Reviews tagging Grief

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, by Shokoofeh Azar

5 reviews

sincitylibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Brillant, magical realism set in a brutal time period in Iran. The book explores the tragedy through a fantastic cast of characters, living and dead, real/imagined/mythical and while some detours into the myths are long, the book sticks together as a whole if you have patience through to the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Torture, and Grief

leahkrason's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

sherbertwells's review

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted reflective 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? No

3.0

An intellectual Iranian family leaves the chaos of revolutionary Tehran for a remote village that plays host to jinns, curses and otherworldly nature. Azar borrows heavily from Gabriel García Márquez One Hundred Years of Solitude, and while she does not surpass her mentor fans of one will certainly find the other enjoyable and inspiring.

“Here and there a passerby who had missed the last buses looked up at the star-filled sky and wondered where the deluge was coming from. It was only the homeless addicts and vagabond lunatics whose inner eyes saw that a river of tears up Vali-asr Street flowed ahead of five thousand despairing, crying ghosts marching like a vanquished army, occasionally leaning against old plane trees and keening in a funereal lament” (76)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Police brutality

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

jessamynb's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage , Infertility, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement

steelfern's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I can't sing enough praises for all of the beauty in this book. Every moment of pain is worth making it to the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Grief, and Confinement