Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

82 reviews

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

I love the fig tree as a narrator!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Alcohol, Grief, Animal death, Child death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Homophobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism and Torture

sas_lk's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

Elif Shafak's writing is gorgeous, I underlined a lot of beautiful quotes. However, I just think this book was not necessarily for me, Ada frustrated me so much. She frustrated me so much that I ended up having barely any interest in the rest of the story and characters. 
I think I will try atleast one more book from Shafak because I do think she is talented. This one simply wasn't for me I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, War, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Suicide and Homophobia

taytots24's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Suicide, Alcohol, Ableism, and Gun violence

ariromi's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Child death, War, Murder, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Addiction

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Blood

yellowfleeces's review

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Addiction

pamc_1996's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Child death, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide and Suicidal thoughts

utopiaandmelancholy's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Stunningly written. The subject matter is difficult, but the hope shines through as well. I wasn't very aware of the history around the Cyprus civil war, which is still in very recent history, but this was a vivid and personal introduction. The fig tree sections I also thought were beautiful. I already have an interest in plant science so I did already know some of the amazing facts that are shared, but I loved the way they also support the story. A fantastic exploration of love against the odds, generational trauma, and the fracturing of a community in a troubled time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Homophobia, Animal death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

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

crazytourists_books's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

Something quite interesting happened while I was reading this book. My feelings about it completely changed; I didn't particularly enjoy the narration parts by the fig tree (how much I love figs, is beyond words; fig trees are my second favorite tree after the olive trees). Let's get back to my feelings about these parts of the narration: I started feeling annoyed, then tired, then indifferent until the end that part of what Shafak tried to do, fell in place. Part of it, because I still think that pages in the book were unnecessarily and overly didactic. 
When I started this book, I left aside all the biases that, inevitably as a Greek have towards the history of Cyprus, the events, the people, the british colonisation and then the island's dichotomy. I think that Shafak also did her best to leave her biases on the side, and overall, she did a very good job, but in places, it did feel kind of forcibly balanced. 
Having said that, once again, I was lulled by the author's wonderful talent in storytelling; her words have a great power of pulling you in the story. A story of grief and loss and love. 
And here I am, loving a love story! 
My only regret is that I read in November, in England instead of August, in Greece, overlooking at the see, eating the most amazing fruit in the world! Fresh figs!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Abortion, Violence, War, Death, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Animal death, and Murder

nicolaparty's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Murder, Child death, Death, Grief, Homophobia, War, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Kidnapping