Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

250 reviews

lpdx's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Dementia, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Homophobia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Transphobia

theskyboi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

When I say that this book had everything, I feel as though I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. Overall, I had such a fantastic time with Brit Bennett's impactful second novel.

Desiree and Stella Vignes are two identical twin sisters who grow up in Mallard, a town too small to have ever made it onto the map. Perhaps too big for their britches or too ambitious for their surroundings, they let out for greater destinies: Desiree as a Black woman and Stella passing for White.

At the center of this novel lies the struggle that Desiree faces in trying to find her long-lost twin, yet there are so many interlocked stories that sprout from this search. Jude, Desiree's daughter, inevitably sparked my interest with her lifelong journey of love and self-discovery.

Although I will refrain from revealing too much of the intrigue contained between the covers of this magnificent book, I will say that I was delighted to read a story that so effortlessly weaved its way through the intersecting identities of its characters: Black, White, trans, gay, and cis.

Bennett's care for these characters shines brightly on every subsequent page, and the attention that she paid to crafting such a satisfyingly connected, intergenerational exploration of identity formation was much more than I could have ever hoped to find.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Outing, and Sexual content

mekholm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Racism

Moderate: Rape

cheerstochels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

it’s just so beautiful and such a delicious read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Medical content, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

laughingrecord's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Blood, and Death

jessreadsandrambles's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

cecilialau_'s review against another edition

4.25

This book was a tough read at times. Lots of heavy subjects that all these characters dealt with (except for the white boy Blake which was fitting/a good choice story-wise). I couldn’t put it down; it was beautifully written 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Hate crime

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, and Racism

shutupmaybe's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense fast-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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and Hate crime

Minor: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse

thisreadingcorner's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

The Vignes twins, Desiree and Stella steal off in the middle of the night from Mallard to New Orleans, cutting off all contact to their family and community for years. When they resurface, Desiree has broken Mallard “rules” by marrying and having a child with a dark-skinned man, and Stella has become a white woman.

In multiple POVs that span almost thirty years, Bennett compares the fates of these two women through their children, lovers, careers, and shared memories. The obvious questions are answered: How did Stella come to be white? How could Desiree abandon the sole commandment of her hometown? In the process, new ones develop: Is blood enough to make two people family? What makes an identity honest? Can you love someone you don’t truly know?

In so many ways Desiree and Stella are alike, clinging to the narratives they established as traumatized teens and establishing boundaries that prevent those closest to them from realizing how tenuous a grip they have on the lives they’ve molded. There is no overt effort to make any of them less culpable for their decisions, and I appreciate that. The rapid rise and fall of Loretta made me so angry I had to put the book down, and it would have cheapened her family’s pain to ignore the realities of Stella’s chosen whiteness in that moment.

The romantic subplots are stunning: Desiree’s hand on Early’s neck, Early leaning against the doorframe of Lou’s week after week over decades, Jude and Reese locking eyes across a dark room, Reese’s winter apology at Jude’s doorstep, even the absurdity of Frantz casting Kennedy in his desired fetishization with no clue of the irony.

The intimacy of the book isn’t just in the romantic thought. It’s in the juxtaposition of daily life and world crises, the Barry of it all, the landscape narration, the briefly detailed long distance phone calls between two distant cousins. Every word is purposeful and beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Hate crime

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

braipointon's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I just finished this book and I can see myself thinking about it for years. It covered so many important topics in such a graceful way. I fell in love with the characters, especially Jude and Reese. 

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Content Warnings

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