Amazing, thoughtful, and clever! The concept of polarity of personalities is so cleverly represented by the creation of the identical twins, the comparison between Desiree and Stella’s adult lives, and the dichotomy within Stella‘s self.

I enjoyed reading about Desiree and Stella’s adult lives and how despite Stella’s attained “freedom” and Desiree being forced home to Mallard, that Desiree was the one who kept her spirit free. She built a life the best she could with what she was given - ended up having a great relationship with her daughter, Early, her mum, and managing Lou’s Cafe. Stella in contrast, with all her material riches after her decision to be “free” by passing as white, ended up not “free” at all. She was lonely, had no friends, and nobody knew who she really was.

It was also interesting to see the next generation’s lives differ so greatly from what was expected of them - Kennedy feeling lost and alone despite having had everything provided for her when she was a child, and Jude managing to achieve her dreams and find love in Reese despite the struggles she faced because of her skin colour.

One tiny downside was the use of pronouns instead of names at the start of some paragraphs so I didn’t know sometimes who the writer was referring to. And the strange time travelling to the future in the middle of sentences (one sentence saying “she noticed every thing about him since they’ve broken up” and then moving back to the present where they’re still together in the next.)

Overall, this book was very well-written, well-thought through, with every emotion felt by each character so wonderfully articulated. Hard emotions were made tangible with words and conveyed the horrible consequences of racism in different, distinct manners. Everyone needs to read this book!