Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

614 reviews

micaylabean's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Very well written story, couldn't stop listening. 

Really felt for each of the characters. I think it's interesting to think of how we each have parts of ourselves we probably would like to leave behind sometimes. It's in the way we hide in the grocery store when we see someone from high school. Always feeling like parts of our past are secrets we have to try and hide or just don't want to confront. Not a perfect comparison as we're probably not hiding such big secrets. There's also the reminder that there are people who still want and love us even for the parts we would like to discard.

I did feel there was some disjointed story telling towards the end in regard to Jude's relationship. Some of the timeline presented felt contradictory.

Also, I've been really into books with strong themes of family. Good families, bad families, estranged families, close families... this has a little bit of all of that.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

oliviapincin's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

emjames22's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

juls0899's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense 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

Beautifully written. I love the way each character's story blends together, how they're all intertwined even when they're trying so hard not to be. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nina_mk's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

apollosapprentice's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Author and narrator did an excellent job of moving the story along, the voices showed each character well.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kitaface's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

midnightreads1803's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional 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

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caitlinjfinlay's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective slow-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

3.0

I feel like this book tried to cover too many important topics without entering into any one of them with any great detail. I found the details surrounding Reese’s identity and Barry’s sexuality a bit fuzzy,  and was left wanting more of an exploration into Stella’s psyche. I feel Desiree’s character was a bit neglected by the author; I would’ve liked to have known how her separation from Stella impacted her. We don’t find out what Kennedy’s discovery about her racial identity means to her, or whether it means anything at all. I found this book dragged and I was waiting for a big reveal or plot twist that never arrived. That said it does cover some important themes - racism, colourism, domestic violence, transgenderism - and poignantly so, hence 3 stars for that. I was just left wanting a bit more. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings