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  • The Vanishing Half: Shortlisted for the Women's Prize 2021
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
84,887 global ratings
5 star
38%
4 star
43%
3 star
15%
2 star
3%
1 star
1%
The Vanishing Half: Shortlisted for the Women's Prize 2021

The Vanishing Half: Shortlisted for the Women's Prize 2021

byBrit Bennett
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Top positive review

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Cindy
5.0 out of 5 starsCouldn't Put This Down
Reviewed in Australia on 18 August 2020
This was a beautifully written and compelling story of intergenerational trauma, identity and the choices that end up defining who we are.

The characters were vividly drawn with story lines that spanned across decades so that I felt like I had come to intimately know these characters and the shapes of their lives by the end. Through the characters of the twin girls we see themes of loss, identity, race, society, survival and motherhood play out and I love how the book tackles these bigger themes without detracting from the core story of the girls' disappearance and separation.

The writing was stunning in that quiet, unassuming way, balancing descriptive prose with a grounded realism, "A town always looked different once you returned, like a house where all the furniture had shifted three inches. You wouldn't mistake it for a stranger's house but you'd keep banging your shins on the table corners"

I couldn't put this book down but I also didn't want it to end, and I wished the story had continued to the next generation of daughters because it is a story that I could keep reading.
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5 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Philip Cassell
2.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing
Reviewed in Australia on 16 November 2020
I found this novel to have some interesting features; the basic storyline is involving enough; and its description of prejudice is sometimes moving.
However, far too much of the writing is banal and repetitive. Too much of the novel is static.
All novels are fabrications, of course; however, the concoctedness of Vanishing Half leaps out at the reader and spoils it. For me at least.
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One person found this helpful

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From Australia

Karen Weir
1.0 out of 5 stars Don’t buy this book as Amazon will not give you a refund!!
Reviewed in Australia on 19 December 2020
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Just horrible I could not finish it!!
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From other countries

edbusa
1.0 out of 5 stars The story was not centered on the Twin sisters!!!
Reviewed in the United States on 25 June 2020
Verified Purchase
This is clearly a case off false advertising. I expected the book to convey a story on the dynamics identical twins raised in the racist south. THIS WAS NOT THE CORE OF THE BOOK. Instead it focused on the dynamics of the LGBTQ community. I have absolutely no interest in such matters. Thoroughly disappointed.
1,001 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2021
Verified Purchase
Very, very poorly written. Really boring. This was a missed opportunity to shed light on important topics, but it seemed as if the author just wanted to get the book over with. As if she was meeting a page quota. I didn’t have any emotional attachment to any of the characters, I had to force myself to read the entire book, and the ending did nothing for me when I finally got there. Honestly, I wish I didn’t waste my money on this book. Really disappointed. The plot seemed interesting when I read a summary of the book before purchasing, but she just missed the mark.
10 people found this helpful
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Bianca
1.0 out of 5 stars A big no-no for an underdeveloped storyline
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2021
Verified Purchase
Yes, it is beautifully written. Yes, it has all the elements to make it a good book.

However, the relationship between the twins is not well developed and the ending makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There is no clear storyline. You finish it and you think: What was it about? Was about the twins, about race, or both? Was it about their daughters or about LGBTQ+ community? I understand what the author wanted to do, but I don’t think she made the message of the book clear enough and the characters were underdeveloped.

The first (more than) half of the book is soooo slow and though to get through. I pushed through as the plot seemed to develop more, but it didn’t.

It had all the elements to be a fantastic book, but it wasn’t for me. At all.
3 people found this helpful
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Alice Davey
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2021
Verified Purchase
Clumsy writing, flat characters, boring plot. Like other reviewers I cannot fathom the hype. A waste of time.
7 people found this helpful
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TC 1
1.0 out of 5 stars Don’t bother
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 September 2021
Verified Purchase
Boring
2 people found this helpful
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Dave
1.0 out of 5 stars I nave read much better.
Reviewed in Canada on 31 January 2021
Verified Purchase
This book felt empty, devoid of normal humanity. It speaks to a new “woke” generation, and perhaps satisfies them.

Grisham does a far better job of telling a story in a way that allows an escape from the strains of life, arouses the best sentiments, informs but does not preach, and leaves the reader happy for the experience.

Not so here. I could read only so much at a time. And I had to put it away to carry on with something more fulfilling. It truly was an effort to finish it.

It might, perhaps, work as a script for a soap opera.
6 people found this helpful
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Leonard B.
1.0 out of 5 stars All over the place.
Reviewed in the United States on 25 June 2020
Verified Purchase
The premise was supposed to be about two sisters who led different lives based upon the color of skin that they presented them selves as to communities they lived in, but it goes astray with stories of their offspring. I don't think that the five star reviewers read all the way through to get enough insight. I'm sorry I didn't read the 1 and 2 star reviews before buying the book, I would have saved my money for better stories.
243 people found this helpful
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Shaheen ABDULLAH
1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book ever
Reviewed in Germany on 2 February 2022
Verified Purchase
I'm spiritual and bought this for a spiritual person,
I was expecting a whole different plot me being a big fan of MLK, Malcom X and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement before. The person I gifted it to told me a complete different plot, absolutely gutted of the story it made her uncomfortable and insulted her black condition, she felt horrible reading this as a black person (absolutely shameful, it was the opposite I wanted!).
Books are not what they used to be, critics what they used to be. This book is a disgrace, ended up in the bin where it deserves to be.
One person found this helpful
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M. aus B.
1.0 out of 5 stars Beschädigt geliefert
Reviewed in Germany on 20 January 2021
Verified Purchase
Ein Stern für den Inhalt - soll ein tolles Buch sein. Aber dass ich innerhalb kurzer Zeit zum wiederholten Mal ein beschädigtes Buch geliefert bekomme, nervt sehr! Die anderen habe ich zähneknirschend behalten, aber dies geht zurück.
One person found this helpful
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