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elanuruysal's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Gun violence
inkylabyrinth's review
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
My head has ached since May, more or less the same amount of time I’ve been in Istanbul. My brain is an earthquake or an ocean. Whichever I am more likely to survive.
Twenty year old Sibel travels from Brooklyn to Istanbul for the summer, where she's supposed to be studying for the MCAT and grieving for the sudden death of her father, but instead becomes obsessed with using ancient medicinal philosophy to cure her chronic headaches.
I loved the beginnings of this, where Sibel and her American Golden-Retriever-energy boyfriend Cooper wander the markets of Istanbul, or when Sibel hides out in her ailing grandmother's stuffy apartment watching Russian soap operas.
And some of the prose I just loved and had to stop to admire: "Silly, I thought, that I could take his heart into my chest cavity and let his beat in place of mine.", but things really fizzled out for me around the halfway mark.
It becomes less about Sibel and her headaches and grief and more about long hidden family secrets slowly becoming unraveled. Which sounds interesting, but emphasis on slowly. There was a lot of information on Turkish history and politics, which again was interesting, but felt far removed from the story.
You might enjoy this if you're a fan of The Idiot or My Year of Rest and Relaxation and have a bit more patience than me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, and Vomit
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
reneesquared's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When I first began reading, I saw the lack of quotation marks and couldn't help but sigh thinking I'd been roped into another Sally Rooney-esque book. What I found instead was a much more compelling reason for the lack of quotation marks. The giving of stories, what tragedies to divulge, the complicated nature of love and obsession and how we remember our lives in light of grief.
I will admit that this story was hard for me to get through in the beginning. I wasn't compelled by the relationship between the main character and her boyfriend and while I empathized -while knowing I shouldn't- with the main character, it felt very bleh.
Once I hit the narrator's grandmother exploring and explaining her life, the story really began to to take shape and made it impossible for me to put down. And then the story made me want to prolong the inevitable end just so I could spend more time with this family. Very much mimicking the feelings of our main character once she begins to unravel her family's fraught and strained history.
I've come to recognise that the beginning of the book was really warming us up to the discoveries we are revealed by the end. This book (along with my last) have truly made me reconsider my perspective on generational stories and I think this genre will quickly characterise the rest of my reading year.
This story weaves politics, grief, obsession, devotion and love altogether in such a way that I want to read it all over again, just to connect the dots that I may have missed upon first reading.
I will admit that this story was hard for me to get through in the beginning. I wasn't compelled by the relationship between the main character and her boyfriend and while I empathized -while knowing I shouldn't- with the main character, it felt very bleh.
Once I hit the narrator's grandmother exploring and explaining her life, the story really began to to take shape and made it impossible for me to put down. And then the story made me want to prolong the inevitable end just so I could spend more time with this family. Very much mimicking the feelings of our main character once she begins to unravel her family's fraught and strained history.
I've come to recognise that the beginning of the book was really warming us up to the discoveries we are revealed by the end. This book (along with my last) have truly made me reconsider my perspective on generational stories and I think this genre will quickly characterise the rest of my reading year.
This story weaves politics, grief, obsession, devotion and love altogether in such a way that I want to read it all over again, just to connect the dots that I may have missed upon first reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Chronic illness and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
fiachra's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Minor: Domestic abuse
thereadhersrecap's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In The Four Humors, Sibel is sent to Istanbul to help care for her grandmother, visit her father’s grave, and study for the MCAT. But, instead of dealing with her grief, she becomes obsessed with self-diagnosing her chronic headaches using the four humors theory. Sibel believes that an imbalance of the four humors leads to disease.
The theory of the four humors established an understanding of the balance between the human body and the environment during the years of medieval medicine.
“Choler, as it turns out, is yellow bile, and in excess can compel even the most calm and gentle person into a hot-tempered rage. Phlegm makes you sleepy, and sluggish, but you are also known for your dependable nature. Black bile is melancholy, and blood is the best humor. Blood pumps you into a kind of optimistic person.
The story then shifts as Sibel uncovers a secret of her grandmother’s past. Suddenly, Sibel’s attention is drawn towards her recent discovery and she is transfixed with learning more. Her headaches become a distant memory as she searches for answers about her family.
In the aftermath of her father's untimely death, it is apparent that Sibel lost herself, and I think throughout the book she looks for ways in which to make herself whole again, (maybe) by balancing her humors?
This novel had a stream of consciousness aspect to it that I didn’t really care for. It also felt like it wanted to be a coming-of-age story with a hint of romance, then quickly changed to a family saga. Mina Seckin also omits the use of quotation marks which was kind of weird at first but hardly noticeable towards the end.
Overall, I enjoyed learning about the theory of the four humors, learning about Istanbul, and the family stories.
The theory of the four humors established an understanding of the balance between the human body and the environment during the years of medieval medicine.
“Choler, as it turns out, is yellow bile, and in excess can compel even the most calm and gentle person into a hot-tempered rage. Phlegm makes you sleepy, and sluggish, but you are also known for your dependable nature. Black bile is melancholy, and blood is the best humor. Blood pumps you into a kind of optimistic person.
The story then shifts as Sibel uncovers a secret of her grandmother’s past. Suddenly, Sibel’s attention is drawn towards her recent discovery and she is transfixed with learning more. Her headaches become a distant memory as she searches for answers about her family.
In the aftermath of her father's untimely death, it is apparent that Sibel lost herself, and I think throughout the book she looks for ways in which to make herself whole again, (maybe) by balancing her humors?
This novel had a stream of consciousness aspect to it that I didn’t really care for. It also felt like it wanted to be a coming-of-age story with a hint of romance, then quickly changed to a family saga. Mina Seckin also omits the use of quotation marks which was kind of weird at first but hardly noticeable towards the end.
Overall, I enjoyed learning about the theory of the four humors, learning about Istanbul, and the family stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
suzyreadsbooks's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gifted by the publisher
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, and Police brutality
2treads's review
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
...as if a body were something to tell in words. As if one could tell a body, not see a body, and what was missing.
I became interested in this title after taking an Ancient Egypt course and learning of their use of these four humors and their levels in the body as a measure of overall health.
As I read I wondered how Seçkin would weave the four humors into her narrative and if it would be effective in communicating subject, character, and relationships. And she used it to explain our main characters modes of being and expressions.
Sibel uses her preoccupation with the humors as a way to ineffectively deal with her reality, instead choosing to engage with her anxieties, silence and refusal to face her grief on a plane where no one can reach her.
Seçkin uses this story to not only explore Sibel's journey, but to highlight themes of family, belonging, culture, and history. How generational bonds to historical homelands, social activism, and political unrest can weigh on the bonds to our place of birth.
I loved the spirit and attitude of our MC's grandmother. She was interesting and her control despite her illness made her presence shine through in the dialogue and interactions.
I became interested in this title after taking an Ancient Egypt course and learning of their use of these four humors and their levels in the body as a measure of overall health.
As I read I wondered how Seçkin would weave the four humors into her narrative and if it would be effective in communicating subject, character, and relationships. And she used it to explain our main characters modes of being and expressions.
Sibel uses her preoccupation with the humors as a way to ineffectively deal with her reality, instead choosing to engage with her anxieties, silence and refusal to face her grief on a plane where no one can reach her.
Seçkin uses this story to not only explore Sibel's journey, but to highlight themes of family, belonging, culture, and history. How generational bonds to historical homelands, social activism, and political unrest can weigh on the bonds to our place of birth.
I loved the spirit and attitude of our MC's grandmother. She was interesting and her control despite her illness made her presence shine through in the dialogue and interactions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
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