"The Vanishing Half is a brilliant counter narrative of doubling at its finest. Brit Bennett doubles character in lives of twin girls, skin colour & gender in an astonishing contemporary story of survival & colorism in the lives of a family in 1950s Louisiana. Light-coloured twins run away from their light-coloured home town, one sister Stella recognises she can ‘pass’ as white and lives in that persona, while the other sister raises a child from an abusive partner in her home town who is ‘blueblack’. Deeper issues of trans generational trauma, appearance & disappearance, rejection, fear and internalised racism complicate this masterpiece that stars some of the most complex and beautiful characters I’ve ever read." – Virginia.

"Incredible. This is my kind of character-driven read. I loved everything about it. I was so utterly absorbed that this was my world for a few days. Nothing could stand in the way. A family epic where twin sisters live apart, one as black, the other white. Race and identity are the themes that drive the strong narrative to a head-shaking, tearful conclusion. Bennett’s unfolding of the story is handled with such finesse, she is the most beautiful writer. Her previous book The Mothers was a favourite here at BRTD but The Vanishing Half is a masterpiece and I beg everyone to read it, this is a perfect read." – Dean.

"I loved this book! The Vanishing Half is an engrossing, exquisitely-told story of twin sisters raised in a light-skinned Black community who, despite escaping the small town together, become estranged. Brit Bennett explores colorism and the American history of racial "passing" with affectionate glances to Toni Morrison and Nella Larsen. She weaves multiple perspectives and narrative strands with such skill, illuminating the unknowable minds of other people, the desire to rewrite your life or be something other than your origins, and the complex, sacrificial ties we make to family. A masterful, compelling, luminous novel." – Emma Co.