Date Published: August 7th, 2018
Publisher: Owl House Books
Agapanthus was kidnapped when she was only two years old, but she doesn’t remember it. In fact, she doesn’t remember her home planet at all. All she knows is Deeyae, the land of two suns; the land of great, red waters. Her foster-family cares for her, and at first that’s enough. But, as she grows older, Agapanthus is bothered by the differences between them. As an Exchanger, she’s frail and tall, not short and strong. And, even though she was raised Deeyan, she certainly isn’t treated like one. One day, an Exchanger boy completes the Deeyan rite-of-passage, and Agapanthus is inspired to try the same. But, when she teams up with him, her quest to become Deeyan transforms into her quest to find the truth―of who she is, and of which star she belongs to.
About the Author
Francesca G. Varela was raised in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 2015 she graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing, and she then went on to receive her master’s degree in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah.
Francesca’s dream of becoming an author began in third grade, and her writing career had an early start; she wrote her award-winning first novel, Call of the Sun Child, when she was only 18 years old, and she wrote her second novel, Listen, when she was only 20.
When not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys playing piano, figure skating, hiking, identifying wild birds, plants, and constellations, and travelling to warm, sunny places whenever she can.
This book is interesting to say the least. I was not expecting a sci-fi, but a coming of age story and it fits right in. Agapanthus knows she is different and has never been completely accepted by her new people. Part of an exchange program, she is now on Deeyae , the only place she knows as home. We follow ger from a young age, as she experiences life as being different, desire to be accepted and fit in, but also trying to find out who she really is and where she comes from.
I cannot say I disliked it, on the contrary. Just keep in mind that it’s slow to build and for the most part, is more about analyzing the character and her attempts at a better life. The plot is surprising, since in my mind I was envisioning a love story like no other (because I am mostly a romance reader and I cannot escape the custom), but with all the things happening in Agapanthus’ life, we have some unexpected turn of events.
This aspect of being different is very well treated in the story. We have two types of “different”: the girl trying to be accepted by her adoptive family and her wish to be one of them and later on we see her back with her real family. Here we have the adjustment to something that should feel normal. It’s very interesting and has a strong physiological aspect.
All in all, this is a book that will surprise you at every turn. For me it was not an easy read, but challenging. It was a good story to push me out of my comfort zone. Loved it – 4 stars!
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Lilly's Book World 
So happy for you Cesca.
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