Reviews

La isla del árbol perdido by Elif Shafak

maxi's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

i_webb's review against another edition

4.5

Inherited grief/trauma and a main character being a fig tree?? COUNT ME IN!! This is how you write themes in a way that’s so masterful it looks easy. Such a simple concept but told so beautifully.

bw_reads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

vivian_m_anderson's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.0

i enjoyed it! at times was a bit slow and overwhelmed with science and history, but the richly lush descriptions of foods, nature, and love made up for it. it was fascinating to learn about history i had no idea about!

noahandjude's review against another edition

mysterious reflective

3.0

i feel like i sound like a broken record. conceptually, this book was very cool. however, the overall execution could use some work.

highlights
- i really enjoyed the perspective from the fig tree in all its magical realism glory (before it was corrupted by a human). these chapters made my heart sing.
- the first half of the novel was really promising, Ada's screaming episode in particular embodied my favourite elements of magical realism, which were later abandoned :(
- Kostas and his love for plants, but ultimately i wish we could've learned more about his character
- Y&Y
- step-by-step instructions on how to bury and unbury a fig tree
- the historical information! i confess i did not know a lot about the history of the civil conflict in Cyprus and i was glad to learn more about it

lowlights
- the fact that the fig tree contained the spirit of the mom?? i feel like this undermined the intrigue of getting the perspective from a non-human character...
- overall characterization of virtually everyone fell flat to me. this was a major source of my disappointment. i think there was too much going on, trying to balance multiples timelines, that i was unable to form a strong connection to any of our main characters. 
- moreover, the tonal shifts that occurred between perspectives were a bit jarring, and the novel lacked a consistent magical realism-esque writing style. 

birdinflight1's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book so much! Great love story and sciencey tree and plant facts mixed in with a bunch of history--all my favorites.

cheleellishowes's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully read on the audio book. I now regularly talk to my fig tree as a result of reading this book. This sounds mad but this book really gets you to love and appreciate trees and their history. Whilst also following touching and powerful generational life stories.

kmeadow's review against another edition

I need a break, too dark too far into summer… I need a beach read 

*** will revisit ***

evanikolaidou's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.0

mzee34's review against another edition

5.0

One of - if not the - most beautiful, imaginative, heartbreaking books I’ve ever read.