Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Vanishing Half

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

605 reviews

kriskelly's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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rarasreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

This book centers on two Black twin sisters, Stella and Desiree, whose paths diverge over time as one sister passes over as White while the other does not.

I found the story and writing quite engaging and expansive in relation to the content covered. As a reader, I was compelled to reflect on race, gender, colorism, family, and the overarching theme of identity throughout. However, I believe the breadth of the topics serve as a drawback in it of itself as I felt the author was unable to illustrate those topics and in depth. This did not do justice to several of the characters’ narratives.

While I also understand how the story unfolded for Stella and Desiree, I felt the ending left much more to be desired.

I still think this is an important read that additionally makes a great selection for book clubs.

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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ltsang08's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.5

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

I was pulled in right away! Its been a long time that a foreword has made me say “oh this is going to be a great book” 💜

A beautiful story that I didn’t want to put down but also wanted to take my time with it! I marked a lot of passages with quotes that struck me or made me think.

Chapters could be a little long for my taste but I didn’t always mind it. I was intrigued and captivated by the well-developed, complex characters! I especially enjoyed the switching POVs and spanning across years/decades to follow the twins and the family. There were times I hated characters and other times I sympathized with them.

I’ve never read a book quite like this and I’ll definitely be reading more from Brit Bennett!

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