Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

L'isola degli alberi scomparsi by Elif Shafak

26 reviews

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging informative 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Violence

watermelleon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

I need to have another cry and talk about this at book club before writing a review here.... I read a huge chunk of this today and it has been nothing but crying my eyes out with little water breaks. my library copy now has mascara smudges on it, nothing I can do about that I guess :s

in short - best book I have read in a long time. it is beautifully written, surprisingly close to home and relatable, generally so informative on topics I new nothing about (that I probably should have!). it has changed my outlook on many perspectives in my life. this is a lifechanging book that I will be recommending to everyone. there are some tough, tough topics but so much hope and nostalgia as well.

on a personal note: This book has allowed me to reflect on my own recently-uprooted family history, and has helped me reflect on that as well the now clear impact of this on my family moving down through the generations.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Death of parent, Bullying, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Terminal illness

War Imagery throughout and discussion of death of multiple characters in detail (not graphic in terms of gore, but explains how they died). Colonisation: discussion throughout of colonisation in relation to cyprus and the effects of this, more focussed on the cultural impact than graphic/gore detail. Pregnancy and Children:

a child dies at a young age of malaria, child is assumed for a while to be an abortion.

Terminal Illness:

Main Character's grand parents died as a result of cancer- they were poisoned by asbestos from some overalls used for working in the mines

Sucide / alcohol / drug use:

the main character's mother is revealed to have killed herself, was an alcoholic and took pills to end her life

Mental Illness: many themes of mental illness throughout, especially a big theme of inheriting generational trauma (war related) and how this impacts younger generations the most. Bullying

short scene of bullying in a british school at the beginning of the book

Panic Attacks

short scene of bullying in a british school at the beginning of the book. The main character has a panic attack and screams during her class, an incident which is later discussed.

Homophobia

an interracial gay couple (two men) are kidnapped and killed within context of a war, it is suggested that their sexuality is a part of the attack as well as their conflicting cutural backgrounds

Kidnapping

an interracial gay couple are kidnapped and killed within context of a war, suggested that their sexuality is a part of the attack as well as their conflicting cutural backgrounds

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War

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

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

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

lynneliu's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, War, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Suicide

lanid's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Grief, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, and Hate crime

ciaomara's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, and War

mwaskom's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

beautiful. I learned so much about Cyprus and it was so engaging. Though it is rooted in many specific places and times, it's truly about the experiences, connections, and desires we all have. Only reason it's not a 5 star read is that the tree metaphors and very heavy handed, like this book was made for a 10th grade English essay about symbolism (and would be an amazing assigned reading) but I thought it would benefit from a little more subtlety. 🌳

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Xenophobia, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Murder, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Islamophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion

sylda's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

If I had to summarize this book in one word, it would have to be inconsistent. It flutters between "subtext is for cowards and "that came out of nowhere" and the different time periods that are explored are sometimes really interesting and sometimes boring.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Hate crime, and Homophobia

toomanydresses's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Homophobia