Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

78 reviews

annakh16's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-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

2.75

First things first: this book is a lot darker than the synopsis suggests imo. I’d recommend looking at content warnings. 

I really want to like this more than I did. The plot in Cyprus was heartbreaking,

especially Yusuf’s and Yiorgos’ story was moving

, and the writing was good. But I’ll be honest: I think the entire late-2010s plot could’ve been cut. Most of it went nowhere,

especially the exorcism part?

, and it was mostly just the characters sitting around. I understand it was aimed to develop an understanding of generational trauma, but I don’t think it was pulled off, because the overall discussion of the emotional impact on the characters was underdeveloped. The beginning was also soo slow and nearly made me DNF. 

I also couldn’t get into the fig tree perspective. I think it was more enjoyable towards the end, when it actually told the story of the tavern, but in the beginning there were a lot of seemingly unrelated flora & fauna facts that just slowed down the story. If you enjoy that, this might work better, but it wasn’t for me. (And I agree that it overshadowed/hampered discussion of the human characters‘ thoughts and feelings). 

The story in Cyprus was no doubt my favourite, and I quite liked it. In my opinion, the book would’ve done a lot better just sticking to that. I learned a lot, but unfortunately I think this could’ve been better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Animal death, and Mental illness

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Grief

There is a chapter where Ada‘s aunt takes her to see an exorcist. Nothing comes from it, Ada does not seem upset by it and in fact finds it funny. But I wasn’t quite sure how to categorise this.

kaanda's review

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

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

I love the fig tree as a narrator!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Alcohol, Grief, Animal death, Child death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Homophobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism and Torture

sas_lk's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Elif Shafak's writing is gorgeous, I underlined a lot of beautiful quotes. However, I just think this book was not necessarily for me, Ada frustrated me so much. She frustrated me so much that I ended up having barely any interest in the rest of the story and characters. 
I think I will try atleast one more book from Shafak because I do think she is talented. This one simply wasn't for me I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Alcoholism, War, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Suicide and Homophobia

sammirosewater's review against another edition

emotional funny informative 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Genocide

reading_srsly's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

* Nature

* Heritage

* Forbidden Love

* Grief

* War

The Island of Missing Trees follows two generations of Kazantzakis, with the fig tree that lived through it all to fill in the missing gaps. The story spans several decades, covering everything from the forbidden young love between Kostas and Defne, to the modern struggles of a girl who feels like she doesn’t quite fit in, to the harsh and often violent realities of a culturally divided island.

The book is written in an unconventional style, with different timelines and alternate perspectives revealing the past along with the current timeline. There’s a touch of magic in this story primarily through the narration by the fig tree, but it remained firmly in the realm of magical realism. This complexity did make the impact of the stories difficult to track at times, and to me, despite starting the novel off in her perspective, Ada’s storyline never really came together in a satisfying way. 

What stands out the most is the prose. The author has a captivating way of writing, and fully immersive and distinct environments that are a character unto themselves, and add to the weight and symbolism of the book. While the story was more of a slow reveal of a family’s heritage where the intrigue comes from learning how things played out, there were definitely a few unexpected twists. Heritage and understanding your past was also a huge theme, and the story was rich with insights into the history of Cyprus and what it means to grieve and feel like an outcast. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: War

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

segufta's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

when i originally picked up this book it wasn't doing anything for me and i felt like i wasn't getting it especially in the fig tree sections. picking it up now though was definitely the right time, has beautiful quotes (ironically a lot from the fig tree) and a good story. i think what makes it land even more now is how the discussion of a divided cyprus and all the islanders feelings and emotions around it mirror the world right now, just added a lot of thought to that. ending made me smile

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, Abortion, Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

_brooke___'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: War and Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion