Early and Desiree, for example, made my heart jump. The romantic and platonic relationships in this book got to me in a way that I haven’t felt in years.

The book, while in many ways sad, is also a beautiful exploration of the love between sisters, a mother and her daughter, for members of your family, and between partners. SPOILERS AHEAD! Please be aware of this as I spoil some pretty big things. Let me tell you, The Vanishing Half is off the charts incredible, and surpassed my expectations in every way possible. I am so lucky that I was able to spend my Sunday reading and not doing actual stuff, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to read what has become a contender for my book of the year. I wait in line for the book for literally months (I think like around 4? I put in a hold at my library in the beginning of quarantine so it must’ve been around mid-April) and then, two weeks ago, I get my copy! And then, I just don’t read it until two days before it’s due, and then read it all in one day. Take, for example, The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett. I have a bad habit when it comes to library books. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ storylines intersect? Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape.

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. Synopsis: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical.

Books like the vanishing half