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sydneybedell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Death of parent, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Homophobia, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism
gendavis's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Suicide, Grief, War, and Violence
littlewishling's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
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
My love for this book kind of snuck up on me. Shafak has a beautiful way with words and has created a fantastic story wrapped in history and folklore. I adored this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, War, and Racism
archytas's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
This is a surprisingly gentle book about crimes against humanity: one which focuses on a love story and is largely told by a resilient and reflective tree. Shafik interweaves the story of human-on-human violence with reflections on ecological violence. She also weaves through the story of love - fierce love - both of humans for each other and for the nature that surrounds us. Shafik's style is to celebrate defiance in the face of violence, and love in the face of persecution. That she does so while acknowledging the losses is significant. This is a book which manages not to say that love negates trauma, but rather that love and trauma co-exist.
All of which makes it sound more like a book about ideas than it is: this is a book strongly anchored by strong characters. Especially the gentle, mournful Kostas, the indomitable Defne and their passionate, frustrated daughter Ada. Minor characters impress quickly - Meryam, the extraverted aunt whose loudness and physical affection belie her own vulnerability and unsureness; Yiorgas and Yusef are seen largely through the eyes of those they shelter. They are perhaps the most symbolic of entities, and it is notable that their generosity comes from their own decisions to live precariously in order to live well.
I knew nothing going into this book, except that a couple of friends I really trust loved both this book and Shafik's work in general. I know little of Cyprus or the Turkish invasion and massacres that this text centres around. The book was accessible for the ignorant and left me keen to know more. At the end, it is clear that Shafik has been influenced by many of the same natural science books I have been reading lately, which certainly partly explained why I loved so much the twinned themes of human/nature and human/human interactions. I've added pretty much everything else she's written to my tbr now.
All of which makes it sound more like a book about ideas than it is: this is a book strongly anchored by strong characters. Especially the gentle, mournful Kostas, the indomitable Defne and their passionate, frustrated daughter Ada. Minor characters impress quickly - Meryam, the extraverted aunt whose loudness and physical affection belie her own vulnerability and unsureness; Yiorgas and Yusef are seen largely through the eyes of those they shelter. They are perhaps the most symbolic of entities, and it is notable that their generosity comes from their own decisions to live precariously in order to live well.
I knew nothing going into this book, except that a couple of friends I really trust loved both this book and Shafik's work in general. I know little of Cyprus or the Turkish invasion and massacres that this text centres around. The book was accessible for the ignorant and left me keen to know more. At the end, it is clear that Shafik has been influenced by many of the same natural science books I have been reading lately, which certainly partly explained why I loved so much the twinned themes of human/nature and human/human interactions. I've added pretty much everything else she's written to my tbr now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Genocide, War, and Suicide
atipsygiraffe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Homophobia
rieviolet's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-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
3.75
I did not mind the peculiar narrator, aka the fig tree, but I think that its narration was maybe given a bit too much space at the expense of the human characters. They felt a bit surface level, I would have liked for the author to delve more into their characterizations and relationships.
Also, the final revelation left me a bit perplexed, I was not expecting it and I think that it added an ulterior element of magical realism that felt a bit like too much.
Still, the writing style was really good, maybe just at times it felt a bit overdone, that is overly sentimental for my taste or going a bit overboard with the metaphors.
Overall it was a nice reading experience, that taught me a lot about the natural world and about a time and place that I knew nothing about.
Also, please give me an entire book on Yiorgos and Yusuf's backstory (*crying in extreme sadness*).
Also, the final revelation left me a bit perplexed, I was not expecting it and I think that it added an ulterior element of magical realism that felt a bit like too much.
Still, the writing style was really good, maybe just at times it felt a bit overdone, that is overly sentimental for my taste or going a bit overboard with the metaphors.
Overall it was a nice reading experience, that taught me a lot about the natural world and about a time and place that I knew nothing about.
Also, please give me an entire book on Yiorgos and Yusuf's backstory (*crying in extreme sadness*).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Gun violence, Death, War, Abortion, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Sexism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Child death, Drug abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Infidelity, Cancer, Torture, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicide
kshertz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
It took me a long time to get into this book (over 100 pages!) I think it might be the authors language or the skipping through time or having the fig tree have its own perspective but it really took a long time for me to get invested in the love story. But then I didn’t understand Daphne leaving Cyprus for England because her whole character revolves around the island and setting things right on the island. Why would she leave? So it just wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Racism, War, and Homophobia
deedireads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Island of Missing Trees is a beautifully written, mournful little love story. While I don’t think it was perfect, I liked it very much and would recommend it.
For you if: You like an unconventional (read: kind of magical) narrator.
FULL REVIEW:
The Island of Missing Trees was my last read from the 2022 Women’s Prize shortlist, and my second by Elif Shafak. While I don’t think it was perfect, I liked it very much and would definitely recommend it.
The story takes place on two timelines. In the late 2010s, a teenage girl named Ada and her father (Kostas) are still grieving the death of Ada’s mother (Defne), and her Defne’s sister comes to visit them in London. Throughout, we also flash back to trace Kostas and Defne’s relationship over time. They lived in Cyprus during a period of civil war, he being Greek and Christian and she being Turkish and Muslim, and had to hide their relationship. The story is narrated by a fig tree that grew in the tavern where they would meet, and which Kostas brought with them to London.
This is a quietly sad love story; but it’s also about generational memory/trauma, and family, and freedom, and home; and also about the beauty and wonder of the natural world around us, trees and animals alike. It took me a little bit to fully settle into the story, but once I did, I really, really enjoyed it. I was most drawn to the chapters set in flashback. It’s also written in very short chapters, which always helps propel a story through time.
I had mixed feelings about our tree narrator. On the one hand, she could tip a little bit cheesy, and I found some of her interludes about the natural world extemporaneous — think, like, Bewilderment (or maybe The Overstory would be a better comparison, but I haven’t read that one yet so can’t say for sure). That said, it’s her voice that gives this novel the storytelling vibe that I came to ultimately love.
If you’re curious about this one, especially the tree narrator telling us a mournful love story, definitely give this one a shot.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Island of Missing Trees is a beautifully written, mournful little love story. While I don’t think it was perfect, I liked it very much and would recommend it.
For you if: You like an unconventional (read: kind of magical) narrator.
FULL REVIEW:
The Island of Missing Trees was my last read from the 2022 Women’s Prize shortlist, and my second by Elif Shafak. While I don’t think it was perfect, I liked it very much and would definitely recommend it.
The story takes place on two timelines. In the late 2010s, a teenage girl named Ada and her father (Kostas) are still grieving the death of Ada’s mother (Defne), and her Defne’s sister comes to visit them in London. Throughout, we also flash back to trace Kostas and Defne’s relationship over time. They lived in Cyprus during a period of civil war, he being Greek and Christian and she being Turkish and Muslim, and had to hide their relationship. The story is narrated by a fig tree that grew in the tavern where they would meet, and which Kostas brought with them to London.
This is a quietly sad love story; but it’s also about generational memory/trauma, and family, and freedom, and home; and also about the beauty and wonder of the natural world around us, trees and animals alike. It took me a little bit to fully settle into the story, but once I did, I really, really enjoyed it. I was most drawn to the chapters set in flashback. It’s also written in very short chapters, which always helps propel a story through time.
I had mixed feelings about our tree narrator. On the one hand, she could tip a little bit cheesy, and I found some of her interludes about the natural world extemporaneous — think, like, Bewilderment (or maybe The Overstory would be a better comparison, but I haven’t read that one yet so can’t say for sure). That said, it’s her voice that gives this novel the storytelling vibe that I came to ultimately love.
If you’re curious about this one, especially the tree narrator telling us a mournful love story, definitely give this one a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, War, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Abortion and Homophobia
laara's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Violence
leabhar_love's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Violence, Hate crime, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide