Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

101 reviews

zara89's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Medical content, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Dementia, Bullying, Cursing, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Classism

lovelybookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.25

I read THE VANISHING HALF with my virtual book club, and we had an especially thoughtful, moving discussion about it. This novel explores internalized racism, beauty standards, colorism, and passing. But Bennett also reaches into the complexity of autonomy and independence vs. familial ties and obligations. Sometimes, the path that feels right for one person can deeply hurt others. How do we navigate that? What is the "right" choice? And what influences the decisions we make for our own lives?

There's a trans man side character and...his first appearance included a few instances of deadnaming. Cis authors, you've got to stop doing this—if you'd been listening at all, you'd know this was established *years* ago. Other than that, the rep was quite good and felt accurate for the time period. (I'd like to see what trans men who've read and reviewed the book have to say.) Best of all, he wasn't a tragic character! So that was wonderful.

This story brought up some big feelings re: my own complicated family, about being/not being seen or understood. The ending was especially moving and tears were shed. Bennett's previous novel, THE MOTHERS, has been sitting unread on my bookshelf for a couple of years, but now that I've experienced her writing, I'm hoping to get to that book soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Classism, Dementia, Abandonment, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Dysphoria, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Deadnaming

madelinedalton'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

3.5

I wish I had liked this more. The first 60 pages of the book were really hard to get into, and I found myself constantly having to re-read passages because I missed something. I hate it when books make me feel dumb. But it got better after those first 60 pages and then I enjoyed the reading experience. It’s overall an interesting story, but I just felt really emotionally detached from it all. I think the writing style sets up a distance between the reader and the characters. I wish the twists and secrets had elicited a strong emotional response in me, but they didn’t, and that’s a bummer. Also, the time jumps and perspective shifts were sometimes confusing, but it didn’t bother me too much.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Medical content, Death, and Death of parent

Major content warning for colorism

carolynbruce's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Dementia

Minor: Medical content and Transphobia

sarahreadsbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a truly fantastic book. I didn’t expect to fly through it as fast as I did but I couldn’t put it down! I loved the writing, the storylines as they both intersected and diverged, and the themes and messages that were still relevant to today, despite the book’s historical setting. I think the only reason why it’s not a full 5 stars is because I did occasionally get confused with the frequent back and forth between time periods, especially towards the end of the book. However, it didn’t really affect my overall comprehension of the story so it wasn’t a big deal. I’m happy I finally got around to reading this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Medical content

Moderate: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Grief

Minor: Sexual harassment and Terminal illness

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Dementia

maess's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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: Medical content, Racial slurs, Dementia, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

caitlinderocker's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Classism, Death of parent, Sexism, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, and Cultural appropriation

morganperks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Classism, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Deadnaming, Dementia, Gaslighting, Racism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

quinn12_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Dementia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Murder, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, and Terminal illness