Reviews with content warning for Dementia - The Vanishing Half

It’s hard not to think of this in conversation with Passing - in some ways, it feels like it could be an extended version, even though of course the details (and time period) are very different.

And some unexpected trans representation! I would have been interested to see some exploration of passing in terms of gender v race

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caitlove15's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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savreads28's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.25

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norcalchris's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

There was so much to unpack in this story. It was about a lot more than the blurb advertises.

Ultimately, I was left wanting deeper excavation of many of the topics presented and characters. It felt strangely devoid of emotion.

Not sure it would come to mind to recommend to others.

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dramagirl2003's review against another edition

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informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this was a very enlightening read with a lot of interesting characters and perspectives. this book is entirely third-person which i don’t often enjoy quite so much, but the author used it very well

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dqueen's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I’ve put off reading this book for a long time and I regret not picking it up sooner. The story was so magnetizing I couldn’t put it down, I had to continue turned the pages to see what would happen next.

I love the intricacies of the multi generational family and how brilliantly their stories were laid out, explored and overlapped one another.

The exploration of girlhood through to womanhood was done well, along with the mother, daughter and sister relationships. The commentary on race was jarring to my sheltered Australian life, however I recognize that is a reality for many.

My only criticism is that I felt it ended abruptly, but perhaps that was just me yearning for more!

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Enduring, diligent, confident

We follow twin siblings from their childhood through to their teens, where they eventually go their separate ways and live with different racial identities. We later follow their children, unaware of much of the family history as they navigate early adulthood.
🇺🇸 Set in small town Louisiana; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Washington D.C. from the 1940s to the 1980s.

🎙️ Love the narration. Felt like I was watching a movie, it was easy to stay engaged and differentiate the characters. The narration is also expressive and emotive - one of the few audiobooks I didn't need to adjust the speed on for it to sound more natural.

🐺🐕 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🥹 The writing style is so immersive and empathetic, and I was hooked into the story early on. The twins each have different personalities and are well developed as we follow them over the decades.

👌 The timeline jumping for the first 75% or so of the novel worked well to set the scene and provide context. It is very show, not tell, even when in-real-life horrors are unfolding.
🤔 However, the last 25% was harder to follow. I sometimes got confused about what timeline we were in for the later chapters and I felt like the character development for Kennedy and Jude was lacking a bit. It almost felt like the kids we followed earlier were not the adults we follow now. It just didn't relate back to the past if that makes sense? It felt more like we were being reminded of what happened in their childhoods instead of seeing how those events impacted them now.

Mood Reading Match Up:

Historical fiction with small town 1950s vibes up to gritty 1980s city life
Multigenerational story showing the impact of each generation on the next ones
Character studies exploring privilege, bias (conscious and unconscious), race, prejudice, presumptions, and identity

Content Heads-Up: Racism (slurs, character opinions, themes, prejudice, persecution). Physical abuse (relationship). Transgender rep (good to excellent?). Death of a parent. Dementia.

Format: Library Audio via Libby

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beeasinbumble's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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