Reviews tagging 'Grief'

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

32 reviews

kommatator's review

emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic friendship, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug use, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Alcohol

creatingavery's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Tahereh Mafi has truly some of the most beautiful and heartbreaking prose I have ever read. I was holding onto every word in this story. This book was HEAVY but I couldn’t put it down. I was so invested in the characters. It wrecked me in the best possible way, and I don’t think I will soon forget this book and the world it showed me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Islamophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Medical content and Physical abuse

irislovesbooks's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Islamophobia, and Self harm

courtneyfalling's review

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was so beautifully written but so sad and introspective and left me hollow inside. It reminds me a lot in tone and lyrical style of Nina LaCour's We Are Okay, in terms of how I felt while reading. The inconclusive ending is heartbreaking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Grief, Islamophobia, Medical content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

ceecee9093's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Grief, Islamophobia, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, and Suicide attempt

bananaberrybun's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Racism, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, and Grief

taylor_maxine's review

emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Self harm

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Though short, this book packs an emotional punch that you won't soon recover from. It felt like reading Shadi's diary; there are other characters and though they're complex, no one gets as much development as Shadi. We see things only from her perspective, and grow and grieve with her.

There's not a ton of stuff happening plot-wise, and don't go into this expecting a neat resolution with everything tied in a bow. This one definitely has more of an open-ended ending—but I thought it was a nice reflection on real life, where nothing is ever resolved easily, especially grief and complex family relationships. It's also well-written, so if you like things more on the literary side, but with a touch of that young adult feel, you'll probably like this.

Thank you to Libro.fm, Harper Audio, and the author for my ALC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Moderate: Medical content

gem114's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

An Emotion of Great Delight follows Shadi, a Muslim teen in a post-9/11 America, through a particularly challenging period of her life.  Not only does she have to deal with her community's Islamophobia, but her family has been wrecked by grief over her brother's recent death.  Her parents' health is fragile, her relationship with her sister is strained, and her friendships, if you can call them that, are a mess.  While there are some glimmers of hope, be warned that this is a SAD book.

Glows: Mafi's prose is truly poetic.  There were multiple times while reading that I had to pause and just appreciate the beauty of how something was phrased.  I also really liked Shadi as a main character, and I think her story is a compelling one.  

Grows: I thought the alternating timeline was hard to follow.  I also don't think other characters were developed enough.  Overall, the book felt a bit disjointed.  Perhaps this was intentional given the focus on how stress and grief were affecting Shadi's mental and physical health, but, in my opinion, it made for a less immersive reading experience. A bit too abstract for my tastes, but your mileage may vary!

Thank you so much to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Islamophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual content

stevielynne's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood