Reviews - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

3.82k reviews for:

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Elif Shafak

4.11 AVERAGE

caileyp's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I appreciated all the characters, but I almost wish it focused more on just a couple versus the five friends. I enjoyed Leila’s narrative the most because it was the one I knew the most about.

Content Warnings

jess_reads1000's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amandapendley's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

sametc_89's review against another edition

4.75

Found family!! 😭😭😭

daniquejewel's review against another edition

4.5

challenging 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

amygatzemeyer's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

chrissiereads's review against another edition

4.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lisamstanhope's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Another gorgeous novel from this author, set in Istanbul a beautiful story about friends that become family and overcoming adversity. Some parts of the story are harder to read, see content warnings.

Content Warnings

angelica_jardinerica's review against another edition

3.0

I was drawn to this book by the premise of the protagonist being found murdered right at the beginning and her story being told through the five friends who come together to give her a decent burial. I just found it really sad and depressing and had to make an effort to finish it. There are some interesting reflections and social commentary about surviving in a cruel world and a city full of contradictions. In general I liked the writing style but the dialogue seemed artificial and forced a lot of the time.

igov's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious 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

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