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13fe's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It took me a while to get into this book but I really enjoyed it
pumpkinmama's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent. Extremely well done exploration of identity and self, so captivating.
Only gripe was the narrator: hard-g pronunciations of all ING words was super distracting (eg "singing"="sin-Ging"; "hanging on"="han-Ging gone") and positively horrendous attempts at Brooklyn and Boston accents that ended up sounding identical and no where near reality and were used enough throughout that everytime that character came in I would groan. So I would recommend reading on the page over audio.
Only gripe was the narrator: hard-g pronunciations of all ING words was super distracting (eg "singing"="sin-Ging"; "hanging on"="han-Ging gone") and positively horrendous attempts at Brooklyn and Boston accents that ended up sounding identical and no where near reality and were used enough throughout that everytime that character came in I would groan. So I would recommend reading on the page over audio.
kunthearelinski's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.25
bookishrealm's review against another edition
4.0
Soooo...first I gave this book 4.5 stars. I have no idea where to even begin with my review.
The Vanishing Half is such a complex and timely novel. Colorism and being "white passing" has been and still remains a hot topic of discussion in the Black community. Brit Bennett brings both of these conversations to the forefront in a interesting way. The novel focuses on twins, Desiree and Stella, who grow up in a small town where they are forced to quit school at the age of 16 to help provide an income for their family. Unable to take the burden placed on them by their mother, the girls decide to leave for New Orleans. It's there that each decides to take a new path with their life. Desiree ends up marrying a dark skin man and having a daughter, while Stella decides to pass as white and marry a white man.
The psychology behind the assumptions and stereotypes placed on both narratives is rather intriguing. What I found most unique was the internalized hatred and racism that Black characters had for other Black characters based on how dark their skin was. Dark skin Black individuals are characterized as lazy and problematic while those that were lighter are treated with higher regard. In real life, a lot of those assumptions, thoughts, and feelings still linger. It was particularly interesting to see the advantages that Stella received once she was able to build her life around the lie that she was white. As much as it hurt me to see how much she hated her own blackness, I couldn't help but wonder how stressful and painful it was for her to pretend to be White and give up everything and everyone she loved. The amount of work it even took for Stella to maintain this lie throughout the novel made me exhausted. In comparison, Desiree lived a much simpler life; however, her daughter struggled with her identity as a child, teen, and adult because she was of a darker complexion. She had insecurities not only about the way she look, but also her self-worth. There were quite a few times where she continuously questions whether she is worthy of love.
The characterization and addition of Jude (Desiree's daughter) and Kennedy (Stella's daughter) made the novel even more interesting. Their comparison of their lives made me wonder if Bennett was attempting to say that owning one's Blackness isn't as unfortunate as some would like to paint it to be. I'm usually weary of one books attempt to address so many different perspectives over a large expanse of time, but of course Bennett was able to beautifully weave in each story without losing my attention or interest. The amount of topics that she was able to address in such a short period of time just sang to my soul. I've read her first book The Mothers, but now I know I need to pick it up again and buy a physical copy of this one.
I would say that everyone needs to read this book. It is such an important insight to such an important series of topics and Bennett, as always, handles each with such care. This is definitely going down as one of my favorite books of 2020. I did take off half a star because the ending wasn't what I was expecting or what I necessarily wanted. Other than that, this book is phenomenal!
The Vanishing Half is such a complex and timely novel. Colorism and being "white passing" has been and still remains a hot topic of discussion in the Black community. Brit Bennett brings both of these conversations to the forefront in a interesting way. The novel focuses on twins, Desiree and Stella, who grow up in a small town where they are forced to quit school at the age of 16 to help provide an income for their family. Unable to take the burden placed on them by their mother, the girls decide to leave for New Orleans. It's there that each decides to take a new path with their life. Desiree ends up marrying a dark skin man and having a daughter, while Stella decides to pass as white and marry a white man.
The psychology behind the assumptions and stereotypes placed on both narratives is rather intriguing. What I found most unique was the internalized hatred and racism that Black characters had for other Black characters based on how dark their skin was. Dark skin Black individuals are characterized as lazy and problematic while those that were lighter are treated with higher regard. In real life, a lot of those assumptions, thoughts, and feelings still linger. It was particularly interesting to see the advantages that Stella received once she was able to build her life around the lie that she was white. As much as it hurt me to see how much she hated her own blackness, I couldn't help but wonder how stressful and painful it was for her to pretend to be White and give up everything and everyone she loved. The amount of work it even took for Stella to maintain this lie throughout the novel made me exhausted. In comparison, Desiree lived a much simpler life; however, her daughter struggled with her identity as a child, teen, and adult because she was of a darker complexion. She had insecurities not only about the way she look, but also her self-worth. There were quite a few times where she continuously questions whether she is worthy of love.
The characterization and addition of Jude (Desiree's daughter) and Kennedy (Stella's daughter) made the novel even more interesting. Their comparison of their lives made me wonder if Bennett was attempting to say that owning one's Blackness isn't as unfortunate as some would like to paint it to be. I'm usually weary of one books attempt to address so many different perspectives over a large expanse of time, but of course Bennett was able to beautifully weave in each story without losing my attention or interest. The amount of topics that she was able to address in such a short period of time just sang to my soul. I've read her first book The Mothers, but now I know I need to pick it up again and buy a physical copy of this one.
I would say that everyone needs to read this book. It is such an important insight to such an important series of topics and Bennett, as always, handles each with such care. This is definitely going down as one of my favorite books of 2020. I did take off half a star because the ending wasn't what I was expecting or what I necessarily wanted. Other than that, this book is phenomenal!
aftereliza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Police brutality, Dementia, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Violence
eatingwords's review against another edition
5.0
I felt thrown into the story and needed a few pages to orient myself where I was and who I was reading about. but that happened as quickly and I was immediately immersed in the 60s in a fictional town where light-skinned black people were worth more than dark-skinned black people.
this racism and hate within the black community was new to me and I was fascinated, horrified and saddened at how cruel people can be to each other.
the story spanned two generations and four black women growing up not light enough/too black/passing as white and I was not able to put this book down.
there were so many interesting points made about motherhood, about being black in the 60s to 80s, about passing as white, about the struggle of growing up, about transpeople and how all of that was woven together.
I have finished this yesterday and today I still cannot stop thinking about Desiree, Stella, Jude, Reese, and Kennedy.
they were significantly struggling in their own ways and each of them found a way to do the best with the hand they were dealt with.
such an impactful read.
this racism and hate within the black community was new to me and I was fascinated, horrified and saddened at how cruel people can be to each other.
the story spanned two generations and four black women growing up not light enough/too black/passing as white and I was not able to put this book down.
there were so many interesting points made about motherhood, about being black in the 60s to 80s, about passing as white, about the struggle of growing up, about transpeople and how all of that was woven together.
I have finished this yesterday and today I still cannot stop thinking about Desiree, Stella, Jude, Reese, and Kennedy.
they were significantly struggling in their own ways and each of them found a way to do the best with the hand they were dealt with.
such an impactful read.
leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Vanishing Half follows twin sisters, one of whom is darker black and one of whom is lighter black. Colorism is a topic that I haven't read much about, but it was quite interesting to read about that in this story. Additionally, there was a lot of good social commentary, especially surrounding the gay and trans communities. Overall The Vanishing Half was a good story but it wasn't compelling enough that I couldn't put it down. It was mostly curiosity in the ending that kept me coming back to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Death, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Bullying, Sexual content, Rape, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Additional TW/CW: tobacco/smoking, sexual trauma, Alzheimer'sbethersjayne's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-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
4.5
zara93's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
I finished a book in a week?! Who am i?!!
I’m afraid if I say i’m finally out of my reading slump i’ll jinx myself so...
Anyways, The Vanishing Half, not gonna lie i’m a bit disappointed. Okay, maybe more than just a bit. Maybe it’s because I had really high expectations since everyone kept raging about it last year.
But let’s start with the positives:
- The writing was really good for the most part, i was immediately invested in the story. The way the writer introduced characters was brilliant. I liked some more than others but i liked the fact that i could understand where they were coming from and why they went down a specific path.
- I saw some people saying that they didn’t like the time jumps, but i really liked that writing style! The way she would jump from the present to the past to the future and then to another point in the past and finally back to the present.. ok i know it sounds confusing but it was seamless and i never lost track.
- The way she talked about race. I liked how she gave us different perspectives, it was quite interesting. I also had to google if Mallard was a real place!
Okay, moving on to the negatives:
- I was so invested in the twins story i was really let down when the book moved along to other “storylines”? What drew me to the book was the complexity of a twin relationship and also the mother-daughter relationship, therefore i kinda lost interest when there was a romantic relationship going on.
- My biggest issue with this book was the way the writer dealt with the most important moments in the story!!! She kept building to a certain character appearance and when it finally happened, it was so underwhelming. You read this book and you are expecting a certain scene to happen, you are waiting for it because it’s inevitable and the whole book was building towards it.. and again it was underwhelming i was so disappointed! And it happened more than one time.. all the climaxes were meh.. i was looking forward for some important conversations but they happened behind the scenes!!! I just needed more!
- The ending was disappointing as well.. the first half of the book was so intriguing and so much was happening but then it painfully slowed down at points till it came to the most underwhelming halt. It just.. nothing felt resolved. And maybe she intended for it to be like this, but it didn’t work for me at all.
I finished a book in a week?! Who am i?!!
I’m afraid if I say i’m finally out of my reading slump i’ll jinx myself so...
Anyways, The Vanishing Half, not gonna lie i’m a bit disappointed. Okay, maybe more than just a bit. Maybe it’s because I had really high expectations since everyone kept raging about it last year.
But let’s start with the positives:
- The writing was really good for the most part, i was immediately invested in the story. The way the writer introduced characters was brilliant. I liked some more than others but i liked the fact that i could understand where they were coming from and why they went down a specific path.
- I saw some people saying that they didn’t like the time jumps, but i really liked that writing style! The way she would jump from the present to the past to the future and then to another point in the past and finally back to the present.. ok i know it sounds confusing but it was seamless and i never lost track.
- The way she talked about race. I liked how she gave us different perspectives, it was quite interesting. I also had to google if Mallard was a real place!
Okay, moving on to the negatives:
- I was so invested in the twins story i was really let down when the book moved along to other “storylines”? What drew me to the book was the complexity of a twin relationship and also the mother-daughter relationship, therefore i kinda lost interest when there was a romantic relationship going on.
- My biggest issue with this book was the way the writer dealt with the most important moments in the story!!! She kept building to a certain character appearance and when it finally happened, it was so underwhelming. You read this book and you are expecting a certain scene to happen, you are waiting for it because it’s inevitable and the whole book was building towards it.. and again it was underwhelming i was so disappointed! And it happened more than one time.. all the climaxes were meh.. i was looking forward for some important conversations but they happened behind the scenes!!! I just needed more!
- The ending was disappointing as well.. the first half of the book was so intriguing and so much was happening but then it painfully slowed down at points till it came to the most underwhelming halt. It just.. nothing felt resolved. And maybe she intended for it to be like this, but it didn’t work for me at all.
dinma_reads's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-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
4.0