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Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree: A Novel by Shokoofeh Azar, Shokoofeh Azar
3 reviews
leahkrason's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
jessamynb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement
ohlhauc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I absolutely loved this story! The writing was poetic yet straightforward, dark but hopeful. The magic realism was also done exceptionally well and imbued the characters' stories with an enchanting quality that helped to recover from the dark scenes. And there were dark scenes as this novel touches on several violent moments in Iranian history as well as heartbreaking reactions of characters to trauma.
While perspectives of multiple characters were shared, which is usually a narrative style I don't love, it worked here. Each characters' "chapter" felt complete in and of themselves so there weren't any loose ends, while still giving enough depth to feel a connection to the characters and feel the stakes at hand.
That said, there were a few things that weren't perfect for me. One is that there were a few moments that were totally random, just as one character
Even though it wasn't perfect, this is a story that I will think about for years. It hooked me from page one and gave me the same feelings I had whilst reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is one of my favourite books of all time. In fact, the latter is mentioned a few times in this novel and there are quite a few similarities (although enough differences to prevent a direct comparison).
I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Vomit