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annemac18 's review for:
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I liked the complicated relationships and the character flaws that never went away because they felt realistic to life and family relationships. I liked getting to see life from the twins' perspectives, as well as from their daughters' perspectives, and seeing how they thought and their motivations. I'm finding I like multiple narrators because then you understand what people are doing and why they're doing it.
I enjoyed the contrasts of Jude and Kennedy and how they were almost similar to Stella and Desiree as kids, but Jude was studious and quiet like Stella and Kennedy was boisterous with a dominant personality like Desiree.
I struggled a bit with Reece's storyline, however. Acknowledging that I am neither a trans person nor a person of color and will, therefore, never truly understand Reece's perspective, I felt that his inclusion in the book was more of a means to add to the "changing who you are" theme than it was to tackle what it means to be a trans man of color, especially one navigating the 70s and 80s in the United States. I feel like they glossed over certain things, like how they navigated being intimate (or not intimate) for years if Reece did not want Jude to touch his chest or the throwaway comment about Reece's pregnant pause when Desiree asked about grandchildren. I understand that the theme of the book was about choosing who you are and who you want to be, and going after that desire, but I wish that the author had spent a bit more time fleshing this out because I think it would have been valuable to Reece's development.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in reading about complicated relationships and people doing life, both together and apart.
Spoiler
I liked that the end of the book didn't feel quite finished because it means that their storylines aren't finished, either. Regarding Stella, I appreciated the depth of her storyline that she made choices to be happier but that they backfired and she was never able to be truly happy because she was so worried about being caught in her lies. Even at the end, though she got the things she wanted, she lacked the relationships she craved. She was too scared to be honest and gain the authentic relationships she clearly wanted because she feared her honesty would cause her to lose the things she'd gained through her deception (her husband, her nice house, etc.). Her character development, therefore, felt stunted but I think her being a flawed character makes her feel more realistic. I thought her lack of character development contrasted with the character development of Desiree because she gave up the things she wanted (mainly, to get out of Mallard) to maintain relationships (with Jude, with her mother, with Early, with people in the town) and she ended up gaining happiness. Even though she pretended to gripe about it all, Desiree had a full life with authentic relationships and Stella, though she pretended she was happy, was never truly happy in the life she chose.I enjoyed the contrasts of Jude and Kennedy and how they were almost similar to Stella and Desiree as kids, but Jude was studious and quiet like Stella and Kennedy was boisterous with a dominant personality like Desiree.
Spoiler
I liked that their storylines weren't super successful or without uncertainty because it makes them feel like real people dealing with the real world. It was nice to find out that they were working towards a relationship at the end of the book, even if they could never share it with their respective mothers. I appreciated that the relationship was stilted because it reflects the uncertainties and discomforts that people would have felt in real life in this situation.I struggled a bit with Reece's storyline, however. Acknowledging that I am neither a trans person nor a person of color and will, therefore, never truly understand Reece's perspective, I felt that his inclusion in the book was more of a means to add to the "changing who you are" theme than it was to tackle what it means to be a trans man of color, especially one navigating the 70s and 80s in the United States. I feel like they glossed over certain things, like how they navigated being intimate (or not intimate) for years if Reece did not want Jude to touch his chest or the throwaway comment about Reece's pregnant pause when Desiree asked about grandchildren. I understand that the theme of the book was about choosing who you are and who you want to be, and going after that desire, but I wish that the author had spent a bit more time fleshing this out because I think it would have been valuable to Reece's development.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in reading about complicated relationships and people doing life, both together and apart.