Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Vanishing Half

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!

Content Warnings

lahars_little_library's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

3.5

This book is wonderfully written. I loved the exploration of race and identity and hate that I was sick on the night of my book group. I know it would have I spired some great discussions. Only 2 things lowered my rating of this book. I don't tend to enjoy generational novels and prefer having one strong main character throughout the book. The Vanishing Half focused on four women in one family. That's just not my preference. Secondly, there were some strong content triggers for me in this book. I should have looked up the content warnings ahead of time. If neither of these things bother you or is truly a gripping story.

Content Warnings

remindmetoread's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I found this book captivating. I think the author managed to really bring a story to life and there were a lot of parts in it that I adored. I definitely recommend it as good read and stimulating family story. I found this book to be great with pacing, but toward the ending I felt the author was clearly trying to wrap up the story in a nice bow and the bow was pretty but the wrapping paper was a little ripped. I enjoyed the 3rd person perspective of this book, it was just the time jumping that was a tad confusing. And there were parts where she tells you the future and I just felt that was an unnecessary interjection. I would have preferred an epilogue to these one off sentences that were forgettable. One thing I feel was missing was a conversation about the twins hair. I feel as Black women, our hair is a big deal and although they're white passing Black girls, I couldn't imagine the twins with bone straight hair. And the entire book I was curious of how Stella styles her hair with no mention of hot tools or chemical straighteners. No awkward trip to a white salon. Just perfect assimilation. I don't recall the author saying much besides long hair so I left it up to my imagination. This book did a great job of the racism and colorism of the time periods. Even the brief interracial dating was spot on. And I liked how the book title relates to multiple vanishing halves in this book. Of course the twins are the most obvious but you spot more throughout the book, which I felt were beautiful themes to notice. And the most beautiful of them all was the Character, Reese. I love Reese so much. He deserves nothing but the world. Seeing him through the 3rd person perspective of Jude were my favorite parts. I don't have much else to say without giving away major parts of the story but Stella and Jude's arcs were also the most satisfying to me. We saw the major point of views of 5 characters, the twins, the daughters, and a character named Early. Stella's daughter didn't get much love in this book. I felt so sorry for her. It was honestly a perspective that deserved a lot more attention than it got. I felt she was lost and I felt lost for her as well. Another vanishing half.

Content Warnings