Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

20 reviews

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

laceystairs's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

This was a book club book and it's not one I would have chosen for myself, but I am so glad that I experienced this this story this year. This book had the most interesting narrator. I had not expected that a tree would not only have a lot to say, but have a lot of interesting things to say. This story takes place in present time, a young girl comes to terms with her life now that she is missing her mother. Her father is grieving and together with a visiting relative, they start to try and ReDiscover family. The second part of the book is told in flashbacks of the mother and father during the 1970s when Cyprus was in the middle of a civil war. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, this book was so much better than even the hype had made me expect.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and War

mraddd's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racism, War, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, and Animal death

adampjt's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Murder, and Hate crime

Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Infertility

robintchappell's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Pregnancy and Child death

honnhi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I cannot stop thinking about this book. From the first page, I fell in love with the writing style. It’s beautiful and poignant without being difficult to understand.
I feel like the perspective of the fig tree and meditations on nature so perfectly captured these very relatable human emotions and experiences.
The parents’ story gripped me so much that I found myself wishing the chapters on Ada were shorter at times, but I do think the Ada chapters were important in their own way. It added a dimension to the parents’ narrative especially.
This is the exact type of story I yearn for when I read magical realism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion

shhh_tamis_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

I’m so thankful this book was recommended. It’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve read. 

I adored all of the characters, especially the Fig Tree. In fact the chalets narrated by the Fig Tree may be my favorites. The entire book comes together with sacred beauty. 

I also now want to learn more about Cyprus which I was ignorant of before. I appreciate the author’s book list at the back of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, War, Abortion, Alcohol, Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide, and Xenophobia

griernotgruyere's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction

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

cinnamonpizza8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

The author did a magical job of tying together a beautiful story of immigration and conflict and history effortlessly. I felt engrossed in this book when I read it, wanting to hear all the details and deeply thinking of the concepts the author rose through the characters. The fig tree was the best part of the story - I loved having this omnipresent voice that felt grounded (haha, get it). Overall, a great story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Drug abuse, Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Racism, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence