Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Vanishing Half

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

634 reviews

_sarahleb_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Ultimately, this was a pretty good book that touched on various important topics. However, I felt like it often just scratched the surface of these issues. I think it could have benefited from discussing some of the topics in more depth. I really appreciated the trans representation, but it all seemed very vague. I recognized that he was more of a side character than a main character, but I think I would have really enjoyed them discussing the experience of trans men, especially in that period of time.

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amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I throughly enjoyed this book. From beginning to end the author had me totally enraptured.

I felt for both of the Vignes sisters. As you follow one twin who decided to live as a black person and the other who decided to live as a white. I ended up feeling for both and the ending of this book felt appropriate as well.

The author made such smart decisions in writing. It is so well done! My only critique is that I want more.

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mid_reads_books's review against another edition

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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

In 1978, in small town called Mallard, twins sneak out of their house, hoping to finally leave and see what the rest of the world looks like. But when the girls start building a life of their own in New Orleans, the differences between the two sisters start showing, eventually leading to their separation.

Years later, we discover the aftermath of their decisions, not only for themselves but also for their daughters, as each of them try to make it through this world.

I had expected to really love this book. Generally, I'm a huge fan of multi-generational historical fictions that center around identity, family and love. This book had all that and I also appreciated the trans representation here. The writing was beautiful and the characters were all interesting. The way identity was explored in it really allowed me to think more about my own relationship with the various elements of my identity and I really enjoyed that.

This book started falling short of my expectations a little over halfway through though. At first I really found the vague, detached writing style intriguing because it gave this air of mystery to the story. As it progressed, I had hoped for a more in-depth approach of each characters' thoughts and it didn't happen. For a book that is so centered around the theme of identity, that was a little disappointing.

The book is written in an ominous point of view that makes it easy to switch from one character's focus to another and stylistically, I thought it was a really interesting choice but in terms of execution, it ended up impeding on the book's potential because it ends up being very surface level.

In a way though, it really cemented that feeling of detachment that every character experiences. It helped carry the concept of the "vanishing half", not only as twins growing apart but also characters struggling to fully grasp their own identity as there is always a part of them that they're running from or trying to (re)connect with.

I'd still consider it a nice book despite all and would highly recommend if those themes interest you.

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denijaaa_s's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

5.0

There were many ways to be alienated from someone, few to actually belong.

tad, kad es šo grāmatu ieliku TBR sarakstā un beidzot to paņēmu bibliotēkā, es nebiju iedomājusies, ka šī grāmata būs TIK laba. stāsts ievilka jau no pirmajām lapaspusēm, un es atklāju, ka tad, kad es nelasīju, es domāju par šo grāmatu un ar nepacietību gaidīju, kad varēšu lasīt tālāk. šī grāmata ļoti paplašina redzesloku un kalpo kā lielisks informatīvais materiāls tumšādaino cilvēku vēsturē. ļoti skaisti sarakstīta grāmata, bagātīga valoda, tik izcili piemeklētas metaforas. ļoti daudz emocionālu momentu un pavērsienu, kas lika just līdzi varoņiem ar visu savu sirdi un nogrozīt galvu neticībā. ļoti patika.

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