A review by burnt_milk
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I'm so glad I read Nella Larsen's Passing before this as a foundational work. This is fantastic. It is an exploration of all these different people through generations projecting, escaping, not 'finding themselves' but clawing together and making selves anew, searching for where they fit in it all, always conscious of who they are seen by, how they allow themselves to be seen. It was horrifying with Stella - her strangeness of having two worlds she could inhabit but neither of them feeling like home. I really loved Jude and would spend a whole book with her if I could, and I wasn't expecting a happy ending for a character like Reese, or even for him to exist at all, so that was nice to see.
I wish we'd gotten more at the end but this was beautifully written and a joy to read. 
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