4.44k reviews for:

A Very Large Expanse Of Sea

Tahereh Mafi

4.14 AVERAGE

strawberrystarlight's review against another edition

4.5

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lizcantspell's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

malia_reads11's review against another edition

3.0

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more like 3.5 stars

maggie_ewing1105's review against another edition

4.5

emotional inspiring 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

skyguysbabygirl's review against another edition

5.0

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This book. Holy mother of the universe do i love this book!

mckenziegray's review against another edition

4.0

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Sixteen-year-old Shirin is moving to yet another new town with her family, but Shirin is not bothered. Her family has moved so many times she knows not to get attached to anyone. She is Persian and Muslim and wears a hijab. Following 9/11 she faces daily hate and bullying because of her race, religion, and hijab. Therefore she learns to shut everyone out to protect herself until she meets Ocean, a boy from her new school who inexplicably tries to befriend her. This is a coming-of-age story of a young woman learning to let her guard down while also processing her trauma.

The main characters are very well developed and I enjoy a character-driven book, so that made this an engaging read for me. I liked hearing Shirin's thoughts about wearing a hijab because the opinion of the women who actually wear hijabs are often overlooked. It was frustrating how intentionally blind Shirin was about what was going on around her and the people around her. It seemed so obvious to me that Ocean was interested in Shirin romantically, but it took her so long to figure it out. I realize this is part of her coping mechanism and personality, but it was just frustrating to read. I also found how the adults in her life, especially the basketball coach, treated her to be unbelievable. Why were they so concerned about who was dating whom? I didn't really see the connection between Ocean's high school basketball career and Shirin being Muslim.

thedrifter's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful 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

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I LOVED THIS BOOK. From start to finish, this book has now become my favorite Tahereh Mafi book. The ending was sad, but realistic, which is always what I can appreciate in novels like this. Especially when it’s sad but hopeful. A similar book would be “All My Rage” by Sabaa Tahir.

sundaereads's review against another edition

4.0

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Beautiful high school love story set against the backdrop of post-9/11 anti-Muslim sentiment. Mafi's description of her characters' first kiss took me right back to my teenage years. Lovely writing. The ending was.... abrupt. I wanted more.

lizzyjean's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

spike_spiegel1's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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