4.5 stars. We all contain multitudes, and when we’re forced to pigeonhole ourselves into limited identities proscribed by society, we suffer a real loss: The vanishing half that disappears. That’s the message of this book, but it’s woven into a family drama that’s compelling on its own, full of fascinating, three-dimensional characters. Too often a novel that tries to make a point puts the plot in service of that point, to the detriment of the plot — but that’s not the case here. I couldn’t put it down, wanting to see what happened to the characters. An excellent read, entertaining, but with depth.