Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

119 reviews

inkdrinkermal's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

This felt like a more modern version of Passing by Nella Larsen with the plot of Stella passing as white and marrying and raising her daughter as white while Desiree raised her daughter as black, and East of Eden by John Steinbeck with the family saga spanning decades and state lines. I believe this is a modern classic, masterfully covering topics of race, color, gender-identity, and family. It was beautifully done. 

I couldn't stand Stella though. Like, really, really, truly hated her. She was not redeemed by the end of the book and her selfishness was hard to read through (see how she treated Adele, Desiree, Loretta, Blake, AND Kennedy?! It was awful to read), so I dropped the rating a star. Having such a thoroughly unlikeable character with no redemption made the book more difficult to get through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Dementia

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

sydneybedell's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Dementia

candacem's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Dementia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism

emilyurebuckley's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Bullying

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Went into it knowing the general plot, but was still impressed with how it was executed. Very emotional and raw, it had me in a chokehold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Dementia, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

sjduncan's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Racial slurs, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Dementia

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

erd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Love how the story is organized into chunks diving deeper on specific characters and their pain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

None of content is over-the-top or overdone, all of it drives the story along.

tigerlily800's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This is a beautifully written novel that I foresee becoming a modern classic. The author did an amazing job of making these characters and storylines feel real and matter to the reader. There were no black and white characters, they all had depth that was built upon. The writing itself was a little hard to follow every now and then, the story kept doubling back on itself in order to give context which made the story unfold well but as an audio listener was sometimes hard to keep up with. 

This book lands itself in one of my favorite reads of all time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Transphobia

elodiepoline404's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol