Reviews

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

fatimahsneverland's review against another edition

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5.0

I don’t read books about religion, war and race issues. It all comes too close to reality. I’m glad I made an exception for A very large expanse of sea.

This book is about Shirin, a Muslim girl who is trying to survive her environment after the September 11 attack. Her hijab doesn’t make it easy either. At first she was just weird. She could live with that. Now she’s also a threat. To protect herself, Shirin builds a wall around her. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s slowly turning into someone she never wanted to be. Shirin doesn’t trust anyone and hate is taking over. Until she meets Ocean. A boy who gets himself into trouble, just to know the human behind the hijab: an insecure teenage girl with desires and dreams.

It’s been a long time a book has made me cry. A lot of old pain surfaced, which I thought I had buried deep. It breaks my heart that this story is based on true events from the author’s life. Tahereh Mafi has written a heartbreaking book about a strong girl that many women will identify with. Whether you’re religious or not. Every woman has her own demon, with which she fights and comes out stronger. At the end it’s all about being the winner in your life. And this portrays the author beautifully in the character of Shirin.

raeofsunshinee's review against another edition

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3.0

“oh. wow. okay.” made me want to gouge out my eyeballs

caitlynebs's review against another edition

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5.0

“The more I got to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots walking around in the dark, bumping into each other and panicking for no reason at all. So I started turning on a light” (page 309)

Loved every single bit of this book. That is all.

alexangelas's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved this book. I’m on the fence between 4.5 and 5 stars because I wanted there to be a happy ending, but everything else was perfection.
Best book I’ve read in a while.

aemilyl24's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow, this was an incredibly YA novel about a teenager - Shirin. It's based in 2002, just after the 9/11 attacks in the US - and Shirin is a Muslim girl who chooses to wear the hijab. This is a wonderful, and sometimes painful look at what real muslim kids have gone through right after 9/11. It's a very intriguing coming of age novel, and well written. Shirin has her first real boyfriend in this novel, and everything that surrounds her being the boyfriend of the school's "golden boy".

sj_elli's review against another edition

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5.0

Ugh another adorable cinnamon roll of a love interest. This was so well written and I appreciated hearing from a different perspective that I know nothing about. I loved Shirin's family, especially her brother.

mwesh's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this story so much I couldn't sleep until I devoured it all

Shirin is a Persian teenager whose family has just moved into a new town. This isn't their first move since her parents are always changing jobs to create better opportunities for their kids.

The events of this book take place about a year after 9/11 and gives us the perspective of a teenage hijab wearing Muslim girl in a society that is full of anger and fear.

Shirin and her brother have a break dancing club which I thought was so fun. There is a love story that is so heartwarming and pure *hugs self*

I enjoyed this book ALOT

lisaesmee's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautiful! A must read

bethanyyleee's review against another edition

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5.0

Don’t read this in public if you don’t want strangers wondering why you’re bawling your eyes out at a coffee shop.

kyrstind's review against another edition

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5.0

💖