Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

47 reviews

kaitlanl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, War, Suicide, Death, and Animal death

kelly11111's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

selireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

As a child of immigrant parents from former Yugoslavia, this book hit a topic close to home. I grew up learning bits and pieces of my father's past, just like Ada. Neighbours and friends turning their backs on each other and doing unspeakable things to each other is a topic we're well aware of. It was a hard read, and I found myself struggling to continue because of how relatable it was. I've never read a book that took the perspective of a tree and it's such a beautiful touch. I loved hearing the bugs and the birds talking to the tree. I will never look at trees the same way anymore. I'd strongly urge anyone who deals lives in the diaspora with generational trauma and/or immigrant parents to pick up this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, War, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, and Gun violence

cedardleland's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent

caleb_makes's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

Devastating and beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, Abortion, and Alcoholism

Minor: Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, War, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Cultural appropriation, and Cursing

rbudd24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, Animal death, Alcoholism, and War

lynneliu's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, War, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Suicide

lanid's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Grief, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, and Hate crime

ciaomara's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, and War

whatannikareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

i just have to say the cover of this book is sooooo beautiful!

the writing is equally as beautiful. it’s one of those books where it’s evident how much research was put into it. i’m very appreciative to have been introduced to cypriot culture through this book. the prose is thoughtful and informative. i really enjoyed the narrative sections, and at first i enjoyed the perspective from the fig tree, but towards the end it annoyed me a little because it would interject the plot and it sometimes didn’t feel like it added anything; it was filler information about trees. while informative, it also made me want to get back to narrative.

i also don’t know if i loved the way ada was written? i understand she’s a teenager lacking some emotional control, but it felt like the other characters were 3D and she was written two dimensionally. she was one of the main character but i struggled to empathize with her because (maybe i’m just an adult now lol) she was just annoying and had an attitude the whole time!

overall though i think this is an important book that highlights history and culture i might not have known of otherwise!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, War, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, and Death