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A review by mwaskom
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
beautiful. I learned so much about Cyprus and it was so engaging. Though it is rooted in many specific places and times, it's truly about the experiences, connections, and desires we all have. Only reason it's not a 5 star read is that the tree metaphors and very heavy handed, like this book was made for a 10th grade English essay about symbolism (and would be an amazing assigned reading) but I thought it would benefit from a little more subtlety. 🌳
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Abortion