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A review by mudder17
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
4.0
4-4.5 stars
This is one of those books that you just have to sit with for a while and just let the story sink into your bones. I have never heard of the author (this is her second novel), but this was a novel that really got under your skin, pun intended. The story begins in the 1940s when two twin sisters witness their father being lynched in Mallard, LA, a unique town where light-skinned negroes are the majority, and the lighter your skin, the "better" you are. As can be seen in the Goodreads summary, one of the twins ends up choosing a life where she passes as white, and the other ends up with a very dark-skinned man with whom she has a darker skinned daughter. This book spans several generations and explores skin color, identity, choice, relationships, and family. My favorite characters were Jude and Reese, but I found myself being able to empathize with each of the major characters and I felt the author did such an amazing job making me feel compassion for them. I can definitely recommend this book, and now want to experience the author's first book.
This is one of those books that you just have to sit with for a while and just let the story sink into your bones. I have never heard of the author (this is her second novel), but this was a novel that really got under your skin, pun intended. The story begins in the 1940s when two twin sisters witness their father being lynched in Mallard, LA, a unique town where light-skinned negroes are the majority, and the lighter your skin, the "better" you are. As can be seen in the Goodreads summary, one of the twins ends up choosing a life where she passes as white, and the other ends up with a very dark-skinned man with whom she has a darker skinned daughter. This book spans several generations and explores skin color, identity, choice, relationships, and family. My favorite characters were Jude and Reese, but I found myself being able to empathize with each of the major characters and I felt the author did such an amazing job making me feel compassion for them. I can definitely recommend this book, and now want to experience the author's first book.