The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Half Lives
Author: Krystle Zara Appiah
Published: June 2026
Genre: Literary
Themes: Family, Relationships

One sentence summary: Krystle Zara Appiah is back with another beautifully told novel, which this time centres sisterhood and all its nuances.

One sentence review: A slightly different pace than Rootless but a brilliant read nonetheless.

Review:

Evelyn and Maggie grew up together, but they didn’t have the same childhood. The pair used to be inseparable and always promised to do everything together, but it doesn’t always work out like that.. now split between between Ghana and the US, and so much heartbreak between them, they’re still trying to find themselves.

Appiah has such a talent for writing about the nuances and complexities of family life and relationships and while dark in places, it’s so so beautiful to read.

Evelyn and Maggie are brilliant sisters, Appiah gets so much right in their relationship and it’s refreshing to see. They’re utterly imperfect and even unreasonable at times, which makes for brilliant reading. The plot curves and twists to points I wouldn’t have guessed.

A slightly different pace than Rootless but a brilliant read nonetheless.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops and my work while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here or on audio with Libro.fm here.

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, we have a cosy community over on patreon and if you love a bookish giveaway and learning about all the new releases, we’d love to have you with us. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 03/07/2026