The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett was an outstanding read that I will recommend to readers looking for literary fiction. I loved the insightful and nuanced characters that Bennett achieves in this story of twins, teen runaways, who become separated by circumstances, and the different paths that each twin’s lives take at the start of the Jim Crow era to the eighties. Bennett’s book encompasses themes of racism, social injustice and transsexuality that make this book a natural for book discussion! Her writing astounds me and she truly is an author that I cherish reading. Remarkable!

I wasn’t sure this could live up to Brit’s first book but wow, I think I loved this even more? Highly highly recommend

Brit Bennett is definitely not going to be accused of having a Sophomore Slump! Her debut novel, The Mothers, was one of my top reads of 2017. (Listen to Episode 35 of the Book Cougars to hear more.) This highly anticipated second book is fantastic!
Spanning from the 1950’s through the 90’s, it begins in the south. Twin girls witness a violent act of racism towards their father. They are raised by their hard working single mother in a small town where everyone knows the minutiae of their history. They decide to flee, leaving behind their mother to find a new life in New Orleans. Only 16 years old, they are inseparable as they try to make their way in the big city. Although they spent their formative years highly proximate, eventually they choose very divergent paths.
The book is woven together from multiple POV’s and wrestles with the questions: what is the meaning of race and identity, how do we live with the choices that we make, and what is the ripple effect of these choices on those that we love?
#The VanishingAct #Netgalley

Lots of hype around this book, so I think it's safe to say we will get it for the collection. I wasn't a huge fan of Bennett's "Mother" and this wasn't for me either.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Riverhead for the advance reader copy. I was not compensated for this review.

This would make a fantastic book club read! So many topics and characters to discuss!

“She wasn’t some little tugboat, drifting along with the tide. She had created herself.”

The interweaving storylines kept me interested and intrigued. The author added just enough drama for me to jump back and forth between favorite characters. The four women had their strengths, and yet each had weaknesses that made me despise their choices at times. Just like a real family!?!?

I loved Bennett's book, The Mothers, so I dug into this new novel expecting another thoughtful story about women. This new novel is different but covers some of the same issues, relationships between mothers and daughters. The Vignes sisters, Desiree and Stella, were born in a small Louisiana town called Mallard. Everyone in this tiny town, barely visible on a map, were African American. The unique aspect of people who lived there included their skin tone, very light to the extent that they looked white. People around them in the area knew they were African American, but once the girls left town for New Orleans, they had a new life as white women.

Desiree, the adventurous twin, managed to convince Stella to go with her to the city. Desiree was desperate for an exciting life away from boring country life. Stella, the quiet, thoughtful twin, went along with her sister but did not plan to stay. Stella loved to learn and could have gone to college. Desiree had no interest in school or learning; she wanted adventure and love.

The narrative of these two compelling characters sparked this story to the conclusion many years later. I made up different outcomes for the twins, always wanting each to have more. Both twins suffered, not because they looked white, but because they couldn't be honest with the world about who they were or what they wanted. Desiree and Stella created lives that suited them but not entirely. Sacrifices were made for children, as many mothers do. Accepting life and changing it where it was possible made Stella and Desiree heroes to me. I don't know if I would have had the tremendous courage they found deep inside of them to live life as they wanted.

Thank you to the author, Riverhead, and NetGalley for this e-ARC, to be published in June.

I was blown away by Brit Bennett's 2nd book, which was just as (if not more) captivating as her first book, The Mothers. All of the characters were flawed in their own way, which made me appreciate the narrative even more.

Wow!
I was a bit hesitant at first because it started off with a lot of detail which made it move slow at first.
But, after the first chapter or two, the story truly began to take shape and WOW what a story it was.

Bennett writes such a character-driven inter-generational story that requires you to binge read because you just want to know what happens next.
There are points you think "okay, i see where this is going" and even though it may go the way you predicted how it arrived to that destination is NOTHING like you expected.

Bennett's debut novel The Mothers seemed to just be practice for Bennett to develop her skills even further. The Vanishing Half seems to be written by a completely different person but in the best way possible.
Each storyline comes full circle. Nothing is wasted. Every word written is important.
there is no way that this book doesn't win some type of award.
I think Bennett's writing is beautiful and necessary.

The plot of the story is everything that is described in the blurb online but at the same time it is everything you don't expect and that is what makes this story even more powerful.

This is my most recent favorite book. It's powerful, excellent writing, good storylines, and has well-developed characters. I didn't want it to end, & it almost felt abrupt when it did. I could have kept on reading about these characters for another several hundred pages.

The author provides a cast of characters that have altered their “expected” future and carved a totally different paths.

How far will people go to transform themselves to what they wanted their lives to be and not what they were expected to be?

Some look back ruefully.
Some never look back.

This was such a thought provoking book. I couldn’t put it down and wanted it to keep going. The characters were so well developed. I expected to dislike one of the twins but honestly didn’t because of how well written the story was. I would recommend this book again and again.

A really engrossing read that lands somewhere between An American Marriage and Sing, Unburied, Sing.

As many readers right now, during the days of Coronavirus, I've picked up & put down a few books . I needed something to really grab my focus. Well luckily this one did! Although I had to put it down to work from home, I looked forward to the end of the day when I could start reading it again.
This is the story of identical sisters that together flee their little southern black community of Mallard but eventually take two very different paths. There is also the story of their daughters and the very different lives they lead. Each character has wonderful character development. And I have to say even when I didn't like them, I understood them. All the characters are coming to terms with their identity, the secrets they keep , and the choices whether or not to reveal them. Great story!
(So much to discuss for book clubs .)

This book explores the effect that one's racial or sexual self-identity can have on relationships. The story is fascinating and the characters likable and multi-dimensional. The language is beautiful and the story moves smoothly. This is a great book for book clubs. I received an ARC from NetGalley.

Brit Bennett’s new novel, The Vanishing Half, picks up many of the threads she successfully wove through The Mothers: family, loss, regret, race, and history. The book traces Stella and Desiree Vignes, identical twins from a strange, small town in Louisiana, who end up living anything but identical lives as one chooses to pass and leaves her life and history behind. “She’d done one interesting thing in her whole life, but she would spend the rest of her days hiding it.” A multi-generational novel, the story flows gently through time from the 1950s through the 1980s and from Louisiana to California and New York. I loved The Vanishing Half; Bennett handles difficult themes without coming across as preachy and her writing feels at once simple yet beautifully sophisticated. (“Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles. You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.” Sigh.) A definite for the TBR list for readers of Tayari Jones, Meg Wolitzer, Kiley Reid and others. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

Beautifully written. Kind of in the same format of “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi.
I did like the story and writing style.

First we have the story of the twins; then the story of the black sister, and then the story of the other sister who passed by white. At the very end I was a little tired of the story and thought it was dragging, but that could be because with the Coronavirus I have nothing to do and I was reading the book non-stop instead of taking a break.

Lovely story.

I enjoyed Brit Bennett's first book, but I absolutely love this one! Complex, heartbreaking and powerful.

The Vignes sisters are identical twins who grew up in a small community in Louisiana in the 1950s. They run away from home together at sixteen and eventually one sister, Stella, will leave the other behind when she chooses to live her life passing as white. The choices each sister make will alter the course of not only their own lives, but that of their children as well. The book covers 4 decades and is told through multiple perspectives.

This book is about abandoning your past and the emotional toll of living the lie you chose. It was heartbreaking to read how choosing to pass takes a daily toll on Stella, and it's the first time I've ever read anything that told such a compelling story about what this was like for so many. The constant fear of being found out, the grief over what you'd lost, knowing that the people you love could never know who you really are while realizing that some ties can never be completely cut.

Highly recommend this book!

I was enthralled by this book and I could not turn the pages fast enough. If you read Ms. Benett's previous book, The Mothers and enjoyed it, you will devour The Vanishing Half. The characters were just as memorable and just as consumable. I couldn't stop thinking about them long after I had turned the final page.

I've always loved familial sagas. The Thornbirds was a saga which I loved and this one was just as memorable.. and that is saying a lot. This book spanned multi-generations and told the story of the Vignes twins. Their bond was unbreakable and unshakeable. There were many themes in this book from racial identities to familial bonds.
I won't be forgetting this one anytime soon!

What a wonderfully written book. This book gives a glimpse into the life of someone who has passed, all they had to give up. The family, love, and friends they would have to forego and the lies they would have to carefully weave to keep the past hidden. What a heavy weight it is to carry as we can see in the life of Stella. The hurt we feel in Desiree at losing her sister, the desire in Jude to find and reveal the truth and Kennedy's want to know and feel a connection to her mother. Jude and Kennedy technically and genetically sisters themselves being the daughters of identical twins, had drastically different experiences. Though unlike their mothers who looked exactly the same, so much so you may mix them up, Jude and Kennedy would share no commonalities being night and day. One being privileged not only because of her families wealth but also because of the way she looked, the other discriminated against solely because of the way she looked. This book has levels to it when you take it all in, makes me think how my life would have been different or nonexistent had my grandparents passed. This could have easily been my own families story, How thankful I am that my grandparents did not pass. Great read!

This was a beautiful and compelling story about sisterhood, family, love, friendship, and race. I was intrigued by the idea of following two identical twin sisters who take different paths in life. Seeing their stories unfold, as well as the stories of their daughters and their new family and friends, was thought-provoking. It made me think about the perception of race in America as well as how your view of yourself impacts the decisions you make and how you live your life. The author wove in the theme of duality in really clever ways, most notably through transgender characters, costumes, and acting, By the end of the story, I could see each character's point of view and although I didn't agree with everything each person said or did, I could understand their motivations.