Welcome to Litsy!

Desiree and Stella are twins born and raised in Mallard, LA, a town where the lightness of one's skin is prized. At 16 the girls flee the confines of their small town and head to New Orleans where one of them disappears. The story follows the trajectory of Desiree and Stella's lives after their separation. 4⭐️

This book was wonderful. I feel that it will be and/or should be stuffed into American Literature coursework immediately. A nuanced look at race, colorism, classism, generational trauma, LGBT issues, what it means to be family and generally how people make their way in life.

Spoilers/my thoughts on the ending in the comments

I really enjoyed this story although I‘m a bit disappointed in the ending. All in all an interesting read with many twists and turns. It was hard to put down once I got into it.

Wow, I loved this book! It was very interesting with amazing character development. It is rare that I like every character! The story was very engaging and developed nicely. It touched on many racial and sexual minority issues that often go undiscussed

This was actually my pick for book club and I wasn‘t all that impressed with it sadly. I just couldn‘t warm to the story or the characters and it‘s taken me a very long time to read as a result

For all my Disney nerds out there!! I actually read this book. Giggled when I saw in it in the Proud Family remake #disney #disneynerd

It felt a little long, as I was definitely ready for it to be over before it was over, but there are some epic, dramatic moments, and Bennett does really well with working on a large, sweeping scope, lending it a cinematic, almost Bildungsroman feel.

She is also terrific at characterization. There are many strong, well defined characters. I can picture some of these people in my head with no problem.

A lot of things to be impressed with here.

I‘m enjoying this pretty well! To me it‘s more of a plot-focused novel, because the writing is not flourishy, but more used as a tool to tell the story. Compare this to “Luster,” for example—it‘s not like that. There are some aspects that make for an epic tale though, Dickensian almost.

I know a miniseries is supposed to come out based on this book…HBO I believe.

Finished the tagged book, and I actually started using Bookly! I liked this book, it was an interesting read on topics that I'm not particulary familiar with. One thing that I didn't like was jumping back and forth in the narration, I've found it at times confusing and it took me out of the story sometimes. 📚📚📚

Currently reading. 📚📚📚

This book was my Book Club‘s pick for this month. I enjoyed it but I was a little disappointed in the ending. The story overall was very interesting to me. It took the characters through many years of their lives and told how the decisions they made in their youth affected not only them but their children many years later.

The Vanishing Half lands somewhere between An American Marriage and Little Fires Everywhere, in terms of tone and style, with a dustier accent of historical fiction. It‘s certainly a provocative read, and one that rightfully holds a prize place in the recent wave of interrogative popular fiction. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-vanishing-half-brit-bennett/

This was just super- elegant and eloquent writing with a terrific family drama that is sweeping in its effect. Lovely!

This was a fantastic look at identity and the risks taken to find your own. I usually don‘t care for slice of life type stories, but this seemed to be so much more and was beautifully done. Theirs was my #doublespin for March

Interesting themes (gender roles, discrimination, race, racial passing …), but I expected to be blown away and I wasn‘t. Maybe the reason for that is Slovenian translation🤷🏻‍♀️

Such a great book group choice! We had so many topics to discuss. That said, Bennett keeps the book focused on her characters and their circumstances. She doesn‘t get preachy or too focused on all the various themes. Plus, the genetics aspect dovetailed into some genealogy reading I‘m doing right now. Wins all around!

Full review https://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2022

I‘ve finished… and still don‘t know how I feel about it exactly. Some parts I was completely engrossed by and some not so much. Very curious to see how the TV adaptation turns out!

Huh. I‘m half way through and still have somewhat mixed feelings. Let‘s see how it ends…

Wow this book was so interesting. Twins born in the 1950s as black, but potentially white passing in a small town in Louisiana. Both sisters run away at 16, one to return after an abusive partner, one to identify as white and create a whole new life. Their lives eventually intertwine many years later. Their stories are told so truthfully and this book was so captivating.

This was an interesting story, and a well written book.
The ending was a little disappointing.

Perfect reading weather 🌬🌧 and praised book … #weekendreading

This book is very well-written, and I love how fitting the title is with the overarching themes of the book. The ending, however, leaves some things to be desired, though I suppose that is kind of the point.

This book has been on my list for quite some time (Stack add, because of great reviews of this platform 😊).
Looking forward to getting into it.

The end of January, and the start of February turned out to be pretty busy. But I think I'm sort of free now, so time to catch up on my reading. 🙌🏻

And that includes the books I already started, the books I still have to read, and hopefully this certain new release this month. 💙

This was a fantastic look at race and family and sisterhood. Twin girls run away from their small town but the decision of one of the girls to pass as white, leaving the other behind, the changes their lives forever but family is not so easy to run away from. The writing was amazing, the story important, the subject challenging, and the transgender representation great to see. This book definitely lives up to its hype!

I loved this book. I loved the unique story. I loved all the characters. I love Brit Bennett's writing style.
I didn't want the book to end.

I didn‘t want this book to end. I came to the last page and flipped back thinking I skipped pages. I wanted more from Jude and Kennedy. I needed something else from Stella and Desiree. But Brit Bennett did a brilliant job having an open ending. It makes you hope that the characters‘ stories aren‘t over.

It took me a while to get in this book, however once I did, I cared about the characters.

You shouldn‘t tell people the truth because you want to hurt them. You should tell them because they want to know it.

Bennett writes about a complicated situation simply. The story is told through many different viewpoints and while it could have been soap-opera dramatic the it feels true. But, the problem with a multi-view, multi-generational work is how to end. This just petered out; it stops rather than concluding, which I appreciated and yet was disappointed. Very well-written but I expected more - I wanted to feel more, to think more, to be surprised. 3.5⭐

My boss gifted this one to me for Christmas and it has me hooked like Where The Crawdads Sing did.

My last completed book of 2021 was A Burning and the first book I need to read (for bookclub) is The Vanishing Half.

#lastfirst @BookNAround

Still going...

NYE vibes + fire in the fireplace + pizza for dinner

Book 275

My sister picked this one for our family book club and it was amazing. I highly recommend it.

I love having a book club with my Mom and Sister. Best idea ever! I‘m excited to see what we pick up in 2022.

4.5⭐️ I really enjoyed this book. The themes of identity and figuring out who you are hit hard. Great #LMPBC pick as it sparks many discussions. I hope you ladies enjoy this as much as I did.

Happy #JolabokaflodSwap! Thank you, @Ericalambbrown . I‘m so excited for the books you sent me (thanks for the bonus book!) & these chocolates. Fun fact: I lived in your current town for 8 years while I went to school for my Bachelor‘s and Master‘s degrees. The land of my birth is about one hour south of where you live now. Small 🌎! Thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting. Not pictured: the toffee and caramels my partner & I already devoured

This book was not what I expected. I hadn‘t heard of light-skinned black towns or passing as white. I enjoyed how the twins paths diverged as they went their separate, segregated ways - but how their daughters found each other and found ways past that. All the women lived such different lives.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I realize this is an #unpopularopinion, but I had expected to enjoy this more. There were thought-provoking themes and some touching parts, but the way the story jumped around felt disjointed and the omniscient narration made me feel distant. 🎧

I really liked this! I was so involved in the story that I didn‘t mark it up much. 😔 I‘d read a bunch of Ives then realize I hadn‘t stopped to do anything, much less write anything. It‘s a story of twin sisters and their lives as they make choices and live with the consequences over several decades. Very moving and thought provoking. #lmpbc

Today could be worse. I love sunny autumn days. Reading the tagged book for my english bookclub. Don‘t know what to think about it yet.

Really enjoyed my book club read for October… so unusual take on an important subject.

Also week 1 #Scarathlon2021 scores (inc readathon hrs for #bookspinbingo)🎃
Early Bird +51
Americanah +35
Southern Book Club +91
7 Husbands +66
Vanishing Half +56

Total : 299 pts
#TeamHendrix

Glorious golden hour at the beach. I watched out the window for a relatively quiet time as I am only just double vaccinated and still a scaredy-cat of covid. It is going to rain all week so I just couldn‘t bare to stay inside. This book has surprised me a couple of times already and I am only a third of the way in. I am reading it for my new book club. This month will be my first meeting not on Zoom and we are having a picnic with cocktails.

Gripping read. Took me awhile to figure out what was happening when the author jumped around. Less on character development, more on the pain of living life and making choices. Definitely have questions as to what happened to many of the characters and also what the characters end up knowing or not knowing.

Saturday morning and all three kids are reading or playing nicely together!! It‘s a miracle! I‘m finishing this one for book club Monday. I bought it when it came out and am happy to finally have a reason to bump it up the TBR

This one is definitely between a “pick” and a “so-so” for me. I think it‘s more of an issue with me not being able to concentrate on the audiobook then anything against the writing, but I just found it somewhat underwhelming given the hype. Definitely a thought provoking and captivating topic…I think I‘ll try to read a paper copy as well to see if I enjoy it more. 🌟🌟🌟

Stella and Desiree are identical twins. Stella lives her life passing as white and has created a new identity for herself while Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter. At some point, both daughters meet living very different lives due to their racial identities.

I couldn‘t put the book down while reading it but the ending was a bit underwhelming. I didn‘t connect to any of the characters and big aspect of the book were the daughters‘ lives

This story hangs off such a complex construct - separated twins, one who chooses to live as black, the other white - and the impact this has on their lives and families. And yet it flows brilliantly and allows Bennett to explore race and racism with an almost side-by-side comparison of experiences where the only differentiator is self and others‘ *perception* of race (not even the colour of their skin). Very powerful.