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inditravis's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
madiganinwonderland's review against another edition
2.0
I suppose my expectations were too high for this book, but even if I wasn't going into it as an avid Mafi fan, this book just seemed to be more like a stream of consciousness or a diary than an actual book. I'm not sure what the end goal/message was that we're meant to take away from it. It's an ok book, and a tragic subject, but if you're just gonna start explaining the days during events, you gotta make an end point that makes sense. This didn't. This just felt like we reached the end of someone's diary before they switched to a new journal. Things would happen, fairly "big" things, but we would continue on after they happened to another seemingly random point. It just didn't make sense, it made it tedious to read. Anyway, was definitely disappointed.
mythology_nerd333's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
sophiedianee's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ⭐️ I mean I love Tahereh Mafi, and there where some good lessons in this but it mostly just felt unfinished.
whomever_0's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
I didn't like how abrupt the ending felt. It really felt like nothing was really resolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia
annuhfloor's review against another edition
4.0
I wanted more Noah, the feelings were real with this story, just so curious if the rep of this story was done properly, anyway Mafi knows how to write pain with beautiful wording.
olagronski's review
5.0
Shadi is suffocating under the weight of her grief—her brother is dead, her father is dying, she lost her best friend, and her Muslim community is being persecuted after the events of 9/11. She learns to close off her heart to the possibility of hope and joy after being burned so many times. And yet, she pushes herself through it. Breaking herself in the process, but pushing nonetheless. This is a raw, painfully beautiful story of a girl thrusted into chaos through the sheer existence of her identity and the life lessons she’s forced to learn along the way to survive. This book physically radiates empathy and Tahereh Mafi’s writing is guaranteed to make your heart weep. It’s a heavy story, but it’s one that is vital to read.
nicknicknick's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
lexingtonreads's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I absolutely love Tahereh Mafi's writing style so so much. It's so lyrical and poetic which is one of my favorite writing style's in books. At the beginning of this book i was really enjoying it and our main charcater. I don't remmber the specifics but, i do remember there being something that did annoy me about the main character. The ending of this book really lost me. It ended pretty abruptly and it felt like the whole book was building to something that didn't even happen. It was a book where nothing really happened- but, not in a "not every book has to have a happy endeing and thats the beauty of an ordinary ending" but it was actually more like "huh? wait what? that's how it ends???". I feel so guilty for not loving this book, i still loved her writing it's just the plot lost me. The shatter me series is one of my favorites and i was detrmined that Tahereh Mafi was going to become my new fav author. Just for the first book i read from her outside of the shatter me universe i don't like- How unfortunate. I still have two other books by her that i hope i enjoy more than this one.