Skip to main content

Book Review: A Very Large Expanse Of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

*I am reviewing this book which I was gifted for free by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. *
 
A Very Large Expanse of Sea
Title: A Very Large Expanse Of Sea
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
Book Summary:
It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

Book Review:

Like many people, I read the Shatter Me series in its heyday and although I was not the biggest fan, I still loved Tahereh Mafi's writing and wanted to read more by her. Enter A Very Large Expanse Of Sea. It had been getting lots of good reviews and the plot sounded right up my street so I decided to read it. I can safely say that I really enjoyed A Very Large Expanse of Sea and can't wait to see what Tahereh Mafi writes next. 

One of the reasons why I liked the book was obviously the writing. Mafi is such a great writer, her writing is lyrical and tells so much of the story itself. It flows so well and has Shirin's voice shine through. I think that it highlights Shirin as a character so much, with her sharp nature and she is often trying to protect herself. I think that this leads to a different main character that we often see in YA and I, therefore, thought that it was really well done. I do sometimes think that Shirin was a little bit cold at times and this did affect me to some extent. 

As well as Shirin I really enjoyed Ocean as a character and think that they complement each other really well. He was sensitive and compassionate and I think that their relationship helped Shirin and Ocean in their own separate ways which were nice. Their romance was also quite cute which is always nice for a YA book to have a good romance. 

I also think that Tahereh Mafi draws a really honest portrayal of what it was like to be a teenager after 9/11. This is something that Tahereh Mafi herself went through and can put on the page. I think that the issues are dealt with head-on and I respect her so much for writing about it. 

The Verdict:

A Very Large Expanse Of Sea is an honest and raw portrayal of what means to be a teenager in the 2000s. Tahereh Mafi is a great writer who will dominant YA for many years to come. 


Have you read A Very Large Expanse Of Sea? Did you like it? If not, do you want to? Let me know in the comments below. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Great Godden by Meg Rossoff

   * I am reviewing this book which I was gifted for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. * Title: The Great Godden  Author: Meg Rossoff Publisher: Bloomsbury  Source: NetGalley ( Bookshop UK |  Hive |  Goodreads  |  Storygraph ) Book Summary: Everyone talks about falling in love like it’s the most miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens, they say, and you know … That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden. I looked into his eyes and I knew. Only everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way. This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer – the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, our watchful narrator sees everything, including many things they shouldn’t, as their brother and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter two brothers – irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit a...

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2021 Wrap Up

Every year since 2015, I have had the Popsugar Reading Challenge to diversify my reading. Over the course of the last year, I would like to think that I have done this and looking at did a good job considering I have been so busy over the last year. Even though I did actually have a plan of a book to read for almost all of the prompts, I did just wing it for the latter half of the year. This was because I was just reading what I wanted to and because I was not really reading at all.  So let's see what I read this year... A book that’s published in 2021    Book I Want To Read: Gut Feelings by C. G. Moore Book I Actually Read: Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore An Afrofuturist book Book I Want To Read: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin  Book I Actually Read:  The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover  Book I Want To Read: Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green Book I Actually Read: Ace of Spades by Faridah À...

Reviewing All Of The Books

Earlier this year, I decided that I would review all of the books that I read. For the most part, I definitely have but over the last couple of months it has definitely gone to the wayside but that is because I have been so busy. I wanted to do it because I annoyed myself that I reviewed books years after I read them and I often couldn't remember the plot. Trust me this is still the case, but I have kind of run out of books that I need to review this year which is weird for me. My backlog is getting lower and as I am not reading as much, I genuinely think I might run out. This has never happened before. This is of course quite nice because I think that it creates feelings that are much better than remembering a book from two years ago. Thinking about it at the moment does definitely make it easier as it goes into my head on a computer screen and less memory space is always a good idea. I also do think that sometimes it does take the fun out of it though but there are a lot of benef...