Member Review

Cover Image: The Island of Missing Trees

The Island of Missing Trees

Pub Date:

Review by

Erin K, Reviewer

I'm obsessed with magical realism, and this was definitely right up my alley. Shafak's novel follows the story of a young couple in love in war-torn Cyprus in the 1970s and their teenage daughter being raised in 2000s London. The true beauty of this novel is that there are sections torn from the perspective of the fig tree (I know it sounds weird!) that makes its way from Cyprus to England with the family.

There were so many things to love about this book - the magical culture of the island, the insight into what happens when war takes over and people are left behind, how a young girl deals with grief. I absolutely loved the different perspectives and how the timeline skipped back and forth to reveal more details about the lives of the characters. The writing style is really mellifluous and truthful.

The only drawback for me was that the pacing was a little off - some parts of the book felt a tad slow even when the events described were exciting or important.

Overall, though, this book was creative and heartfelt. I loved the characters and was sad when the book was over!
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