Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

جزيرة الأشجار المفقودة by Elif Shafak

21 reviews

annakh16's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

2.75

First things first: this book is a lot darker than the synopsis suggests imo. I’d recommend looking at content warnings. 

I really want to like this more than I did. The plot in Cyprus was heartbreaking,

especially Yusuf’s and Yiorgos’ story was moving

, and the writing was good. But I’ll be honest: I think the entire late-2010s plot could’ve been cut. Most of it went nowhere,

especially the exorcism part?

, and it was mostly just the characters sitting around. I understand it was aimed to develop an understanding of generational trauma, but I don’t think it was pulled off, because the overall discussion of the emotional impact on the characters was underdeveloped. The beginning was also soo slow and nearly made me DNF. 

I also couldn’t get into the fig tree perspective. I think it was more enjoyable towards the end, when it actually told the story of the tavern, but in the beginning there were a lot of seemingly unrelated flora & fauna facts that just slowed down the story. If you enjoy that, this might work better, but it wasn’t for me. (And I agree that it overshadowed/hampered discussion of the human characters‘ thoughts and feelings). 

The story in Cyprus was no doubt my favourite, and I quite liked it. In my opinion, the book would’ve done a lot better just sticking to that. I learned a lot, but unfortunately I think this could’ve been better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Animal death, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Grief

There is a chapter where Ada‘s aunt takes her to see an exorcist. Nothing comes from it, Ada does not seem upset by it and in fact finds it funny. But I wasn’t quite sure how to categorise this.

kaanda's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

So descriptive that I can clearly see the tavern and every character in it. A very beautiful and painful story with seamless flow. Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Abortion, Addiction, War, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Animal death, Suicide, and Racism

Minor: Classism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Gun violence

helencantero's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

jenlovesbooksandcoffee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-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

5.0

Sometimes, what you call the perpetrator was just another name for an unacknowledged victim.

The audio is so good!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Genocide, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, War, Abortion, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I finished this book with tears in my eyes, and that wasn’t the first time it brought me to tears. This story is as heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. The characters go through so much and their stories are told with such reverence. I loved the multi-timeline, multi-narrator style of storytelling, and the writing itself was stunning — I highlighted so many passages! The unique perspective of the tree and the attention paid to the natural world throughout made this book absolutely fascinating to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, War, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

mlkai's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.0

i read it for the trees 🌳✨
writing to floral & detailed for my taste. the love story didn’t grab me. learning about the civil war felt heavy, timely, real. learned a lot about trees tho which i’m happy about

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Death of parent, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide, Animal death, and Mental illness

jmitchell20's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Thought the idea of one of the narrators being a tree was very original. But I thought Ada was written as a 80-year-old teenager. Very clunky dialogue from her, but otherwise I enjoyed the plot and the different relationships and the history of Cyprus I had no knowledge about previous. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, War, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

deluna's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, and War

leontyna's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Hate crime

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Violence