Ten Reasons Why You Should Read ‘The Island Of Missing Trees’ by Elif Shafak

June 1st, 2022

Hi Readers!

It’s not often I give a book five stars, and I’ve decided that when I do, I want to try my best to get as many people to read it as possible. But not everyone will feel like reading 600+ word review of my gushing about everything I loved about that book, which is fine. That’s why this type of post will be bullet points.

It was easy to come up with ten reasons why I think you should read The Island Of Missing Trees. It truly was a phenomenol read and I just want to share my love for it with as many people as possible.

Here are the ten reasons why I think you should read The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

It educates you on Cyrpus’s History

I had no knowledge of the divide in Cyprus that still runs through the country to this day. It taught me about the physical and emotional scars it left on the country as a whole.

The writing was delicious

It’s a book full of metaphor and imagery, and I just found myself continually gushing over it.

It’s anti-war message

This makes it especially poignant of our time.

Explores online bullying and going viral

The internet is a scary place, but Shafak was able to make it look survivable.

The way it talks about refugees

Again, so important for our time. This book may be set in Cyprus, but there are so many countries this could be about.

It teaches about having compassion for living things that aren’t human

I love how empathetic Shafak makes her characters, even in the midst of war.

Explores healing after losing a loved one

It’s never easy to lose a parent, but it’s especially hard for a teenager.

It’s portrayal of father / daughter relationships

I always find this an emotional dynamic and Shafak did it so well!

There’s a talking tree

…sort of. At least, there’s a voice of a tree. A very wise fig tree that is basically a witness to everything that happens to the characters.

Beautifully explains mental health

I’ll just leave you with this quote, where Elif uses a tree to explain mental illness: ‘the tree’s roots are encircling the base of it’s trunk, choking off the water and nutrients. Nobody had realised because it was invisible, below the soil surface. If the encircling roots are not found in time, they can put pressure on the tree and it just becomes too much to bear’.

I hope this post has made you consider picking this book up. I think it’s a special one. A real treat for all readers.

Thanks For Reading,
Jess X