Reviews - The Bastard of Istanbul

1.25k reviews for:

The Bastard of Istanbul

Elif Shafak

3.84 AVERAGE

amfor's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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: No

jaz_k's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-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

"Life is coincidence......."
Such is life.... there is beauty in it. There is also sorrow in it.

lyloster's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional medium-paced

livcashmere's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

elle_907's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

amiwiththe_i's review against another edition

3.0

reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

goodbookbadbook's review against another edition

4.0

First of all, check trigger warnings before reading this. It started off strong and immediately pulled me in with Elif Shafak’s beautiful writing and vivid atmosphere. But somewhere around the middle, I started to lose interest—the plot began to drag and jump all over the place with so many characters to keep up with. That said, it ended strong. Once I realized where it was headed, I had this awful feeling of dread in my stomach—and I was right. It’s a gut punch. I don’t regret reading it because I truly love Elif Shafak’s writing voice, but I can definitely tell this was one of her earlier novels. She’s only gotten stronger since.