Separated @ Birth Book Review + Reading Challenge January Update
Separated @ Birth: A true love story of Twin Sisters Reunited
Anaïs Bordier and Samantha Futerman
Imagine one day opening Facebook and reading a message from a stranger that says, "I think we might be twins... don't freak out..."
I was introduced to the women in this book Samantha and Anaïs through their Kickstarter Page 'TWINSTERS' that had gone viral last year. I was fascinated by their story: two sisters, one an American actress living in California and the other a french fashion design student living in London found each other through social media. By the time I got around to their kickstarter page, their campaign had ended and since I didn't want to wait around for the documentary, I found their book online. I don't usually read memoirs but I found this book really interesting. Not just because the plot sounds like it could be a Lifetime movie event but because I was basically given the ending (the sisters finding each other) and having to work backwards to fill in their journey.
The book narration switches between the two sisters Samantha and Anaïs, throughout the book. By the fourth chapter I knew who was writing the section even without the heading because each sister had such an individual voice and style of writing. The story spans over several months and spans over three continents in their journey of discovering not just each other but each other's families, friends and life. Having watched their Kickstarter trailer and a couple of their interviews on YouTube, I can see their personality in the way they write. Sam is a very 'take charge' kinda girl (she was also the one that initiated their trip to South Korea) while Anaïs presence just oozes French. The 19 chapters + epilogue covers their journey, from their initial contact on Facebook to exchanging adoption papers and photos, meeting each other in person, travelling thousands of miles to South Korea and spending holidays together. There's a lot of love, laughs and joy that's contained in this book. I never once felt that they were angry or sad about their circumstances but rather grateful and joyful that they were able to find each other through the power of social media which is something that may not have not have been possible 10 years ago.
This book also covers their feelings about 1) being adopted and 2) being Asian and adopted by white families in two different continents. They talked in depth about the prejudices they individually encounters even to this day. There was even a section where Anaïs talks about how if one of her neighbor sees her on the street and doesn't know her family they may think that she's the maid not the daughter.
I had a hard time placing this book my reading challenge list between a memoir or a book that made me cry. Books rarely make me cry and I am not a big fan of the memoir genre but since I made the commitment to read one book per challenge, I will mark this book down as a book that made me cry. I may have had a couple of sniffles throughout the book but I made it through 19 chapters without a single tear.Then I hit the epilogue where the sisters had their sets of parents write their experiences and Anaïs' dad got me, "When I held Sam in my arms to greet her, my heart fainted and all my rational prejudices faded away instantly. I did not need a DNA test anymore to know that the extraordinary had happened." Merci for the tears Monsieur Jacque Bordier.
If you are interested in Sam and Anaïs' story please go their Facebook page. I cannot recommend this book enough and was excited to have this as my first book review on this blog.
January Update
I am using the Goodreads rating system
1/5 did not like it
2/5 it was ok
3/5 liked it
4/5 really liked it
5/5 it was amazing
A book that made me cry:
Separated @ Birth: A true love story of Twin Sisters Reunited
by Anaïs Bordier and Samantha Futerman
5/5 stars- Go check it out!
A book with a love triangle:
Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London
2/5 stars
A book with one word title:
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
2/5 stars
A book written by someone under 30:
Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success -- Online and Off by Michelle Phan
4/5 stars
Review will be up soon!
Final Count: 4/50 books completed
To keep track of this challenge, I've created a spreadsheet on GoogleDrive to help me remember the books I want to read. If you have any recommendations for the remaining 46 that I have yet conquered please let me know below.
Until next time,
