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A review by bahareads
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"As they grew, they no longer seemed like one body split in two, but two bodies poured into one each pulling it her own way."
The Vanishing Half is about twin teen girls who run away from home; seven years later one comes back home while the other has vanished passing for white. The book is a family saga that spans 40 years and follows the twins' daughters, as well, as the readers see how different decisions have affected the trajectory of the twins' lives.
There is so much to be understood about The Vanishing Half, that I do not believe I could get it all with one reading. The themes in The Vanishing Half as deep and run through BIPOC community as everyone has experienced some theme in this book, whether they knew it or not. Bennet shows the demonized darker-skinned black people can be, even among black people.
Racism, colourism, internalized hatred, and classism are prevalent in modern-day society, whether you believe it or not.
The layout of The Vanishing Half with multiple POVs was a wonderful choice for the book. Seeing the twins and their daughters perspective adds more to the story as each POV is unique. I enjoyed seeing all of the perspectives of the characters (yes, including Stella). As readers, we see the way how the decisions affect the future and the people around them. The Vanishing Half is start off on the slower side but I could not put it down. Once the story flows it continues on and sucks the reader in. Stella, Desiree, Jude, and Kennedy all brought issues to the story to make it more complex.
The town of Mallard is an interesting concept. I think it brought up a couple of questions in me (the answers could change based on geographical location I guess). Like how white does one need to look to be considered white in different places? I guess it also made me chuckle to think that one could have more 'caucasian' in them but the person with the euro-centric features would be considered more white then them. It is really interesting to think about people's racial identity, and how one may classify the person different than the way they classify themselves. Which brings up an interesting question I would like to ask people who have read the book, did you see Kennedy as black or as white?
I've had two people tell me they loved The Mothers better so I got to pick it up in 2021!
The Vanishing Half is about twin teen girls who run away from home; seven years later one comes back home while the other has vanished passing for white. The book is a family saga that spans 40 years and follows the twins' daughters, as well, as the readers see how different decisions have affected the trajectory of the twins' lives.
There is so much to be understood about The Vanishing Half, that I do not believe I could get it all with one reading. The themes in The Vanishing Half as deep and run through BIPOC community as everyone has experienced some theme in this book, whether they knew it or not. Bennet shows the demonized darker-skinned black people can be, even among black people.
Racism, colourism, internalized hatred, and classism are prevalent in modern-day society, whether you believe it or not.
The layout of The Vanishing Half with multiple POVs was a wonderful choice for the book. Seeing the twins and their daughters perspective adds more to the story as each POV is unique. I enjoyed seeing all of the perspectives of the characters (yes, including Stella). As readers, we see the way how the decisions affect the future and the people around them. The Vanishing Half is start off on the slower side but I could not put it down. Once the story flows it continues on and sucks the reader in. Stella, Desiree, Jude, and Kennedy all brought issues to the story to make it more complex.
The town of Mallard is an interesting concept. I think it brought up a couple of questions in me (the answers could change based on geographical location I guess). Like how white does one need to look to be considered white in different places? I guess it also made me chuckle to think that one could have more 'caucasian' in them but the person with the euro-centric features would be considered more white then them. It is really interesting to think about people's racial identity, and how one may classify the person different than the way they classify themselves. Which brings up an interesting question I would like to ask people who have read the book, did you see Kennedy as black or as white?
I've had two people tell me they loved The Mothers better so I got to pick it up in 2021!