A review by sa1rareads
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

They say 'Never judge a book by its cover' but i always make this mistake, judging the books by their COVERS or the TITLES. I thought this book is an another love story a romantacy teenage book but the book is about the spiritual love, the rules are not of do's and don'ts in love but the Forty Rules of RELIGION of Love. Shams wore a silver earring, he shaved his all facial hair, and still he was so close to god. He saw his death and was afraid of it, but he didn't back off, in Rumi's love he was ready to give his head. The book has two stories, of Shams and Rumi, and of Ella Aziz. The story of shams unfolds many other stories, the story of harlot, the beggar's,  that drunk Suleman. The story of kimya hurt me the most. Idk why Shams married her in first place if he didn't love her. The poor girl endured enough. I liked the character of Shams of Tabriz but there was things that left me in dilemma. He introduced 'Sema' whirling dance of dervishes, and i find it really beautiful. Everything that happened in the book was giving a message, a message of love, a message of accepting your true self, a message of loving your creator, a message of not interrupting in anyone's business (which people love to do these days), a message of finding the inner peace, a message of loving every creation of god.