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A review by allthatissim
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
4.0
Initial thoughts: Wow what a brilliant book!
Actual rating 4.5 stars, deducted half stars just for a certain paragraph that rubbed in a wrong way. Otherwise, a wonderful read.
Full review to come soon!
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Review:
Some books need to be devoured slowly.. line by line.. to feel those emotions, underlying the words. The Vanishing Half is one of those books, that need to be cherished. The concept - dark skin people marrying lighter ones so that over the generations children can be white-passing - was something mind-blowing to me. However, this story is so much more than about race.
It is a story of twin sisters, their longing for one another when one returns to their hometown and one marries a white man and living her life as a white woman. This story is about their daughters, one white and another as dark as coal, each trying to find the missing pieces in their mothers' life.
Set in a fictional town of Mallard, Louisiana, The Vanishing Half deals with heavy themes like racism, classism, identity, physical abuse, internalised colourism, LGBTQIA+ matters, and motherhood. Despite having heavy themes, this book doesn't read like a heavy read. Bennett's narration flows smoothly and grips you till the end.
The writing is the real gem of this story that holds your attention till the very end, despite having multiple povs and forth and backstories. Yeah, if you are not a fan of multiple povs or jumping timelines, then you might find it a bit difficult. But trust me, once you get used to the pattern, the story would suck you right in.
The characters are flawed but the way Bennett represented those, you will be absorbed in their lives. When Vignes returns to Mallard, you would see her need for survival, her love for her daughter. When you start reading Stella's pov, you might understand white she decided to live a white-passing life. But in her fear of getting recognise anytime, she was distant from her daughter and never showed her real side to even her. And that creates a bridge between a beautiful mother-daughter relationship. If your daughter can't know that you are hiding something then who else would?
Jude grew as the only black girl in her white-passing coloured people's town and saw the way the whole town judged her. But Vignes saw a better future for her daughter- the future that she wasn't able to achieve herself.
We meet Reese, a trans guy, who is living his life disguising himself as a man. Then there is Early Jones, who despite loving Vignes, has spent his life on the road. Every character in this book is unique, with unique development and depth and could see some pieces of yourself in each one of them.
You might have read other reviews of this book and in comparison, mine is nothing close to showing the beautifulness of this amazing story. Still, if I have convinced you a bit to read it, please do so. We see a new friendship forming between cousins despite the hurt they both caused each other, despite what their mothers did in their past. It is an exploration of race and colour but at the same time, it is an exploration of womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, love and misogyny.
Actual rating 4.5 stars, deducted half stars just for a certain paragraph that rubbed in a wrong way. Otherwise, a wonderful read.
Full review to come soon!
-----------------------------------------
Review:
Some books need to be devoured slowly.. line by line.. to feel those emotions, underlying the words. The Vanishing Half is one of those books, that need to be cherished. The concept - dark skin people marrying lighter ones so that over the generations children can be white-passing - was something mind-blowing to me. However, this story is so much more than about race.
It is a story of twin sisters, their longing for one another when one returns to their hometown and one marries a white man and living her life as a white woman. This story is about their daughters, one white and another as dark as coal, each trying to find the missing pieces in their mothers' life.
Set in a fictional town of Mallard, Louisiana, The Vanishing Half deals with heavy themes like racism, classism, identity, physical abuse, internalised colourism, LGBTQIA+ matters, and motherhood. Despite having heavy themes, this book doesn't read like a heavy read. Bennett's narration flows smoothly and grips you till the end.
The writing is the real gem of this story that holds your attention till the very end, despite having multiple povs and forth and backstories. Yeah, if you are not a fan of multiple povs or jumping timelines, then you might find it a bit difficult. But trust me, once you get used to the pattern, the story would suck you right in.
The characters are flawed but the way Bennett represented those, you will be absorbed in their lives. When Vignes returns to Mallard, you would see her need for survival, her love for her daughter. When you start reading Stella's pov, you might understand white she decided to live a white-passing life. But in her fear of getting recognise anytime, she was distant from her daughter and never showed her real side to even her. And that creates a bridge between a beautiful mother-daughter relationship. If your daughter can't know that you are hiding something then who else would?
Jude grew as the only black girl in her white-passing coloured people's town and saw the way the whole town judged her. But Vignes saw a better future for her daughter- the future that she wasn't able to achieve herself.
We meet Reese, a trans guy, who is living his life disguising himself as a man. Then there is Early Jones, who despite loving Vignes, has spent his life on the road. Every character in this book is unique, with unique development and depth and could see some pieces of yourself in each one of them.
You might have read other reviews of this book and in comparison, mine is nothing close to showing the beautifulness of this amazing story. Still, if I have convinced you a bit to read it, please do so. We see a new friendship forming between cousins despite the hurt they both caused each other, despite what their mothers did in their past. It is an exploration of race and colour but at the same time, it is an exploration of womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, love and misogyny.