Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Das Flüstern der Feigenbäume by Elif Shafak

14 reviews

jenlovesbooksandcoffee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

Sometimes, what you call the perpetrator was just another name for an unacknowledged victim.

The audio is so good!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Genocide, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, War, Abortion, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

deluna's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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: Grief, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, and War

dany_casimiro's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

The care that goes behind every word in The Island of Missing Trees is astonishing. It is a very nuanced story, not only for its deep concern with diaspora, history, and memory, but also because it is at all moments aware of the natural world and how it relates to humans. Without ever crossing into annoyance, the fig tree provides a very curious point of view that adds newer meanings to the pre-existing multiplicity of narrative layers.
The idea of memory intertwined with nature is absolutely brilliant. In this case, the fig constitutes a surprisingly refreshing metaphor from roots to branches, perfectly encapsulating the nostalgia for one's past and land.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Xenophobia, Violence, Alcoholism, War, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Grief, and Death

cecilialau_'s review against another edition

4.25

Definitely recommend this book and I’m looking forward to reading other books by Elif Shafak.
My expectations were unfairly high but I still really enjoyed this book and the subtle beauty of the story only gets better with time imo.

I very much appreciate fiction as a way to learn more about a historical period in time. With this I didn’t know much about the civil war in Cyprus but it gave an insight into it (though only superficially of course as part of the plot line and it’s also not nonfic).

The owners of The Happy Fig were essential to my reading experience btw. The parrot’s story told by the fig tree was heartbreakingly beautiful as well. I appreciated the fig tree telling us about the essential role and relevance of ecosystems. Not sure how I felt about Defne’s soul inhabiting the fig tree at the end though

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Abandonment, Murder, Colonisation, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Genocide

shhh_tamis_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I’m so thankful this book was recommended. It’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve read. 

I adored all of the characters, especially the Fig Tree. In fact the chalets narrated by the Fig Tree may be my favorites. The entire book comes together with sacred beauty. 

I also now want to learn more about Cyprus which I was ignorant of before. I appreciate the author’s book list at the back of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, War, Abortion, Alcohol, Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide, and Xenophobia

gauralomez's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Genocide, War, Violence, and Homophobia

watermelleon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I need to have another cry and talk about this at book club before writing a review here.... I read a huge chunk of this today and it has been nothing but crying my eyes out with little water breaks. my library copy now has mascara smudges on it, nothing I can do about that I guess :s

in short - best book I have read in a long time. it is beautifully written, surprisingly close to home and relatable, generally so informative on topics I new nothing about (that I probably should have!). it has changed my outlook on many perspectives in my life. this is a lifechanging book that I will be recommending to everyone. there are some tough, tough topics but so much hope and nostalgia as well.

on a personal note: This book has allowed me to reflect on my own recently-uprooted family history, and has helped me reflect on that as well the now clear impact of this on my family moving down through the generations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Death of parent, Bullying, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Terminal illness

War Imagery throughout and discussion of death of multiple characters in detail (not graphic in terms of gore, but explains how they died). Colonisation: discussion throughout of colonisation in relation to cyprus and the effects of this, more focussed on the cultural impact than graphic/gore detail. Pregnancy and Children:

a child dies at a young age of malaria, child is assumed for a while to be an abortion.

Terminal Illness:

Main Character's grand parents died as a result of cancer- they were poisoned by asbestos from some overalls used for working in the mines

Sucide / alcohol / drug use:

the main character's mother is revealed to have killed herself, was an alcoholic and took pills to end her life

Mental Illness: many themes of mental illness throughout, especially a big theme of inheriting generational trauma (war related) and how this impacts younger generations the most. Bullying

short scene of bullying in a british school at the beginning of the book

Panic Attacks

short scene of bullying in a british school at the beginning of the book. The main character has a panic attack and screams during her class, an incident which is later discussed.

Homophobia

an interracial gay couple (two men) are kidnapped and killed within context of a war, it is suggested that their sexuality is a part of the attack as well as their conflicting cutural backgrounds

Kidnapping

an interracial gay couple are kidnapped and killed within context of a war, suggested that their sexuality is a part of the attack as well as their conflicting cutural backgrounds

rustynailsfullset's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Genocide, and War

tahsintries's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Homophobia, and Genocide

Moderate: Homophobia, Abortion, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

cinnamonpizza8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

The author did a magical job of tying together a beautiful story of immigration and conflict and history effortlessly. I felt engrossed in this book when I read it, wanting to hear all the details and deeply thinking of the concepts the author rose through the characters. The fig tree was the best part of the story - I loved having this omnipresent voice that felt grounded (haha, get it). Overall, a great story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Drug abuse, Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Racism, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence