The vanishing half - Brit Bennett

https://rhbooks.com.ng/?ap_id=Jannaonyemaobi

You can purchase this book from Rovingheights with the link above.

The vanishing half is a story that centers on identical twin sisters set between 1940s to 1990s. Desiree and Stella both light skinned are born and raised in a town filled with light skinned people. They take different paths as teenagers after running away from their home town. One lives as a black woman and the other lives as a white woman. 

We also follow the lives of their daughters, Jude and Kennedy. Jude is dark skinned and grows up as a black woman who has dreams of getting into medical school, she also struggles with self acceptance while Kennedy grows up as a white woman from a rich home who enjoys acting.

There are so many layers in this book and I love that so many topics were touched; colorism, racism, domestic violence, parenting, relationships, self love etc. It is written in the third person narrative.

I was a bit bored while reading it, don’t get me wrong, it has an amazing plot and all that but to me, it is the kind of book that you can just put down when you want to and pick back up whenever you are ready. So I would stop reading when I was bored and continue when I am in the mood.

The title (I.e the vanishing half) is a pictorial representation of some of the characters in the book, they lose part of themselves in becoming who they want to be. I won’t go further so I don’t spoil the book.

Character wise, there are quite a number of characters in this book, the story does not just revolve around the twins, it is also about their daughters, the men in their lives, their mother and neighbors. Despite all these, the character development is well written, there was no part in the book that left me confused.

The world building is also amazing. It gives the readers an excellent visual representation of the locations mentioned in the book.

In conclusion, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars on good reads because I was a bit bored while reading it, especially the first half of the book, it was slow but eventually, I got invested which led to me completing the book. I would recommend this book for people that tend to take their time while reading. If you are new into reading, I suggest you pick a more fun read because this might bore you, but either ways, it is a good book with a great lesson.