A review by _m0
An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Maybe I am out of the angsty YA demographic to really appreciate the interpersonal drama, but it seemed like she was just fighting with every single other character all the time with no development or cohesion into a bigger picture, and I didn't understand it. Especially Zahra, who seemed like a horrible "friend." It felt like a lot of emotional jumping around between all these threads of angst and sitting in the rain, with no real resolution on any of it (her mother's mental health and self-harm, her father's health and her hatred of him, her quarrel with her sister, her fight with Zahra, her feelings for Ali, her new friendship with Noah [who seemed like the only sane one in the book, and the only one I wanted to actually spend time getting to know])... My subjective enjoyment rating: 2/5 stars. 
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