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kiptim54's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kimberlyf's review against another edition
5.0
“You could convince anyone you belonged somewhere if you acted like you did”.
whewww, this book gripped me. stripped me down and made me feel raw. I felt angry. I felt sad. I felt hopeful. I felt everything.
this book is a beautiful story, so eloquently written, about two black, identical twin sisters who decide to lead their lives in two different directions. one, living with her black daughter in the same small town where she grew up and once tried to escape. the other, secretly passing for white, her husband and current neighbors knowing nothing of her past.
I normally find myself tearing through fiction novels but I wanted to savor this one, page by page, chapter by chapter, so that I could really process and understand the drama. It packs in all uncomfortable topics. topics that people are too scared, too ashamed to talk about: racial injustice, gay and transgender inequality, sexual assault. uncomfortable, but important, topics that are REAL and are happening right now, every day.
hats off to Brit for putting together this incredible story
whewww, this book gripped me. stripped me down and made me feel raw. I felt angry. I felt sad. I felt hopeful. I felt everything.
this book is a beautiful story, so eloquently written, about two black, identical twin sisters who decide to lead their lives in two different directions. one, living with her black daughter in the same small town where she grew up and once tried to escape. the other, secretly passing for white, her husband and current neighbors knowing nothing of her past.
I normally find myself tearing through fiction novels but I wanted to savor this one, page by page, chapter by chapter, so that I could really process and understand the drama. It packs in all uncomfortable topics. topics that people are too scared, too ashamed to talk about: racial injustice, gay and transgender inequality, sexual assault. uncomfortable, but important, topics that are REAL and are happening right now, every day.
hats off to Brit for putting together this incredible story
dinaavery's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
lisa70's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Recommend read.
baoluong's review against another edition
4.0
my heart is breaking
Seriously, what does it mean to be white? Is it just skin color or a way of life like picket fences and football? Rather I think race is something intangible that no one possess, not even “white people”. It’s a social construct that very much determines who will be disadvantaged. Given the chance, would you take the opportunity to be inducted into the white people club if it meant continuing to keep others underneath your boot heel?
Stella and Desiree were born light skinned mixed race twins. One decides to identify as black while the other chooses to integrate herself as a white woman. I’m not one to say either are wrong because at the end of the day they are of mixed race and the conversation of race in America is very black and white, literally. But the difference in “passing” is enough to allow one of the twins to live in a gated community with an architect husband and a daughter in college without having to work her way through it.
The book goes into detail explaining the racial makeup of the sisters’ lineage and inevitably the day a Stella disappears. It isn’t until we also follow their daughters’ journey that the two reunite. While the ending is bittersweet, it’s the path the each character has chosen for herself.
The writing jumps perspective frequently and while at times I find this distracting or messy, I think the purpose is to ultimately create little cliff hangers in the story. It just so happens, that in order to pick up from another narrative, we have to trudge through their own little flashbacks and then hopefully remember where we last left off. I recommend this for fans of own voices and wanting a fiction revolving around hidden identities.
Seriously, what does it mean to be white? Is it just skin color or a way of life like picket fences and football? Rather I think race is something intangible that no one possess, not even “white people”. It’s a social construct that very much determines who will be disadvantaged. Given the chance, would you take the opportunity to be inducted into the white people club if it meant continuing to keep others underneath your boot heel?
Stella and Desiree were born light skinned mixed race twins. One decides to identify as black while the other chooses to integrate herself as a white woman. I’m not one to say either are wrong because at the end of the day they are of mixed race and the conversation of race in America is very black and white, literally. But the difference in “passing” is enough to allow one of the twins to live in a gated community with an architect husband and a daughter in college without having to work her way through it.
The book goes into detail explaining the racial makeup of the sisters’ lineage and inevitably the day a Stella disappears. It isn’t until we also follow their daughters’ journey that the two reunite. While the ending is bittersweet, it’s the path the each character has chosen for herself.
The writing jumps perspective frequently and while at times I find this distracting or messy, I think the purpose is to ultimately create little cliff hangers in the story. It just so happens, that in order to pick up from another narrative, we have to trudge through their own little flashbacks and then hopefully remember where we last left off. I recommend this for fans of own voices and wanting a fiction revolving around hidden identities.
blee98's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jfrie65's review against another edition
3.0
A unique story but just not enough sense of place or character development for me.
pandagourgh's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the beginning of this book a lot, but I didn’t really connect with or care for the second generation of characters and found their part quite slow moving. I do however appreciate Bennets explanation of how racism, privledge and culture can be both inherited and created through experience and circumstance. The book also gave a good insight into internalised racism and anti-blackness.