review of THE VANISHING HALF BY BRIT BENNETT
THE VANISHING HALF BY BRIT BENNETT
Why did this have to end?? I loved every single moment of this beautiful story. I could picture myself reading book after book of each character. At once I wanted more of every moment but somehow was completely satisfied with what Bennet gave us. This is a moving story about so much. At its core, it's about twins trying to find themselves but its also about family, love (and all its variations), its about gender, race, colorism, and identity. You are rooting for and against every character. One of my favorite things is how Bennett decided to tell the story, although the story was chopped up and told from a group of different voices she is able to make it feel so complete and thorough. This is a book that will without a doubt stick with me. This story was at once a historical novel spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s, a family saga (filled with lies, betrayals, and secrets) a romance novel, and story about race. Thank you Brit Bennett for giving us this story!
Our main characters or better yet the characters that start our journey are identical twins Stella and Desiree Vignes. Being a "light-skinned" twin myself I felt a strange connection between these characters. They grew up in a small town in the rural land of Louisiana. The town is unique because after years and years of "breeding" everyone in the town is the lightest shade of black, and many begin equating darkness with ugliness. Once they turn sixteen they make the decision to run, far away from the closed mind town. The twins are later split further when Stella leaves Desiree behind, pretending and passing herself off as a white woman. Desiree takes another route and marries the blackest man she has ever seen. Both of they're lives changed forever. We eventually met their daughters Jude and Kennedy, whose lives intersect in the story with their own woes. The parallels between mother and daughter will make you want to hug your mom when you finish this story. Also, I wish I could describe Reese but I don't want to spoil anything but he's my favorite character and I absolutely love how Bennett wrote him!
Why did this have to end?? I loved every single moment of this beautiful story. I could picture myself reading book after book of each character. At once I wanted more of every moment but somehow was completely satisfied with what Bennet gave us. This is a moving story about so much. At its core, it's about twins trying to find themselves but its also about family, love (and all its variations), its about gender, race, colorism, and identity. You are rooting for and against every character. One of my favorite things is how Bennett decided to tell the story, although the story was chopped up and told from a group of different voices she is able to make it feel so complete and thorough. This is a book that will without a doubt stick with me. This story was at once a historical novel spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s, a family saga (filled with lies, betrayals, and secrets) a romance novel, and story about race. Thank you Brit Bennett for giving us this story! 
My stand out quote:
"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." pg 36
Please talk about this book with someone! So here are some questions I thought of:
- Do you think any of the characters regretted the choices they made?
- Would Jude's life have been as hard if she grew up someplace different?
- Do you think Stella's choice was wrong or selfish or both?
- Do you feel as though the ending wrapped up everything? It that good or bad?
Thanks for stopping by!
-MDB
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