THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett

Contrary to the popular opinion, it took me a while to finish this read and I was expecting more from it given the hype it had around it.

The beginning of the book was really interesting, exploring the topic of “passing” for white, highlighted nicely through the story of the twin sisters, Stella and Desiree. In short, the two of them are complete opposites to one another, fact that is unfolded throughout the book.

Stella left her sister and their small town in exchange for a bigger, wealthier life in the city, happily marrying a white man, while Desiree rejoices in much simpler life as a bartender, marrying what turns out to be an abusive black man.

What kept me interested was finding out the reasons behind Stella’s decision for leaving and deciding to become white but didn’t get much clarity on that apart from the fact that she could and she enjoyed playing the part, being so light that many would mistake her for white.

I did enjoy the parts where I could see more of Stella’s internal monologue, her impostor syndrome and guilt but they were rather short and brief.

Also, the abrupt time jumps between the young twin story and their own children only confused me, when in fact I was still looking forward to a more in depth view of the main characters.

The concepts of classism and identity issues got me listening but I just didn’t engage with the storyline as much.