Reviews tagging 'Death'

L'isola degli alberi scomparsi by Elif Shafak

92 reviews

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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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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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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sabrinalefebvre's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.5

3.5⭐️

An interesting novel told through different perspective and timelines, often jumping through them back and forth.

I thought the characters were so well developed, I loved seeing their different perspectives on the world. I have to say that I’m a little biased with Kostas, he was my favourite character.

The prose flowed beautifully and easily. Beautiful writing that sucked you in into an even more beautiful story.

However, and I feel there’s always a however, it was slow. It took so long for the story to take off and I found myself bored. I read less then 150 pages in 2 weeks. 

As a person with greek heritage I was very happy to see the representative here.

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cinnamonpizza8's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

The author did a magical job of tying together a beautiful story of immigration and conflict and history effortlessly. I felt engrossed in this book when I read it, wanting to hear all the details and deeply thinking of the concepts the author rose through the characters. The fig tree was the best part of the story - I loved having this omnipresent voice that felt grounded (haha, get it). Overall, a great story. 

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achingallover's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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coffeaiene's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

this made me cry too much 
i'm here back, a bit calmer, a little less sniffly. i saw a post a comment on a book review on instagram of this book saying how much they want for this to be adapted as a movie or a tv show, or anything. usually, i'm all onboard for it. but now, if this gets adapted in any way, shape, or form, i would probably die! because if i have to watch yusuf and yiorgos in the tavern, smiling and moving around the starlit night sky, whispering 's'agapo' and 'sana aşığım' to each other under the fig branches, watch yusuf touch the necklace with the cavafy poem while looking at yiorgos, and if i have to see the corpses of yusuf and yiorgos, respectfully, i will simply pass away! 
this was mostly me taking a breather to talk about yusuf and yiorgos, my new favorite book couple. y'all book couples have got NOTHING on my tragic turkish-greek cypriot lovers. 
also i realize how strange that i visited cyprus when i was younger, and that my uncle lived there for years.
 

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graciexpratt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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romyreads_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

4.5


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