The Vanishing Half

The Vanishing Half is an intriguing story about two twin girls who go on to live two very different lives. The book gives insight into the girl’s lives growing up together, once they are apart, and it even dives into their daughter’s lives. Not only is the storyline creative and enticing, but this book also focuses on the segregation of people based on race back in the United States in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

I reeeally enjoyed this book. It is not the typical type of story that I would read but I was definitely blown away by it. I thought that the organization of the book was well done; I always felt captivated by the story and wanted to know what was going to happen next. I enjoy books that include many perspectives and storylines so this one exceeded in that category.

I personally wouldn’t necessarily say that I learnt a lesson from this book. I think it brought good attention to people of colour and insight into how some of them lived their lives in that time period. I think mainly what I learnt about myself is that I could not live my life as a lie. That part of the story made me stress out for the character a little.

I think Kennedy and Jude were my favourite characters. I also thought Early’s character was fun but he didn’t have as big of a role so he’s my favourite side character. SPOILER ALERT My favourite part was when Jude recognized Stella at the party and dropped the wine bottle, that made me very excited. It was nice to anticipate that the two lives were somehow going to come together. SPOILER DONE

My least favourite part was the ending. I’m not going to spoil it, but I feel like the last scene could have been left out. That is just my own opinion, maybe some people enjoyed it being there for closure. I would recommend just finish the book once you get within the last like 30 pages.

I recommend this book to everyone (I think I recommend every book to everyone, oops). It’s a quick, easy read, but probably requires a more mature audience. There are some parts that portray domestic violence and racial violence, but sometimes those things just add to the authenticity of the story. The whole book did not revolve around those parts so from my point of view, I feel like they shouldn’t determine whether or not the story is read. This book will be one of those that everyone reads and talks about so make sure to not miss out!

My rating: 5/5