InstagramTwitter

Haneen Reads

Just some book reviews

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half

by

Tags: /

Date Read Feb 12, 2023

★★

ISBN 9780525536963

Pages 400

This was just OK for me.
The plot had a lot of potential, but if you’ve read older novels about colorism, she didn’t really do much with it. I mean “Passing” by Nella Larson was like a quarter of the size of this book but was a much more complex, realistic, and thrilling story.

The writing was “boring as hell”. It was too dry and ordinary and almost felt emotionless at times.

The characters felt like empty shells with almost no depth at all. Some characters like Reese and Early felt like filler side-stories that added nothing to the overall story, that if they weren’t created, it didn’t matter at all.

Bennett had an idea, and an interesting premise, but no follow-through. It was massively disappointing for me given all the hype. Perhaps if it was shorter, more focused, and more realistic, it would have been a great novel. But alas, it was just mediocre.

All in all, I don’t really recommend this. Unless you’re bored and have nothing to do. You’re much better off reading Larson, Hurston, Morrison, or anyone else really.