Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Otok nestalih stabala by Elif Shafak

26 reviews

joanna_banana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed the story told by the fig tree that witnessed it all though overall I felt that some of the ways the tree felt or witnessed things was a little unbelievable…but I suppose that’s the magical realism part of the book! I liked Ada and Meryem’s relationship and how it changed, I liked learning more about Kosta and Defne’s love story. I was surprised the climax came a little soon and was somewhat overshadowed by other significant events. Glad I read it, learned much more about the history and current state of affairs in Cyprus, and enjoyed the details about trees and the natural world.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Hate crime and Homophobia

nebelbaer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Death of parent

divinehealer14's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

What a beautiful, compassionate, infinitely wise and empathic book, that explores the depths of grief, hope, love and the devastation of war with tender touch. 
The choice of giving a fig tree personality and perspective was truly unique and fascinating to me, and I was deeply interested and mesmerised by the lyrical witty observations on nature and humanity, and how they intertwine. Truly a wonderful book, and a necessary one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War

now_booking'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? It's complicated

4.5

I never thought I would enjoy a story of how trees view humanity with our foibles, squabbles, quarrels, wars, hatreds, loves…. But this was amazing. Part historical novel about the partition of Cyprus and the violence around that, part coming of age story in a time of grief, part nature study about trees and fauna and how intertwined they are with our culture and existence, this book was an exploration of what it means to be a survivor that bears the marks of past trauma and what it means to keep moving forward.

This novel focuses on the love story of Kostas and Defne, star-crossed Greek and Turkish Cypriot lovers whose devotion to each other is tested by the violent conflict that emerges in 1974. Despite their commitment to putting the past behind them and moving forward, years later, their teen daughter Ada’s breakdown in the middle of a history class brings past traumas once again to the fore. 

This is my first book by this author and I’m not sure how she accomplished a book that was simultaneously heartbreaking and healing, how she managed to make the reader feel part of the story even though we were jumping timelines and perspectives between the tree, the characters, the plot versus the tree’s commentary…. It was brilliant and incredibly well-executed. I think the thing that makes this a little less than 4 stars for me is the inevitable fact that I could have done with a little more character development and a little more connective plot… I wanted more Ada, more Meryem, more Kostas… even more Defne… this was a very introspective sort of book where the characters often felt very isolated and the story mainly existed in their thoughts and reflections. For a book such as this that speaks to the interconnectedness and community of Cypriot people and more broadly of the interconnectedness of humanity and nature, the characters had little dialogue with each other and for me that would have been an opportunity to get to know them better. I recognize and the author points out (through the omniscient fig tree) that in reality unlike in fiction, we rarely know everything about characters or have the complete tale with all plot holes filled, rather we have bits and pieces of story, hints and allusions, gaps we have to fill in ourselves and information we have to content ourselves with never knowing, and this book feels very much like that. And I can accept this argument, but that left so much unsaid in the book (as it often is in life, but in a book you want to see it said- tangent: I also find it difficult to accept that Meryem came to stay in Kostas’ house and they never have a proper conversation that we can observe).

That said this is so beautifully written. The proverbs and aphorisms are so apt, the reflections on human experiences of conflict, survival, migration, trauma, healing and what it means to be far from home spoke for anyone who has ever experienced the out-of-body feeling of trying to feel at home and at peace in a situation which is far from that. I found myself highlighting swathes of this book and I know it’s one I won’t forget soon. I plan to check out more books by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Abortion

Minor: Sexism and Suicide

kaanda's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Classism

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I love the fig tree as a narrator!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism and Torture

sammirosewater's review against another edition

emotional funny informative 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

neela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

hmmm it’s hard to review cos i read a good bit then took a break for other books 🤭
once you get used to the points of view ( you know who i mean ;)) this is a lovely lovely book so well thought out and didn’t realise how well thought until reading the real life sources 
such a cool way for me to learn a bit about cypriot history
also the writing style is so descriptive in a really thoughtful way idk 
she just really thought about how to write this story u guys!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Xenophobia

taytots24's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ariromi's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic