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leabhar_love's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Violence, Hate crime, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide
ilana_pop's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Murder, and Homophobia
katewhite77's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
A Fable For Our Time
A book abort war , tribalism and intergenerational trauma. Grief. loss and the damage we are doing to our planet. Also a stark reminder of how brutal and excruciating teenaghood can be.
This book is beautifully and poetically written. As someone who carers deeply about what is happening about the planet but who finds the subject of climate change quite impenetrable at times this story is a useful entry point into to thinking about these important issues as it goes beyond bare statistics and gives nature a voice.
A book abort war , tribalism and intergenerational trauma. Grief. loss and the damage we are doing to our planet. Also a stark reminder of how brutal and excruciating teenaghood can be.
This book is beautifully and poetically written. As someone who carers deeply about what is happening about the planet but who finds the subject of climate change quite impenetrable at times this story is a useful entry point into to thinking about these important issues as it goes beyond bare statistics and gives nature a voice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, War, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Murder, Genocide, and Abortion
alexhaydon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Racism, War, and Murder
rosalind's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders
profdevochka's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, War, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Child death, Grief, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia
reajacks's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was heartbreaking. Shafak’s words seem to have this way of reaching into your and gripping your heart until the final chapter. I wish I could forget the contents of this book only I could read it all over again. I don't want to be too elaborate here only because this book is too special to spoil. Even if you're interested in historical fiction (I myself to avoid it), you will love this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Murder, Hate crime, and Grief
lena_loves_reading's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is one of these beautiful, important adult books.
“A map is a two-dimensional representation with arbitrary symbols and incised lines that decide who is to be our enemy and who is to be our friend, who deserves our love and who deserves our hatred and who, our sheer indifference. Cartography is another name for stories told by winners. For stories told by those who have lost, there isn’t one.”
I have a deep respect for Elif Shafak, her work and opinions, even if I don't agree with all of them. I could see her beliefs and love/ appreciation of culture in this novel. Me being a biology nerd, I loved the wonderful facts about nature, especially trees. While I thought it weird at first for this novel to be told from the first-person POVs of a fig tree, I fell in love with the descriptions of her tree life.
I have to admit, I didn't know much about Cyprus before reading this novel. I knew it's an island between Europe and the middle east with Greek and Turkish inhabitants, yes, but I didn't know that it once belonged to the British Empire or about the bloody civil war. I didn't know that it remains divided to this day. I love learning about other countries through books so I loved how much culture, sayings and superstitions can be found in this novel.
Why rate it 4 stars then? Important, nuanced books always make my brain feel like it has to work when reading a book (it did: to keep track of the timelines, to remember all the characters, to understand what was going on in Cyprus,...) and that always makes me thinks “Urgh, I don't want to adult, give me a YA contemporary right now!” Furthermore, the pace is quite slow and made the book feel longer than it is.
“A map is a two-dimensional representation with arbitrary symbols and incised lines that decide who is to be our enemy and who is to be our friend, who deserves our love and who deserves our hatred and who, our sheer indifference. Cartography is another name for stories told by winners. For stories told by those who have lost, there isn’t one.”
I have a deep respect for Elif Shafak, her work and opinions, even if I don't agree with all of them. I could see her beliefs and love/ appreciation of culture in this novel. Me being a biology nerd, I loved the wonderful facts about nature, especially trees. While I thought it weird at first for this novel to be told from the first-person POVs of a fig tree, I fell in love with the descriptions of her tree life.
I have to admit, I didn't know much about Cyprus before reading this novel. I knew it's an island between Europe and the middle east with Greek and Turkish inhabitants, yes, but I didn't know that it once belonged to the British Empire or about the bloody civil war. I didn't know that it remains divided to this day. I love learning about other countries through books so I loved how much culture, sayings and superstitions can be found in this novel.
Why rate it 4 stars then? Important, nuanced books always make my brain feel like it has to work when reading a book (it did: to keep track of the timelines, to remember all the characters, to understand what was going on in Cyprus,...) and that always makes me thinks “Urgh, I don't want to adult, give me a YA contemporary right now!” Furthermore, the pace is quite slow and made the book feel longer than it is.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Child death, and Murder
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
This is quite an ambitious novel that was done well. The story is intricately woven between present day London where the daughter (Ada) of two Cypriots one of Greek heritage and one of Turkish heritage tries to discover her family’s past to learn more about herself with past Cyprus from late 20th leading to the present. It’s a story of love, loss, and the effects of war. The past shows the Cyprus civil war and the trauma it caused its citizens both physically and psychologically. It also investigates how these traumas are passed on to future generations and the moral questions those left to rebuild, and civilization are left to face after the war has ended.
This book left me in tears multiple times. The nature writing is exquisite, and I loved learning about nature and history from the POV of a fig tree. The Novel feature two main love story that of Ada’s parents and that of two gay men. Both love stories feature one partner whom is of Greek dissent and one whom is of Turkish dissent. The team how love can over power cultural difference and how love makes the world a better place are wonderfully fulfilled throughout this book.
The pacing was a bit slow at the beginning but got better throughout. There is enough lingering mystery to keep the reader wanting more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Murder
eve81's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Death of parent, War, Murder, and Suicide