Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

L'isola degli alberi scomparsi by Elif Shafak

140 reviews

juliamakena's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Hate crime

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and War

griernotgruyere's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction

r0ry_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

kelly11111's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

maggiems's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

I desperately wanted to love this book a tree as a narrator is exactly the kind of stuff I want to see in the world. And well I found the human characters fascinating love their stories there ups and downs and relationship to their trauma. We can't being thrown back to that fucking tree who was the keeper of the metaphor.
Did you know that animals migrate? Did you know that "we trees" also have genetic trauma? Sure does make you think huh?  All of this may not have annoyed me so much if I didn't hate the voice of the tree to an unreasonably degree. A mix between holier than thou and naive twit! The phrase "We Trees" started to grate me. Perhaps it was the switch between third and first person narration.
So what of the human characters. I am a sucker for a love story and multiple time lines and generational issues. We have one Turkish Cypriot and one Greek Cypriot who embody historic conflict, a teenage daughter who stands for the new generation, and an aunt who stands for tradition. The novel is not very interested in the politics of why there was unrest in Cyprus, but its effects on individuals. Again this is essentially what the tree was there for, to take the longer view, to not care about why the humans came and gone, only that they did. In this way Shafak is going for a universality of conflict could be writing about any conflict.
This kind of links up with Ada's episode in school, 

  leading to the  #doyouhearmenow. All of the girls screaming are disaffected youths, the "losers of history" I wanted more of this. The trauma of being bullied online while also getting adoration and starting a trend that empowers people is interesting, but we have about 3 scenes with it and in the end it amounted to very little. She goes back to school and nothing more is said about it. I guess in the end it is true what she says; the losers do not get to write their story.

A feature I really did love about the book was   

the gay couple who ran the tavern. It was nice to recognize that while our mains were star crossed lovers in a dangerous situation, others were punished much worse for their love.

 

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did and that just always makes a book worse. What would have been a 3* if I didn't know anything about it, is brought down to 2. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm

clare_dv's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism

masonjones's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

this book was truly one of the best books i’ve ever read. it was heartbreaking  while simultaneously hopeful. i deeply connected with this book and think it deserves all the praise it gets and more!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

selireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

As a child of immigrant parents from former Yugoslavia, this book hit a topic close to home. I grew up learning bits and pieces of my father's past, just like Ada. Neighbours and friends turning their backs on each other and doing unspeakable things to each other is a topic we're well aware of. It was a hard read, and I found myself struggling to continue because of how relatable it was. I've never read a book that took the perspective of a tree and it's such a beautiful touch. I loved hearing the bugs and the birds talking to the tree. I will never look at trees the same way anymore. I'd strongly urge anyone who deals lives in the diaspora with generational trauma and/or immigrant parents to pick up this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

anka_not_anchor's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Suicide

caleb_makes's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail