2024 the best fiction books of all time review
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR
New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST
“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
“A story of absolute, universal timelessness . . . For any era, it's an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it’s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” – Entertainment Weekly
From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.
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 secretly 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?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.
Publisher : Riverhead Books; Reprint edition (February 1, 2022)
Language : English
Paperback : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 0525536965
ISBN-13 : 978-0525536963
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.03 x 1.01 x 7.92 inches
Reviewer: Makai
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Worth reading
Review: This was one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. The way the story unfolded was amazing, the characters were fleshed out, and the plot was brilliant. I can see why this made the best sellers list. There was nothing predictable about it. It felt fresh, alive, and worth reading.
Reviewer: RSW Kindle Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: 4.5 Stars
Review: This beautifully written, timely family drama earned 4.5 Stars from me.SUMMARYI'm keeping this section short because I loved the slow reveal; the way author, Brit Bennett doled out little pieces of the story until I was fully immersed in the lives of the Vignes women.In 1950-something, in the middle of the night without even a good bye to their mother, twins Desiree and Stella Vignes left Mallard, their small Louisiana town, for a bigger life in New Orleans. Mallard was an unusual town, it was founded by a light skinned African-American man and everyone who settled there after was light skinned. Desiree and Stella were no exception to this rule, in fact, they were so fair skinned that they could pass for white. And, much to the dismay of her family, one of them did. The story opens as one of the twins returns to Mallard after a 14 year absence. The plot follows two generations of the Vignes woman and their vastly different life experiences.WHAT I LOVEDI LOVED Brit Bennett's previous novel, The Mother's and her second novel does not disappoint! The book is filled with emotion and tackles some very heated topics. Although much of the book takes place in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, many of the major themes are extremely relevant today; prejudice, privilege and opportunity. Skin color is one of the biggest factors in two of the main characters lives. The book is relevant today and will be relevant for generations to come.Each of the characters is unique and struggles with their own issues. I am not sure I've been that invested in so many different characters in a single story. Creating vastly different, well developed characters takes serious writing skills, kudos to Brit Bennett. I LOVE the women in this story!!! They are at once strong and vulnerable. They each have some moments of greatness and some moments of weakness. Even the one who I found least sympathetic had redeeming qualities.Although there are so many emotionally charged, timely themes in the book, it always circled back to being about family. What makes a family, how an individuals picture of "family" can evolve over the years and loyalty to family versus loyalty to oneself.WHAT I DIDN'T LOVEAlthough I loved most of the book, there are a few minor things I did not love. Toward the beginning, I had a little trouble following who each of the characters were and how each one was connected to the story. About a third of the way in, I wondered where the story was headed. The plot seemed to be rambling and not going anywhere. Luckily, as I read on, I realized each characters story had a point and it leading to a story I definitely wanted to read.
Reviewer: Janet L. Burton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Exceptional story
Review: Brit Bennett's writing is so compelling. I loved the fascinating and thoughtful characterization of so many social topics of the times.
Reviewer: switterbug/Betsey Van Horn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The core of identity
Review: In this multigenerational fable-like tale, racism and colorism intersect with the very core of identity. Identical twin sisters live in the (fictional) town of Mallard, Louisiana, a rural place that graces no map. Everyone is light in their Blacknessâso light that a dark Black person will receive the full hostile treatment. Desiree and Stella are inseparable, but have distinctly different natures. Desiree is adventurous and bold; Stella is shy and intellectual.The twins are traumatized when they witness their father dragged from their porch and lynched by a group of white men. Their perspective of the world is shattered, and the last of their naivete is scrubbed away. In 1968, the civil rights movement barely touches the periphery of Mallard, and Stella and Desiree, only sixteen, decide to run away to New Orleans. It was Desireeâs adventurous idea, but shy Stella is game, and they live there on a wing and a prayer.Some months later, Stella passes for white to get a decent job. Shockingly, however, she stealthily leaves Desiree for the wider world as a White woman, a secret life that paradoxically frees Stella while keeping her imprisoned in her lie. Secrets can both build and destroy.Bennett carries us back and forth from the 1940s to the latter 1990s, centering on the sisters but branching out to the next generation, and the one before. The novel also examines feminism; a misgendered young man born a woman; the class system; and dissembling. Stella pretends until her fake identity becomes real.This could have been a heavy-handed story by a less imaginative author. But Bennettâs narrative is authentic and juicy, and not overplayed. Tragic as a premise, like the movie, Imitation of Life (yes, there were progressive filmmakers in 1934 and 1959), grief and loss are channeled with stinging delicacy. Stella lives a lie, even to her husband and daughter. Cruel irony asserts when the normally subdued Stella is outspoken at a neighborhood meeting, stating that they shouldnât let âNegroesâ move in. Fear of exposure makes her shameless.Desiree returns to Mallard with her dark Black daughter, Jude, escaping an abusive marriage. Jude contends with spiteful colorism at school and around town and swiftly goes her own way and pursues a future. Desiree has a steady boyfriend there, another dark Black man who travels a lot for his work. The authorâs character-driven plot kept me fully engaged in the story and voiceâa limited omniscience that tethers the reader to each character. The author extends the metaphor and paradox fluidly; Stellaâs daughter doesnât feel authentic unless she is acting on stage.A lazy author may depend on epiphanies to tell the tale, but Bennett doesnât rely on derivative Hollywood scenes. OK, thereâs ONE meetup that reeked of Oprah moments, but it isnât the cardinal climax, anyway. In fact, there are several resolutions that arenât resolute; instead, there are ongoing disclosures that refuse to wrap things up in just a scene or two. It is contoured, and time touches the characters with tolerance and regard. The psychological effects of each sisterâs life are genuine and stirring.A few incidental scenes read as if an editor suggested expediency, a bridge or transition, and the author (or editor) exerted canned dialogue, but it was brief and insignificant, surpassed by the moving, poignant story. Later to become an HBO limited miniseries.4.5 rounded up
Reviewer: Guylou
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: THE VANISHING HALF by Britt Bennett is a riveting exploration of identity, encompassing race, culture, sexuality, and economics. Set against the backdrop of the 1950s to the 1990s, the Vignes twin sisters' divergent paths reveal the profound impact of personal choices on familial ties and societal expectations. Bennett skillfully delves into the complexities of passing, shedding light on ingrained racial biases even within the black community. The characters, from the protagonists to the nuanced secondary figures like Easy, Reese, and Barry, feel remarkably authentic, evoking genuine empathy. The novel's examination of public versus private selves, the struggle to reconcile one's past with the present, and the necessity of maintaining distance from one's true identity is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. Bennett's storytelling prowess ensures that THE VANISHING HALF is an unputdownable and truly phenomenal book.
Reviewer: Clara Y.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Es una bella editorial para tener de colección. La narrativa espectacular. Muy pocos autores están dispuestos abarcar el tema del racismo internalizado dentro de comunidades afroamericanas, y no hay mejor escritora como B B para hacerlo de una manera tan elegante.
Reviewer: Kasia
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: El libro espectatular. The Vanishing Half es una novela escrita por Brit Bennett que explora temas de identidad, raza, familia y secretos. La historia sigue a dos hermanas gemelas afroamericanas que eligen caminos de vida radicalmente diferentes. Una hermana pasa como blanca, mientras que la otra vive como una mujer negra. A lo largo de las décadas, las vidas entrelazadas de las hermanas y sus respectivas familias revelan las complejidades del racismo, la identidad y la búsqueda de pertenencia en la sociedad estadounidense. La novela ha recibido elogios por su narrativa poderosa y sus temas conmovedores. Fue nominada para el Premio de Mujeres en 2021.
Reviewer: Maria Gabriela Mantaut Leifert
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Muito bem escrito, a autora relata sobre a vida de duas meninas gêmeas, morenas claras de origem negra, que se separam e vivem situações opostas no que se refere a sua condição racial.Boas reflexões sobre o tema desde dentro da questão. Gostei e recomendo
Reviewer: Iwa Mamuzic
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: So ein tolles Buch. Dieses Buch habe ich in nur drei Tagen fertiggelesen. Tolle Story und richtig interessant. Es gibt wenige Bücher bei denen ich so konzentriert und gespannt bis zum Schluss gelesen habe.
Customers say
Customers find the story compelling, masterful, and fun. They praise the writing quality as well-written, powerful, and poetic. Readers describe the book as thought-provoking, fascinating, and informative. They appreciate the well-developed characters and heartbreaking storyline. Opinions differ on the storyline, with some finding it richly challenging and skillfully introducing complex themes, while others say the ending is boring and abrupt.
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