overwaterer 's review for:

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

3.0

dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Wasn't my favorite, and maybe it was the audio format. Covered a lot of interesting ground, but I didn't connect to any of the characters. I was shocked to find out the author was a woman because the teen girl's voice was so unbelievable, especially when it came to her interactions with technology. Likewise, I didn't believe the tree's voice. Either the book is tagged incorrectly as magical realism or the "magic" in the book was science (boo). If nonhuman animals + plants are capable of their own special communication thanks to superhuman abilities still based in scientific observation (I do think this is true), I want that voice to sound or function differently from any other character. The fig tree... didn't.

My biggest issue was the mother's character/plot.

They're not going to not rule her death a suicide?? And when she and Kostas finally reunite,

she says something to the effect of "none of us knows what we'd do in the middle of a civil war" to A TABLE OF PEOPLE UNITED AROUND THEIR SHARED EXPERIENCE IN A CIVIL WAR???? Maybe I misread the moment in listening vs reading? 

Finally, the book had a few too many of my writing pet peeves. Lists are not equivalent to evocative descriptive writing. Don't quote better authors while making your most profound observations. And please, PLEASE, can we stop writing books where women almost, ALMOST go through with

abortion

?