A Very Large Expanse of Sea

by Tahereh Mafi

[Amber]

This. Book. Was. Incredible. I am super impressed by A Very Large Expanse of Sea. I was very hesitant to read it at first because I hated Shatter Me and Adam and Warner were both awful, but I thought I would give it a go to see if Mafi's writing has improved. And it really has!

This story was absolutely wonderful. The book follows Shirin as she deals with life and arsehole classmates and neighbours. I did wonder if Shirin was a bit of a self insert by the author, but to be honest I don't really care if she is. Shirin was a lovely character to read. She's just so good, and I can't even explain why. I just really enjoyed reading about her and her life and her struggles. I liked how fierce she is.

Also, I have to mention the romance. The romance! I loved it! I can't remember the last time I said this about a book but OH MY GOD it was so great. I ship it. Ocean, the love interest, was lovely.

One thing that I was wondering was why it was set one year after 9/11. I'm not sure how much it really added to the plot, since I'm sure Muslim girls go through all of this stuff nowadays in 2018. If anyone is able to enlighten me, please do! This isn't a complaint, I'm just really not sure what the point was.

Sana loved it as well, and I think we should all trust her opinion.

I really hope Mafi writes more contemporary because I loved this and I will definitely read more from her. Unless it's YA paranormal/dystopia because I'm not sure I can trust that.