Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Het eiland van de verdwenen bomen

Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Het eiland van de verdwenen bomen by Elif Shafak

107 reviews

parsnipsnap's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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daniellekat's review against another edition

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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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bootrat's review against another edition

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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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saskia_ej's review against another edition

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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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maria_silv_reads's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Emotional rollercoaster and unlike any historical fiction I have read before! Something I loved about this book was the combination of genres used and weaved together for the story to be the way it was. The writing of the jumps in time could have gone either way but thr author wrote them in a way that made really good sense and was so easy to piece them together with the main/'current' events. I loved the story from the fig tree's perspective being seen as a person but not in too much of a religious way where its preaching it too much. I did think the ending and discussions about Ada's mum's death were a bit rushed which was the downside to this book. However overall, this book takes many difficult themes and really thinks through how to communicate these in a delicate but in an educational and interesting storyline.

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annakh16's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

2.75

First things first: this book is a lot darker than the synopsis suggests imo. I’d recommend looking at content warnings.

I really want to like this more than I did. The plot in Cyprus was heartbreaking,

especially Yusuf’s and Yiorgos’ story was moving

, and the writing was good. But I’ll be honest: I think the entire late-2010s plot could’ve been cut. Most of it went nowhere,

especially the exorcism part?

, and it was mostly just the characters sitting around. I understand it was aimed to develop an understanding of generational trauma, but I don’t think it was pulled off, because the overall discussion of the emotional impact on the characters was underdeveloped. The beginning was also soo slow and nearly made me DNF.

I also couldn’t get into the fig tree perspective. I think it was more enjoyable towards the end, when it actually told the story of the tavern, but in the beginning there were a lot of seemingly unrelated flora & fauna facts that just slowed down the story. If you enjoy that, this might work better, but it wasn’t for me. (And I agree that it overshadowed/hampered discussion of the human characters‘ thoughts and feelings).

The story in Cyprus was no doubt my favourite, and I quite liked it. In my opinion, the book would’ve done a lot better just sticking to that. I learned a lot, but unfortunately I think this could’ve been better.

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agnela's review against another edition

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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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brekaboujie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I found this a bit slow and tricky to get into but it was a very interesting and well written book. I knew absolutely nothing about the setting which made the whole thing super interesting and new to me, and made it all extra emotional too as it was quite unexpected. The perspectives were interesting, and I thought the different sections of time we followed were paced well and kept me engaged. It didn't swap around too much, so I didn't get that annoying feeling where you just want someone to get on with it so you can get back to the other perspective.
The tree was.... an interesting choice. I didn't not like it, but every so often the narrator voice the author used for the tree got a bit annoying. But it gave an interesting additional insight which we couldn't have had with the stylistic choice of writing 3rd person from specific peoples perspectives. So it worked in that sense.

Overall nicely written, really interesting context, great character writing and did make me tear up a few times, I got quite invested in everyone. Quite a different vibe for me, but I liked it!

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astridrc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I really liked this book. I didn't know anything about Cyprus' history so that was incredibly interesting to begin with. I loved the chapter on the connections to the Spanish Civil War and the Chilean dictatorship. As a Latin American, specifically a Uruguayan, I can relate. I can understand the importance of finding those who were disappeared, to offer their loved ones some peace.
I also liked how the story goes back and forth and how everything evolved. Kostas and Defne's love story is a beautiful one but full of pain and trauma which was inflicted upon them by a world they had no say in.
I loved Ada and Meryam's relationship as well and to be able to see how much Ada lost because her mom was trying to protect her, to offer her a "clean start", which sadly proved to be impossible. Generational trauma is one of the biggest themes on this book (even in trees) which I always find so compelling.
The most controversial aspect of this book is probably that the story is at times told from the perspective of a fig tree. I personally found it very interesting and original (you also get to learn a lot about different trees and animals, which I personally love).
All in all, it was a great book which will probably stay with me. However, I'm not sure I really like that one final twist...

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kaanda's review against another edition

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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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