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A review by jessica42980
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
3.0
All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on September 15, 2020.
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**Unpopular opinion alert**
Everyone seems to be raving about The Vanishing Half, but this is one novel that did not really work for me and I am still not sure why almost a month later. It has an interesting premise: The novel starts out in the 1950s and we have twin girls (Desiree and Stella), both black, but one can pass as white, and she does. But keeping this secret from everyone, including her husband seems to damage Stella. The novel ends in the 1990s with their daughters and lives intersecting.
To see twins live totally different lives despite being the same race during a time of racial changes and the effects of their decisions change everything including their daughters’ lives.
The storyline I was most interested is not even mentioned in the book descrtiption, so it came off as a surprise: It dealt with Jude (Desiree’s daughter) and her relationship with Reese, a transgender man. This relationship almost did not make sense with some of the activities they participated in, as the LGBTQ community has not always coincided well/ been inclusive together in the past especially during this time in the past that the novel is based.
Overall, this is one that had promise, but maybe I just listened to the audiobook at the wrong time. Maybe it was the fact that I listened to the audiobook. Some books don’t translate well to audio. I know it has been optioned for TV/Film, so I would give that a try and see what I think.
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on September 15, 2020.
~~~~
**Unpopular opinion alert**
Everyone seems to be raving about The Vanishing Half, but this is one novel that did not really work for me and I am still not sure why almost a month later. It has an interesting premise: The novel starts out in the 1950s and we have twin girls (Desiree and Stella), both black, but one can pass as white, and she does. But keeping this secret from everyone, including her husband seems to damage Stella. The novel ends in the 1990s with their daughters and lives intersecting.
To see twins live totally different lives despite being the same race during a time of racial changes and the effects of their decisions change everything including their daughters’ lives.
The storyline I was most interested is not even mentioned in the book descrtiption, so it came off as a surprise: It dealt with Jude (Desiree’s daughter) and her relationship with Reese, a transgender man. This relationship almost did not make sense with some of the activities they participated in, as the LGBTQ community has not always coincided well/ been inclusive together in the past especially during this time in the past that the novel is based.
Overall, this is one that had promise, but maybe I just listened to the audiobook at the wrong time. Maybe it was the fact that I listened to the audiobook. Some books don’t translate well to audio. I know it has been optioned for TV/Film, so I would give that a try and see what I think.