Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

150 reviews

clairehe's review

dark emotional informative 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

4.5

This book really moved me. I'll be thinking about it for quite some time. You'll find it fascinating if you have any interest in generational trauma, civil wars, or nature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

dafni's review against another edition

informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism and Homophobia

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

Beautifully written. The descriptive, almost lyrical writing was reminiscent of Middle Eastern story telling, and was fitting for this book. The characters were believable despite not being overly developed and I enjoyed the way Shafak moved between past and present. I originally loved the chapters from the POV of the fig tree but later chapters felt repetitive and I thought the tree was aware of too much information. My main issue with this book was that there was too much telling and not enough showing. No mysteries were left unsolved and everything was explicitly explained. The interweaving of ecological awareness and advocacy was done really well and added to the overall plot. The historical rooting of the book was also well written and the author struck a perfect balance between historical and fiction. Looking forward to checking out more from this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, and Abortion

Environmental destruction

bootrat's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed this book, and I learnt some more about the history of Cyprus and the struggle of the people living there, but I struggled to connect with the characters. I found myself liking the fig tree more than any of the humans, I wish I'd been able to sympathise with them more. 
Beautiful prose, metaphors, and comparisons, so if you like that then you'll love this book (but that style of writing isn't usually my thing).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death

saskia_ej's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, and Pregnancy

hannasreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, and War

agnela's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really, really would like to give this 3 stars, mainly because of that damn tree, and details that the author mixed up, like cultural view on doves and pigeons, mixing Greek and Roman mythology figures, making the tree almost all knowing and horny. This was a ride through ups and downs, but I loved the cultural background, the history of Cyprus and people who lived there. The main story wasn't that bad, neither was the characters. Besides the tree. Who made the believe it was a good idea? Sometimes it didn't even feel like it was written by the same author with how much it got wrong. You see, when you miss small details, like mixing Gaia and Jupiter together, or saying that a tree can hear bees in December, London, as an author you loose credibility. Do you mean your words or do you just shoot them out to fill the space? 
I don't trust this author, but it wasn't bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, and War

kaanda's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.75

So descriptive that I can clearly see the tavern and every character in it. A very beautiful and painful story with seamless flow. Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Classism

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

I love the fig tree as a narrator!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism and Torture

patroclusbro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars!

This is a beautiful book. Full of sensual images and emotional depth, Elif Shafak writes about remembrance, family trauma, reconnecting and - of course - trees.

I really enjoyed how Shafak weaves all the little timelines, perspectives and scenes together to create a mosaic! This novel worked wonders for me to get into a spring mood: slowly unearthing, discovering, feeling after sensations. The ending fell a little flat and simple for me, unfortunately. This is a book about the past, after all.

Big recommendation for fans of Madeline Miller's "Circe" and Zeyn Joukhadar's "The Thirty Names of Night".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia