The Vanishing Half

Book 28 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from March 12 - 18

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett

Summary (via Goodreads)

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, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, 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. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

My Opinion

5 stars

At first I was nervous reading this book because the plot is one that could become too much very quickly in the wrong hands.  But this author handled everything beautifully.  The story was full enough to feel invested but fast enough to avoid being weighed down with unnecessary complications or side plots.  Things progressed at a realistic pace and while I would've loved more story or reunions, it made sense that things ended when they did.

I will definitely read this author again.