a very large expanse of sea tahereh mafi

I haven’t lived a life anywhere near Shirin’s, but being in her head made sense. I can’t put my finger on it, but this book just. He was definitely my favorite side character!

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. I LOVED Shirin’s relationship with her brother, Navid. From powerful moments to funny, relatable moments to important moments to cute moments, I was glued onto the pages. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that probably 50% of this ebook’s text is highlighted. It’s different and it’s jarring, but it fits the story. 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.

This book cuts the crap from Shatter Me & Furthermore’s writing style and says it how it is. Despite this, I was highlighting paragraphs basically every other page because Shirin’s experiences and anger born from them was so powerful. 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. Published in 2018, best-selling author Tahereh Mafi’s first standalone novel was long-listed for a National Book Award.Updating with my full thoughts now that the book is out! I wrote all of this down when I first read it in May. A Very Large Expanse of Sea crafts a powerful exploration of cultural identity, cross-cultural relationships and the ways that post-9/11 prejudice still echoes in America. As Shirin and Ocean’s relationship grows deeper, the couple faces prejudice and criticism from nearly everyone around them-forcing Shirin to make a heartbreaking decision. But when star basketball player Ocean James, her white lab partner at her new high school, begins showing a genuine interest in getting to know her, Shirin’s guard slowly starts to come down. In response, she’s withdrawn into herself, only emerging from her shell whenever she practices her dance moves with her brother and his break-dancing crew. Shirin, a 16-year-old Iranian American who wears a headscarf, has spent the year since the attacks of 9/11 enduring an onslaught of racist and Islamophobic abuse from peers, teachers and strangers.

A very large expanse of sea tahereh mafi