta Hope is a bittersweet story about love, grief and finding your place in the world. Augusta is an endearing main character, even though she's not always likeable (but then again, who is?). She is brilliant and curious about the world, loves Burundi despite having never been there, and struggles greatly with life in her small town, despite her deep, deep love for her twin sister Julia. In parallel, the story follows Parfait, a young man from Burundi whose life is very different from Augusta's. When tragedy strikes both of them differently, each will have to work out where they belong.

I really liked the characterisation in this novel: every character was beautifully drawn, imperfections and all, and felt like truly individual, even the minor characters. The characters' feelings and emotions were particularly well fleshed out, which is something I always appreciate. The parallels between Augusta's and Parfait's lives flowed smoothly for most of the novel, and the transitions were handled very well. There were a few times when the move felt a bit clunky, but overall these were few and far between enough to ignore. The story development was engaging, though I won't go into too much more detail to avoid potential spoilers. I will say though: that ending was everything!

I had some issues with the pacing in this book though: at times it felt like it was really dragging along and not much was happening either in terms of plot or character development. The parts where things got moving made up for this, but it was still tough to wade through those parts. There was also a heavy reliance on miscommunication/lack of communication as a plot device, which is something I personally dislike, so my enjoyment of this novel was affected by how annoyed I was getting at the characters for not talking to each other. This is purely down to personal preference though!

Overall, this book was fairly engaging to read and definitely had some memorable characters. I'll be looking out for more books by this author!

CW: This book contains mentions of suicide, child death, grief, addiction and racism.


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

THis is a very interesting book. Written in alternating chapters in the voices of the two lead characters, it tells the stories of two very different people, with some surprising resonances.
The text is quirky - lots of short sentences and one line paragraphs, but it works so well. The author develops the characters subtly (show, don't tell) and they come alive and become very real. I was captivated.
I knew this was a first novel for the author, but nothing else. I had quite firmly decided that it was a young author setting the lead character in her own era. So I was quite stunned to find the author was much older - a school principal no less!
Great book. ( )

I really enjoyed this debut novel. Told in alternating first-person narratives, we meet Augusta and Parfait. Augusta is a twin, her sister Julia is very different from her but they have a link, they are "Justa". The two narratives do link up, but not till the last 15% of the book.
This is a book about loss, about grief. About family. About how everything and everybody is connected.
Despite the highly emotional content, I didn't really feel the emotion myself. However, only 3 books out of 90 I've read so far this year have brought me to tears, and this one came so close, but not quite. ( )

I've read a third of this, and would still be waiting for something to happen, or even to grow fond of one of the characters if I were intending to keep reading. I think I have books on the shelf that I will enjoy more. ( )

Strangely compelling story about twins who have different ambitions and different life outcomes. ( )