Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

18 reviews

kaanda's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.75

So descriptive that I can clearly see the tavern and every character in it. A very beautiful and painful story with seamless flow. Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Abortion, Addiction, War, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Animal death, Suicide, and Racism

Minor: Classism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Gun violence

nineinchnails's review against another edition

with everything going on right now the last thing i want to read is coloniser sympathising. there’s something especially disturbing to me abt revisionism favoring the oppressors in historical fiction specifically - it had potential but left a really bad taste in my mouth

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

Partition/Segregation

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

leic01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Death, and Violence

Minor: Torture, Abortion, and Abandonment

mlkai's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.0

i read it for the trees 🌳✨
writing to floral & detailed for my taste. the love story didn’t grab me. learning about the civil war felt heavy, timely, real. learned a lot about trees tho which i’m happy about

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Death of parent, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide, Animal death, and Mental illness

jayvdw's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the different perspectives whilst reading, especially the fig tree. The different perspectives really teach that everyone has their own struggles, past and emotions that shape that person. Furthermore, I loved reading the perspective of the fig tree, this really gave me a better appreciation of nature and all the intertwining forms of life. The book is also full of small life lessons, about how to deal with trauma, loss and love. One thing I was very happy to find out whilst reading, is the way Shafak talks about Cyprus, the fact that she speaks of the island and of it's inhabitants as islanders. I also learned more about the personal effects the civil war had on the residents of the island. A good friend of mine is from Cyprus and warned me that a lot of books about Cyprus get lost in the politics of the island and are almost always biased for one side, I was very happy to learn that this was not the case for this book.

Concerning the ending, 

I always had a suspicion that the fig tree might be more than it let on, but to find out that it was the spirit of Defne was a very nice ending. It really ties together the different themes of the book, about spiritualism from Meryem and the love for trees from Kostas. I also liked that some things in the book were left open-ended, such as the question Ada asks Meryem and the exact way that Defne dies.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed my reading of this book, sometimes it made me sad whilst at other moments it was very joyful. I loved learning about the different perspectives and about the island of Cyprus. Writing-wise, I really enjoyed the small chapters, it made the book way more accessible. Overall I give it a 4.75. For me, it's just barely not a full 5, the book just missed a certain spark that would keep me hooked to read it nonstop, but overall it's an amazing book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Colonisation, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Child death, Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Hate crime

imvharini's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

Graphic: Abortion

Minor: Abandonment

cecilialau_'s review against another edition

4.5

Definitely recommend this book and I’m looking forward to reading other books by Elif Shafak.
My expectations were unfairly high but I still really enjoyed this book and the subtle beauty of the story only gets better with time imo. The story has definitely grown on me since, so I had to up the rating to a 4.5 (started on a 4.25 tbh).

I very much appreciate fiction as a way to learn more about a historical period in time. With this I didn’t know much about the civil war in Cyprus but it gave an insight into it (though only superficially of course as part of the plot line and it’s also not nonfic).
The owners of The Happy Fig were essential to my reading experience btw. The parrot’s story told by the fig tree was heartbreakingly beautiful as well. I thoroughly appreciated the fig tree telling us about the essential role and relevance of ecosystems. 

Not sure how I felt about Defne’s soul inhabiting the fig tree at the end though, I have to say.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Genocide, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Death of parent

emmagreenwood's review

challenging informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Violence

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content