A review by hrosel
Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Loved the writing again. I feel like Shafak builds such complex and nuanced characters. As with the island of missing trees, navigating religious division is a key theme, which is a fascinating one when it's splitting individual families. It strongly reminded me of Midnight's Children.

I appreciated both the ways in which it avoided clichés (
Spoiler that the professor/student relationship didn't actually happen
) and the relatable ones it included (who amongst us hasn't had a misguided crush on a guy with a FEZ 🤣).

I also found the book interesting from the perspective of looking back at university life with the maturity and distance of your mid thirties.

Finally, I liked the ambiguity of the ending.

One thing that dropped it down for me was the random
Spoiler dead twin
. I found that jarring and not actually needed for the plot.