REVIEW: The Vanishing Half (Britt Bennett)
Book: The Vanishing Half
Author: Britt Bennett
My rating: 2.5/5.
Premise: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, everything about their lives is different: their families, their communities, their racial identities. One sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined.
[⚠️CW: racism, domestic abuse]
Unpopular opinion, but this didn't live up to my expectations. I think they hype over the last year had made me big it up too much in my head. The book follows identical twins and their daughters, explores the theme of identity. It covers colourism and passing - so if you're not familiar with these concepts, this could be an interesting read for you! I liked the contrasts throughout the book. Because we have identical twins, it's easier to see the stark differences between life for white people and people of colour. Add to that, the daughters are opposites: one black who's pursuing a medical career, the other white who dropped out of school to pursue acting. Its these contrasts that stuck out for me - it's like someone at a fork in the road and seeing the outcomes of both paths. However, despite these contrasting elements, the characters all struggle at some point with their identities - even the side characters. And not just racial identities. We see people exploring their LGBT identity (I loved the LGBT characters that Jude falls in with!). My main problem with this book was that it jumped around too much. We jump between the two twins and both their daughters, but also we jump around in time. I think for me, this made the book a tad disconnected at times. I was also left wanting more from certain characters and less of others. Overall, a good book but it just didn't live up to my expectations.