These twins did have a story to tell, and it was well done. I appreciated the sections (Albania/England) and the chapter headings (included in the table of contents). Told in 1st person/past tense, alternating between Deti and Gita's POV ... although they are very similar (being identical twins). Fairly simple and straightforward in the writing, although I could recognize the attempts to make it more "styled" (adding in dialog, descriptive similes ... one soccer metaphor went on way too long for my taste though). 

I listened to the audio version ... and didn't love the narration. The narrator was fine, for any standard American setting. But as this was Albania/England based, I felt like it NEEDED an accented voice. I wonder what the girl's accents are like. I'll be the first to admit I don't know what an Albanian/English accent would be, and acknowledge the girls learned English while in Albania (so not necessarily a British accent) ... but I'm 95% positive their pronunciations wouldn't have been so absolutely American as told in this 1st person audio account. 

One other thing that frustrated me, was not know how old the girls were when it started up. We are given dates (starting in 1997) but aren't told their ages. Are they six, twelve? The image on the front looks young, a couple of eight year olds? Now if I had fully read about the author(s) "Born in Albania, twin sisters Argita and Detina Zalli were eleven years old when the government collapsed and civil war broke out. Two years later, after several failed attempts to flee the violence and poverty, they escaped with their parents to England" ... THEN I would have known.

It was dropped, but not obviously, and not early. In Chapter10, as they bid farewell to their home in 1999 "We had lived that house for close to thirteen years"  and in Chapter11 "we were only thirteen" ... I actually missed those and didn't catch it until Chapter13, (still in 1999) when they go on a train "This would be our second train ride. Our first was ten years before, in 1989, when we were only three years old" ... so I had to do MATH to determine at this point in the story they were 13 years old. Finally stated clearly in Chapter17 "We were thirteen years old" ... I needed a "we were 11 years old" in the first chapter so that I could better visualize things. 

I do have to wonder how many might "ahhhh" over this story, while continuing to be so critical of illegal immigration in the US. Because this happened in Albania/England, because this was a success story, IS it so different than the plight of many of those in Mexico wanting to come to the US for a better life? In this/the former, they attempted legal means ... then resorted to illegal ones. Would the same people shaming "illegal immigration" in the US, the "build the wall" folks, give these girls and their family a pass? Or would they be as so many in the school and say "go back to where you came from" and think themselves justified? How many Dreamers in the US today may also achieve great accomplishments if they are given some opportunity?  While this WAS a wonderful HAE here ... as it is mentioned in the epilogue that the DO go back to Albania to see their family that they left there ... that family had survived, even amidst the chaos - was it as horrible as it was made out to be (that this family HAD to leave?)  We do only hear the super success stories ... one wonders how many other stories there are ... everyone has a story.

The text was included in Kindle Unlimited, and I found the audio on Hoopla at the library.