Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

137 reviews

anka_not_anchor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

Anyone who is a child of immigrants or an immigrant themself will relate to this book and the stories it tells. It’s gorgeous in every way. 

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cedardleland's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0


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caleb_makes's review against another edition

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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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bookstorian's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm not sure where to begin with this absolute stunner of a read. Excerpt that if you are a lover of historical fiction, enjoy duel time lines and an unconventional narrator this book is one for you. 

'The Island of Missing Trees' spans across decades, oceans and ecosystems to tell the story of two teenagers Kostas and Defne who met on the island of Cyprus and their daughter Ada who his never visited the Island of her heritage. 

Every time I picked up this book I was utterly swept away, the poetic nature, the captivating nature of the narrative, even the perspective of a fig tree and wealth of historical fiction littered throughout the pages took my bookish heart by force. I felt tied to the characters, their trials and triumphs and adored the infusion of food, culture as well as the deep connection to nature. The ending also could not have been more perfect. 

This book also explores intergenerational trauma and the impacts of what that trauma, when combined with many others can do to a person and completely swept me off my feet right until the last page. 

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lynneliu's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0


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lanid's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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ambero's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.0

Good autumn read + loved the use of the fig tree as the character - lots of ideas and themes being drawn. Ultimately a v loving book (for people and nature) 

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ciaomara's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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whatannikareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

i just have to say the cover of this book is sooooo beautiful!

the writing is equally as beautiful. it’s one of those books where it’s evident how much research was put into it. i’m very appreciative to have been introduced to cypriot culture through this book. the prose is thoughtful and informative. i really enjoyed the narrative sections, and at first i enjoyed the perspective from the fig tree, but towards the end it annoyed me a little because it would interject the plot and it sometimes didn’t feel like it added anything; it was filler information about trees. while informative, it also made me want to get back to narrative.

i also don’t know if i loved the way ada was written? i understand she’s a teenager lacking some emotional control, but it felt like the other characters were 3D and she was written two dimensionally. she was one of the main character but i struggled to empathize with her because (maybe i’m just an adult now lol) she was just annoying and had an attitude the whole time!

overall though i think this is an important book that highlights history and culture i might not have known of otherwise!

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leaelsie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0


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