BOOK REVIEW | Britt Bennet’s “The Vanishing Half” 🧿
So, this book has been on my shelves for YEARS, literal actual years. It’s been so long that I think this book travelled with me when I moved over a year ago, and I’ve never had a particularly strong pull to read it honestly other than the flashy cover. It made its rounds on booktok and bookstagram, that much I definitely remember. But, I finally picked it up on a whim and I’m so glad that I did. Bennett has crafted a perfect, visceral and authentic picture of family, the struggle of identity and finding yourself, and individuality versus the collective. I wasn’t expecting it to be a multigenerational saga, but I think that aspect of it was necessary and powerful. It was an absolutely beautiful look into the lives of these sisters and used poetic and sometimes heartbreaking language to show them struggling to make the best lives possible for their kids. I’m struggling actually to find the words that can convey how this book made me feel, because it was so rich and mesmerizing that once I started reading it I’d find it physically paining to put it away to tend to other life stuff. Pulled me right out of my reading slump and gave me lots to think about. I think what I loved most was that there was something that everyone can take away from it — about race and the struggles and biases that POC are faced with on a daily basis, as well as finding a sense of belonging versus living in your truth. An absolute must-read, if you never read it when it was at the height of its popularity like I did 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by penguin-47284