A Very Large Expanse of Sea- Tahereh Mafi BOOK TALK

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This is such a beautiful and important read! The characters are amazing, the romance swoon-worthy and, more importantly, the representation is on point! It was so lovely to read in Shirin's perspective and the whole story is truly eye-opening.
This is the first contemporary I've read by Tahereh Mafi (having only read her Shatter Me series) and I think she suits this genre perfectly. The romance was so compelling but there was also a lovely message and deeper meaning to the story which I always love. Discrimination and racism are big aspects within this book and it was so eye-opening to read about and Tahaereh Mafi handled the subject superbly.
Honestly, I can see this book becoming a movie one day (especially with other ground-breaking reads like The Hate U Give becoming so popular).

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
Starting with characters, I absolutely loved Shirin! She was so funny and intelligent and sarcastic and cool and... just perfect. She's definitely someone I'd want to be friends with. And she's such an easy character to admire because she goes through so much but she's extremely resilient and strong.

What I also really loved about this book is the representation and how it challenges stereotypes. I'll hold my hands up and admit I haven't had the chance to read many YA books with Muslim protagonists but this story was so insightful and interesting to learn what Shirin goes through- especially with this book being set a year after 9/11. It was horrifying to see so much blatant racism for Shirin to deal with and I think that's why it's such an important book for people to read- to see how much discrimination like that can affect people's lives.
Other characters I loved were Navid and his three friends. Navid was such a supportive brother (I won't deny, I had a little bit of crush on him) and I love how his friends slowly became Shirin's friends too. They became so close and protective of her and I thought it was a lovely friendship and sentiment to add in.

Also, the whole breakdance aspect of the story surprised me a lot but it was so cool! I used to do streetdance when I was younger (a very embarrassing time of my life that I like to forget) and it was such a fun little story plot thread to follow!
And, obviously, I have to talk about Ocean. Ocean was adorable. He was such a dreamboat and I love having love interests that don't always identify as the 'bad boy'. Sometimes, all we need in YA is a genuinely nice guy! Is that so hard to come across!?!? Ocean fit this good guy role perfectly and he was so understanding and supportive and kind.
Watching the ups and downs of their relationship was absolutely lovely but I will say that my one fault with this book was the ending. It felt a little dissatisfying that, after everything we go through in the book, Ocean moves away at the end anyway. It was all for nothing! And, sure, there's an implication that they stay together (or at least stay in touch) but I wanted more than that! I didn't want them to split apart just as they truly got together!!!
Overall, this was an amazing story and I can definitely see it becoming a movie one day (which I would be 100% on board with).

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe