A Very Large Expanse of Sea

When I found myself needing this novel as a required reading for a class this semester, I groaned as I was being forced to read a novel that I may not actually like. If there is something I dislike heavily when it comes to academic courses, it is being forced to read a novel. As a future teacher, I understand the struggle of properly utilizing a textbook within a classroom without losing student interest and making it feel relevant to the students. I find this even more difficult with novels, as the words of the author may not properly reach the ears of the student. An author’s words are at their best when the reader chooses to seek them out as their melody and meaning are at their best in that manner, and forced reading interrupts the flow that many authors need to have their words properly reach their audience. That skepticism faded when I finally sat down to read this book and intake what its words truly had to say. This novel is about a Muslim teenage girl named Shirin, who is living life a year after the 9/11 tragedy shocked America and created a racial discourse between the Islamic community and other Americans. The novel is very human, almost as if it’s just a transcript of a one-sided conversation that Shirin had with me about her life and experiences. The book can be funny, deeply uncomfortable, and real as the words crafted by Mafi can intertwine the aspect of your soul that perceives fiction as something to relate to and connect with emotionally. An truly out-of-body experience as it takes you through a story that feels uncomfortably real about a moment in American history that I was much too young to remember. Overall, this novel is excellent at making a very real and ordinary story incredibly compelling as you wish to see what happens next to this main character that you feel yourself unexpectedly invested in.

I was nervous starting this book because the first 25% of this lays a lot of groundwork and there’s a lot of telling instead of showing. Despite this, I was highlighting paragraphs basically every other page because Shirin’s experiences and anger born from them was so powerful. This book cuts the crap from Shatter Me & Furthermore’s writing style and says it how it is. Gone are the flowery paragraphs of images and metaphors, but they’re replaced by hard-hitting and steel edged descriptions of Shirin’s real life. It’s different and it’s jarring, but it fits the story. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that probably 50% of this ebook’s text is highlighted. From powerful moments to funny, relatable moments to important moments to cute moments, I was glued onto the pages.I LOVED Shirin’s relationship with her brother, Navid. Their bond was endearing and I liked how he was her mentor and cheered her up and stuck up for her and was the reason she got into break dancing. He was definitely my favorite side character!I can’t put my finger on it, but this book just.... works. It was fast to read. I haven’t lived a life anywhere near Shirin’s, but being in her head made sense. I understood her feelings. I understood her fears. I sympathized with her so much that my heart hurt. I was rooting for her the entire book, and her transformation and self-actualization was such an engrossing journey.The reason why I took a star off is because the relationship is melodramatic to the point of being cliche. Shirin deals with racism and xenophobia and bigotry, and Ocean deals with..... not wanting to be on the basketball team. It felt like a flat plot point that’s a totally overused trope. The stakes were so low because it felt too cliché and the conflict of this book reminded me of High School Musical. I don't want this to look like I'm minimizing the actual events because clearly Shirin prevailing and asserting her worth in that situation was still such a powerful read, but I wish Ocean's conflict that drives the emotional climax of this book could have been designed to be less.... generic.Nevertheless, this is a once in a lifetime book. Whatever small writing or plot issues I have with it makes up in the fact that I haven’t read anything as important and eye-opening as this before. Its unparalleled honesty had me throwing my fist in the hair during some scenes and wiping away tears in others. It’s a stand-out book of 2018, and definitely an exception you should make if you aren't a fan of YA contemporary. Please please please support this book and the author behind it because she and the book deserve the world.

I wish I could give this more stars.Never did I lose interest. The characters are so well thought out. So detailed where they need to be, vague where they don't. The story doesn't go all the places I thought it would, and that's fabulous. The tensions are so well handled, so well thought out. I felt like I was right there in the middle of it all, and fly on the wall. So, so good.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea was a novel I picked up after reading the Shatter Me series. After reading the amazing series, I decided to read more of Tahereh Mafi’s work, and this novel did not disappoint. It is such a powerful story, one that opens up to the public to reveal the story of a struggling teen during turbulent times. The struggles this novel portrays captivates its readers and brings awareness to the prejudices a young, innocent girl received as a result of her culture and religion.The story portrays the struggles Shirin ensures and how prejudice takes a hold of her life for so long that she closes herself off to the world. The story takes the reader on a journey of discovery and is full of emotion, anger, sadness, and raw insight into the life of a young Muslim girl who struggles to find herself in a world that sees her in such a negative manner. Shirin manages to find passion and a love for breakdancing and music and as a result discovers who she is as a result.A Very Large Expanse of Sea is a beautifully written story. I enjoyed it and found it to be extremely enlightening. After reading so much science fiction and fantasy, it was so different to pick up a novel that places me back into the ‘real world’ and make me aware of the events that inspired so many authors. This novel is Tahereh Mafi’s testimony of hard times and how she managed to find love and happiness in music and breakdancing.

Got it for school

Llegó en perfectas condiciones.El libro me encantó, es precioso con muchos momentos tan lindos y otros dolorosos🥺.

Esse é de longe o melhor romance adolescente que já li. Em questão de romance só, esse livro já é excelente. Todo o resto, toda a questão do preconceito e o efeito tóxico que ele tem nas menores e maiores coisas, só deu à história ainda mais conteúdo e relevância. Você pode achar que sabe o que uma garota muçulmana passa e até o que passou logo depois dos EUA começar a ver todos dessa religião como terroristas, mas a realidade é bem pior.Eu amei esse livro, que entrou para minha lista de favoritos antes de eu terminar, então minha resenha não deve ficar muito grande. Primeiro, quero falar sobre as experiências da Shirin, protagonista, em relação a todo preconceito que ela sofreu. Honestamente, se você não ficar horrorizado, tem algo sério de errado com você. Fiquei surpresa, talvez nem tanto, com o ódio que as pessoas podem ter para alguém que nunca fez nada contra elas. Ver todas as sensações e a impotência da Shirin a ataques covardes e absurdos desde o começo do livro me deixou revoltada. Mas foi tão esclarecedor também. Você imagina o assédio, porque sabe que preconceito existe, mas é tão diferente ver em atitudes e acontecimentos. É tudo tão absurdo.Saber que essa história foi inspirada pela adolescência da autora deu a ela uma credibilidade que, para falar a verdade, nem era tão necessária assim. Daria para ver em cada frase da Shirin que ela é uma pessoa real, ainda que fosse fictícia, que seus sentimentos são completamente verdadeiros. Isso faz com que o preconceito seja ainda mais doloroso e revoltante. E pensar que a vida de uma adolescente pode ser esse tormento e ter tanta coisa envenenada só pelo medo e ódio de pessoas estranhas e ignorantes.Já falei que estou revoltada?Para contrabalancear, o romance do livro é simplesmente maravilhoso. É impossível não sentir tudo que a Shirin sente, não entender todos os passos do desenvolvimento do romance e não se apaixonar junto com ela pelo Ocean. Uma das minhas partes favoritas foi ver que o preconceito e o romance estão tão conectados com a própria Shirin e seu jeito de ver o mundo. Ela também teve um grande desenvolvimento na história, mas o melhor é ver que, afinal, a última coisa que ela tem que fazer para ser amada e vista como ser humano e ceder ou mudar.Já disse que o livro é maravilhoso? Minha única reclamação é que eu queria mais.Não tem nenhuma parte desse livro que não seja excelente! É tão estranho pensar que ele foi escrito pela mesma autora da série Estilhaça-me, que eu acho tão mal feita e sem noção. Tahereh Mafi aqui foi excepcional e eu espero com todo meu coração que ela escreva mais livros contemporâneos e com personagens tão humanos e tocantes quanto a Shirin. Esse livro é essencial e precisa ser espalhado pelo mundo, principalmente para adolescentes. Por mais livros como esse.

Sígueme en Instagram para más reseñas: @adictaalibros«Al otro lado del océano» es una historia muy reflexiva y realista que sigue la vida de Shirin y nos cuenta las experiencias que vive a causa del racismo. Y aunque el libro está situado en el 2002, un año después del 9/11, algunas situaciones racistas que se plantea aún sucede en la actualidad.El libro está narrado en primera persona por la protagonista, la cual se me fue fácil de empatizar. Y a pesar de que al principio me frustraba lo insegura que era, comencé a entenderla conforme avanzaba en la lectura. Realmente los dos protagonistas estaban muy bien construidos.El romance que hubo entre Shirin y Ocean fue lento, pero con sentido: los sentimientos de los protagonistas no salieron de la nada.Respecto al final, me dejó un vacío en el corazón. Fue demasiado abierto para mi gusto. Personalmente, creo que no le habría venido nada mal un epílogo.Recomiendo este libro totalmente. Estoy segura que os enamoraréis de la historia de Shirin y Ocean como he hecho yo. ¿A qué esperan para leérsela?Si estas buscando un libro en inglés fácil de leer, este es perfecto.Sígueme en Instagram para más reseñas: @adictaalibros

Un libro fantastico e pieno di attualità lo consiglio!