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jenbsbooks 's review for:
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
This started off really strong, pulled me in ... starting with Desiree and her daughter returning to town, then jumping back in time to when Desiree and her sister were younger, giving the background. 3rd person/Past tense ... a number of different POVs.
It was a bit choppy. In text, there were ----- breaking up sections within the chapters. There were six PARTS with chronological chapters running throughout (17 of them, long chapters).
1. The Lost Twins (1968)
2. Maps (1978)
3. Heartlines (1968)
4. The Stage Door (1982)
5. Pacific Cove (1985/1988)
6. Places (1986)
I think I checked out a bit after Part 1 (Desiree) ... Part 2 follows Jude, Desiree's daughter, as she goes off to college. A little bit of Early, still tracking Stella. And Reese ... when Ch5 started I had to stop my audiobook and check the text and remember WHO Reese was (had just been introduced in the last chapter ... I didn't realize he would be enough of a character to get his own chapter, own POV). Part 3 goes back in time, this time following Stella's story. Part 4 ... back to mostly the next generation/the daughters: Jude & Kennedy. Some Stella. Part 5 ... mostly Kennedy, some Jude/Reese.
Part 6 ... some things came together, but seriously, it ended and I was "um ... what? That's the end?"
This checked off one of the GoodReads Challenges May/June2025 Centennial Picks, but I had it on my TBR already. I'd picked up a physical copy at some point (which moved a book up my TBR) and then borrowed the audiobook and Kindle copy from the library (there had been a long hold).
Heavy on the issues ... race, domestic violence, transgender. ProFanity x 7 and some sex, not "spicy" but not closed door.
Words I note: note, rifled, roiling
Phrases: "A flicker in the dark" (read a book with that title), violet eyes (do people really have violet eyes??) Math - always the same answers (a recent read had a character who also liked math for this reason).
No discussion questions included in the book - but I found some online
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576782/the-vanishing-half-by-brit-bennett/9780525536963/readers-guide/
I didn't find myself WANTING to discuss the book though, some stories I just have that urge! I wouldn't mind having a discussion about the title, and how it ties in (the obvious " lost" twin half, vanishing into whiteness? The half that melts back into Mallard, or later, into Alzheimer's?
I don't think I'd go out of my way to recommend the book. I'll be passing on the physical copy in my Little Free Library (if I really love a book, I like to hang onto it). I think I'll keep a vague memory of the saga.
It was a bit choppy. In text, there were ----- breaking up sections within the chapters. There were six PARTS with chronological chapters running throughout (17 of them, long chapters).
1. The Lost Twins (1968)
2. Maps (1978)
3. Heartlines (1968)
4. The Stage Door (1982)
5. Pacific Cove (1985/1988)
6. Places (1986)
I think I checked out a bit after Part 1 (Desiree) ... Part 2 follows Jude, Desiree's daughter, as she goes off to college. A little bit of Early, still tracking Stella. And Reese ... when Ch5 started I had to stop my audiobook and check the text and remember WHO Reese was (had just been introduced in the last chapter ... I didn't realize he would be enough of a character to get his own chapter, own POV). Part 3 goes back in time, this time following Stella's story. Part 4 ... back to mostly the next generation/the daughters: Jude & Kennedy. Some Stella. Part 5 ... mostly Kennedy, some Jude/Reese.
Part 6 ... some things came together, but seriously, it ended and I was "um ... what? That's the end?"
This checked off one of the GoodReads Challenges May/June2025 Centennial Picks, but I had it on my TBR already. I'd picked up a physical copy at some point (which moved a book up my TBR) and then borrowed the audiobook and Kindle copy from the library (there had been a long hold).
Heavy on the issues ... race, domestic violence, transgender. ProFanity x 7 and some sex, not "spicy" but not closed door.
Words I note: note, rifled, roiling
Phrases: "A flicker in the dark" (read a book with that title), violet eyes (do people really have violet eyes??) Math - always the same answers (a recent read had a character who also liked math for this reason).
No discussion questions included in the book - but I found some online
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576782/the-vanishing-half-by-brit-bennett/9780525536963/readers-guide/
I didn't find myself WANTING to discuss the book though, some stories I just have that urge! I wouldn't mind having a discussion about the title, and how it ties in (the obvious " lost" twin half, vanishing into whiteness? The half that melts back into Mallard, or later, into Alzheimer's?
I don't think I'd go out of my way to recommend the book. I'll be passing on the physical copy in my Little Free Library (if I really love a book, I like to hang onto it). I think I'll keep a vague memory of the saga.