The Vanishing Half from the New York Times bestselling author of The Mothers

jude and reese spin off when

Incredible novel about identity, prejudice, racial injustice and looking for what we think we deserve. This felt for me like that famous question “would you prefer to be poor but happy, or rich but sad?”.

great read - easy to digest even with the difficult themes. a simple premise of twins living separate lives and how things come/go around. highly recommend if you’re into long evolving stories that follow personal lives closely

Such a page turner for me—outside of themes of family, race, and class. I really like the idea that one chooses their own fate—for better or worse.

i liked this book! a cyclical story of generational trauma, racism/colorism, sexism, gender equality, all the things. although i liked it, i did feel like it took me awhile to get into it.

“You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.”

4.5/5

This was better than I expected and I went in with high expectations after reading Brit Bennett’s The Mother’s earlier this year - that was great, this was better. I feel like it’s a waste of time for me to summarize and review this since everyone has already done so this year, so I’ll just say these few brief thoughts. This was a beautifully emotional (lots of emotions!!!) story about identity, race, motherhood and the choices we make in life that shape who we become. The characters here are all sweethearts I’d like to give a big hug. It’s a page turner that also has substance and I know it will be stuck in my head for some time to come.

4.5* haven’t read a book like this since homegoing 🫶🏾

broke my heart in the best way, I am soooo happy I read it

Slow Start Picks Up At The End This book took me a while to get through. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well written. The story starts off really slow and keeps building. The plot starts to get good towards the end.

This book is stunning; I could not put it down. Bennett’s frank and reflective style is so addictive, and she communicates the complexities of sisterhood, friendships, familial relationships and relationships with the self. I found the ending devastating and I was so emotionally invested, wanting so badly for each character to have the ending that I had in mind for them. Bennett’s novel reminded me of Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other and Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, both of which I highly recommend.

oh my god

Fantastic read! The subject of passing has never affected me in a personal way and reading this book made me think of how much systemic racism and segregation has robbed so many Black ppl, Black families of the right to not only live but of the fundamental need that families have to be cohesive and thrive.

Unpopular opinion, I guess.

The characters didn't feel like people so much as they felt like particular intersections of power. It let me interested but not really caring, appreciating the road Bennett is on, but not finding anything at its end.

yeah . heart wrenching

I think about this book a lot. Like, an ungodly amount.

This was a great and easy book to read. Normally I want to rush through a book and finish it as fast as possible, but I took my time with the first half of the book. Once I hit the halfway point, I couldn't stop reading. I loved learning about each character's story and felt the book could have been longer if she went deeper into each of their stories. Bennet weaves the past, present and future in a magical way - it's not disruptive, but fluid as a story. The only small criticism I would have is that some of the plot/storylines/situations felt a bit predictable. But the commentary on our identities, who we are, who we want to be and how we perceive one another is beautiful and challenging.

Không rõ là do mình chưa đọc Literary Fiction nhiều như người ta hay thế nào nhưng bản thân thấy quyển này RẤT RẤT RẤT RẤT RẤT đáng đọc. Văn phong của Brit Bennett hay lắm, vì truyện không dài đâu nhưng mình lại không dám bỏ qua câu chữ nào 😂 Truyện đề cập tới khá nhiều topic, cả cũ lẫn mới, không quá nặng nề nhưng cũng đủ để người đọc thấm. Ngoài ra thì đây cũng là lần đầu mình đọc về vấn đề phân biệt màu da -"colourism" (khác với phân biệt chủng tộc) và "passing" (không biết dịch ra như thế nào nhưng cụ thể trong truyện là người da màu nhưng có ngoại hình như người da trắng nên được coi là người da trắng luôn). Nói chung là nên đọc, nếu có thể.

Que história linda, e diferente de qualquer coisa que já vi. A autora nos insere num mundo que tem uma linha do tempo própria, ele vai e volta nas histórias, você conhece a vida de personagens diferentes em momentos diferentes que vão se interligando aos poucos. Não acho que seja uma história que você leia para chegar ao fim, apesar de você estar lendo porque quer chegar em um determinado ponto da história. Ao mesmo tempo, você não sabe se esse momento realmente vai acontecer. A autora teve uma sensibilidade fora desse mundo pra descrever as diferentes vidas das gêmeas. Em muitos momentos, eu não conseguia imaginá-las como realmente irmãs. Não fazia sentido. Incrível, sensacional, maravilhoso. Percebi que "white-passing" não é uma coisa que vemos muito nos livros, e ver isso acontecendo pelo ponto de vista de Stella foi doído, a solidão que era tão grande que as vezes eu sentia ela própria em mim. Ver o jeito que as pessoas agiam ao redor dela, sua própria filha e marido não faziam ideia de quem ela era e do que era importante pra ela. Tanto que um dos meus quotes preferidos (entre muitos!), é: "People thought that being one of a kind made you special. No, it just made you lonely. What was special was belonging with someone else." Esse sentimento de se reconhecer no outro, pertencer ao outro, esteve faltando em toda a vida de Stella e foi muito triste de ler, apesar de entender os motivos da personagem. Gostaria de continuar lendo mais sobre essas vidas. Um dos meus personagens preferidos, que nem apareceu tanto assim, foi o Early. Em um dos últimos capítulos do livros temos um POV dele com a mãe das gêmeas que é de chorar de tão lindo. Obrigada por essa história <3

To be completely honest, I expected more from this book. I was okay, but I found it a bit bland and it didn’t really grip me.

The vanishing half of a society, and their own translucent layers. The vanishing half of a family, of soulmates, and of self. Brit Bennett has not illuminated the dark side of the moon, she has set it ablaze.

THIS is how a book should be. The writing was scrumptious, characters so real I couldn't believe it was fiction. I feel there was a bit of a lull after a certain part that could have very well been self-imposed