An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

 Hey Everyone!

I finished Tahereh Mafi's new book An Emotion of Great Delight.  I could not put this one down.  I mean, I had to, because you know, baby, appointments, chores, errands, etc.  But I was reading any chance I got.  Even during my waits at the chiropractor I was reading.  I finished this one in a day, which is pretty impressive for me at this point.

From Goodreads:

From bestselling and National Book Award-nominated author Tahereh Mafi comes a stunning novel about love and loneliness, navigating the hyphen of dual identity, and reclaiming your right to joy -- even when you're trapped in the amber of sorrow.

It's 2003, several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq, and the American political world has evolved. Tensions are high, hate crimes are on the ride, FBI agents are infiltrating local mosques, and the Muslim community is harassed and targeted more than ever. Shadi, who wears hijab, keeps her head down.

She's busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots.

Shadi is named for joy, but she's haunted by sorrow. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, her mother is falling apart, and her best friend has mysteriously dropped out of her life. And then, of course, there's the small matter of her heart--

It's broken.

Shadi tries to navigate her crumbling world by soldiering through, saying nothing. She devours her own pain, each retreating farther and farther inside herself until finally, one day, everything changes.

She explodes.

An Emotion of Great Delight is a searing look into the world of a single Muslim family in the wake of 9/11.  It's about a child of immigrants forging a blurry identity, falling in love, and finding hope -- in the midst of a modern war. 

My Thoughts:

Wow, just wow.  This was a powerful read. It was emotional, had me tears, and just amazed at Tahereh Mafi's talent.  Her use of descriptive words amazes me.  It really is a talent she has.  I've seen it done wrong, by other authors, but Tahereh is incredible at it.  She has this unbelievable way of making you feel like you are standing right there next to the character watching everything happen first hand.  

Shadi was such a strong character.  Her emotions were right there on the pages, and I felt every pain she did.  The amount of hurt this girl has gone through, I was crying at the end.  

I read some reviews of people complaining that the ending wasn't fulfilling, and that questions were left unanswered...I didn't feel that at all.  This felt like such a real story, and real stories continue.  So it's up to us readers to determine what we think will happen next in Shadi's life.  And the way I saw it, the pain would always be there, because the pain never stops when you've lost a loved one, but she is strong and can move forward in life.  

Overall Rating:

I will never be able to understand the cultural aspects of Shadi's life, but I do understand some of the pain she is going through, and that made Shadi relatable for me.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this perspective of someone who sadly, has to fear for her life (which is something no one should ever have to do, of course), while going through this extra immense pain.  One of them is enough to have a rough life, but to go through both?  I barely made it through mine, and I just felt Shadi was such an incredible strong characters, I truly enjoyed this one, and will be adding it to my list of favorites.

The Romance Bookie :)