A review by bookreviewswithkb
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

emotional informative reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

“Human remains … What exactly did that mean? Was it a few hard bones and soft tissue? Clothes and accessories? Things solid and compact enough to fit inside a coffin? Or was it rather the intangible – the words we send out into the ether, the dreams we keep to ourselves, the heartbeats we skip beside our lovers, the voids we try to fill and can never adequately articulate – when all was said and done, what was left of an entire life, a human being …”

this is only the second novel i’ve read by Elif Shafak and all i can say is i can’t wait to make my way through her backlist 

there is so much love and appreciation of plants, particularly trees, an exposure of their abilities, embedded throughout this novel. there is so much love interrupted by war, an exposure to the impact of remembering but also how much we lose when we try to forget. there is so much love for justice, an exposure to what redemption can be