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A review by sharkemoji
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
3.0
Overall, this was a good book that I would recommend, but at specific instances it felt both ridiculous and lacking in nuances necessary for such comparisons between white passing and cis passing.
The daughters felt like more of a focus than the actual main characters of Stella and Desiree, who were in my opinion much more interesting. The lack of Desiree after Jude leaves for college was a bit disappointing, and Kennedy was honestly rather annoying. Stella was given almost no interiority beyond woman who lied about being white, and the sort of reflections on white housewife oppression is seriously lacking in any sort of depth or reality. I don't know. It felt like a book that wanted to do too much, that included trans and queer characters as a way to add more complexities rather than because they actually should be there... it was enjoyable but I didn't find it as.... satisfying as I hoped. Maybe my expectations were too high.
Jude was interesting and had depth, but she was about it. Kennedy felt like she had depth but she didn't really have anything other than like. idk. my mom doesnt make sense to me.
The daughters felt like more of a focus than the actual main characters of Stella and Desiree, who were in my opinion much more interesting. The lack of Desiree after Jude leaves for college was a bit disappointing, and Kennedy was honestly rather annoying. Stella was given almost no interiority beyond woman who lied about being white, and the sort of reflections on white housewife oppression is seriously lacking in any sort of depth or reality. I don't know. It felt like a book that wanted to do too much, that included trans and queer characters as a way to add more complexities rather than because they actually should be there... it was enjoyable but I didn't find it as.... satisfying as I hoped. Maybe my expectations were too high.
Jude was interesting and had depth, but she was about it. Kennedy felt like she had depth but she didn't really have anything other than like. idk. my mom doesnt make sense to me.