An Emotion of Great Delight audiobook

3.5 stars I felt my heart grow harder as I moved through the halls, felt it get heavier.One day, I worried, it would simply fall out. I personally prefer AVLEOS over this book because I think the former was more developed, but I’m not complaining: An Emotion of Great Delight has a charming melancholic atmosphere and a romance you can’t help but root for. This is the most Tahereh Mafi’s style has reminded me of dark gritty YA contemporaries I love to read. I knew she had the potential and the skills to go there and I’m so happy I can see her full abilities on display. I was torn on that rating for a long time, but for how much I liked this I can’t overlook the fact that this was too short. I even liked that the ending was so abrupt, but I’d have liked to have fallen in love with Shadi a little more. I also feel like the toxic friendship plotline got too repetitive and took too much of a center-stage for such a short book. I believe though, that if I’d read this book in the right mood and mindset I would have loved it. That’s why I’m definitely planning on rereading it sometime soon (meaning in two to four years? Lol I hate that I can’t reread without getting bored anymore).Things I absolutely loved about this book:- Shadi’s character and the conflict with her family- the post-9/11 setting and the repercussions on the Muslim community- the Muslim rep- Ali (he has my freaking heart)- the cute but steamy romance I was dying for (can Tahereh write an adult romance already? I would literally need a grave yesterday if she’d dare to step that hard on me)*******cheering from the sidelines because Tahereh Mafi is finally free to write new books outside of the Shatter Me series**screaming of joy because this is a new sad contemporary and she’s a bomb writer who deserves to write good books*

Compelling, heartbreaking, hopeful. Really enjoyed it. I'm not going to review this book, but rather defend it because I'm starting to realize that a lot of people aren't too fond of the story for reasons I disagree with. All opinions, however, are valid. So if you hated this book, you're not wrong. These are just my opinions.I'm seeing a lot of unfair critiques of the book from especially Muslim reviewers, who don't feel like the book properly represented them. While representation is great, representation politics has one major flaw - the idea that we EXPECT to be represented by books that seem to be about characters that are like us. Just because this is a Muslim-American story does not mean that it is MEANT to represent all Muslim-American experiences. I don't think that authors and their stories (especially those underrepresented in literature) should be burdened with the weight of having to properly represent the groups that their characters belong to. We are collectives but we're also individuals and should not expect that a story about someone with a similar background is going to fully reflect our own experiences. Besides, I think seeing yourself in a story is consequential. It's an added bonus, but it should not be something that you expect from an author nor should it be something the author is required to pander to.I agree that there's an oversaturation of YA Muslim novels that talk about political issues, racism, Islamophobia and problems within the Muslim community while simultaneously not talking about Islam. Books like ALL AMERICAN MUSLIM GIRL and LOVE FROM A TO Z are rarities in the sense that they are two of the only YA Muslim novels that actually talk about the main characters' relationship with the faith of Islam itself, as opposed to just representing Islam as a socio-cultural identity sans religiosity (like most Muslim YA, including this book). But here's the thing, Tahereh Mafi does not owe us that. If she wants to write a story about a Muslim character who is not religious or whose religiosity is not explored on the page, that's her prerogative. I do not think that this book leaving out the 'Islamic representation' is an inherent flaw in the story. In my very humble opinion, these critiques are less about the quality of the story and more about what reviewers are subjectively expecting from it. It's okay to be disappointed that the book didn't go there, but that doesn't make the story objectively bad. I think the issue is that publishing is afraid to put out more 'religious' Islamic stories, and would much rather ride the current trend of 'political' YA when it comes to publishing Muslim books.I understand that many Muslims will have issues with the book - the lack of religious exploration, the main character being a smoker and having pre-marital contact with a boy, her brother being a substance user, etc. But none of these things make it a bad story. And just because the book is not ideologically aligned with you, does not make this any less a valid Muslim story. Surprise, some of us are not perfect and it's okay for Muslims to write stories that explore that imperfection and complexity.

(4.5)“My sadness had made me noteworthy. Beautiful. Had imbued in me a kind of dignity, a weight I could not uncarry”.Si les gustó el primer libro contemporáneo de Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, este también les va a encantar. En An Emotion of Great Delight nos encontramos con la historia de Shadi, una chica musulmana que vive en Estados Unidos con sus padres y su hermano. Todo esto sucede en el 2003, cuando el 9/11 ya ha pasado, Estados Unidos ha declarado oficialmente la guerra en Irak y la islamofobia está más fuerte que nunca. A pesar de todos los malos comentarios, los empujones y los malos tratos que recibe, Shadi siempre intenta mantenerse fuerte, en su mundo y rodeada de su familia y amigos para no caer en provocaciones absurdas. Pero el problema es que su vida familiar se está desmoronando, hay una pérdida muy fuerte que no ha logrado superar, su amiga se ha vuelto la persona más tóxica del mundo y la persona a la que quiere está casi que prohibida. La historia de Shadi está contada en dos tiempos, pero no puedo revelar uno de ellos sin caer en un gran spoiler. Sin embargo, creo que este libro comunica muchísimas cosas tremendamente poderosas sobre una sociedad dividida, sobre los miedos que sienten las personas que son partes de comunidades vulnerables, sobre lo difícil que es encajar cuando no eres parte de la mayoría, sobre los problemas que se ocultan en casa, sobre las cosas de las que es mejor no hablar por miedo al qué dirán, sobre lo problemáticas que pueden ser ciertas amistades a las que no dejas ir por no sentirte sola, sobre lo frustrante que es querer a alguien y no poder demostrarlo. Tahereh Mafi encapsula en 250 páginas un montón de sentimientos que solo ella es capaz de escribir de una forma tan pura, sin filtros y real. Incluso aunque no seas parte de las personas que ella representa en esta historia, el libro es capaz de hacerte poner en sus zapatos, y eso es algo valiosísimo.

➵ this made me cry tears of sadness and happiness, of loss and love. stories around family, faith, and fondness always pull me in and this one held me so strongly under the grey clouds. rtc.

to była emocjonalna książka, opowiadała o żałobie, rasizmie, rodzinie i zdecydowanie była mocnamimo to ją kocham i kocham styl pisania Tahereh

4.5/5 starsi’m thinking about the way tahereh writes love and grief and dedication to god. the way she explores the identity of an american born iranian muslim; the feelings of belonging to only certain aspects lf each identity, and the way this estrangement is likened to the uncertainty that a hyphen holds. that bridge between culture and religion and nationality and language. tahereh talks about making the choice to choose religion over belonging- how she wonders if it would be easy to distance oneself from the dogma of faith. she explains the way so many people see a scarf and form preconceived notions about the wearer. that a muslim woman is first seen as a Muslim Woman before she is seen as a person with a singular identity. that once she has that scarf on her head she’s suddenly a representative of every good and bad muslim, every harmful stereotype and negative article on the news. i will admit that i felt lost at the end of the book; a lot of things are left open-ended, but i think that was the point. shadi eventually begins to hope again and, after everything, she deserves it. i know ive been talking about this book a lot, but i reposted this review because i wasn’t completely comfortable with certain religious aspects which were discussed, specifically pertaining to the way shadi perceives God. personally i do not believe in the perception of God and translation of the Quran in the same way that she does, and it’s not a good idea to take important religious information from people who are not currently studying or have studied islam. and so if you’re muslim and reading this based on my recommendation i’d urge you to take everything said about the mechanisms of faith at face value

4.4🌟love it

Thank you Librofm and HarperCollins for the gifted ALC!Where to start? Tahereh Mafi has been one of my favourite authors growing up. The Shatter Me series accompanied me when I was in school and I recall those being some of the best years of my life. I've been very excited about her writing books in different genres. I read A Very Large Expanse of Sea a few years back and I'll admit, it wasn't a favourite. I was a lot more excited about this one though and I definitely enjoyed this one a lot more.I love that we always take a deep dive into the emotions of the characters when it comes to Tahereh Mafi's book. That, paired with her wonderfully lyrical writing just makes the whole experience so much more interesting. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did such an amazing job in bringing the words to life. Being in Shadi's head was interesting, to say the least. Grief was the more dominant theme in this book (despite what the title says) and I definitely enjoyed how immersed I felt while listening to this. At some points, I felt like the emotions were my own and it gave me quite a lot of perspective. Shadi's stream of consciousness was like being in a whirlwind and I must say that that was my favourite part of the book. I love experiencing books like this because they always make me feel so much bigger than myself and they take me so much deeper.There were some points that bothered me. I felt like there was quite a bit of miscommunication here, especially between Shadi and her sister. Another thing was Shadi's definition of a 'best friend' which was just plain toxic. I understood her feeling like she was the only person who would understand her but the girl was plain terrible and I wanted Shadi to wake up and realise that. We do things too late sometimes but I just hated how she made quite a lot of excuses for her.Tahereh Mafi definitely delves into difficult subjects here like grief and the contradicting feelings that often come with it. Mental health is another one and I always appreciate how deep Mafi goes into this, there's definitely no tiptoeing around it. After reading A Very Large Expanse of Sea, I had an idea about how the romance would be in this one. Not the biggest fan of that but overall really loved this book. The ending felt abrupt to a lot of people but it left me with a sense of hope. It felt like a glimpse into her life and in the end, there are a ton of possibilities and choices left in front of her. I love a book that makes me feel hopeful by the end and this one was like that for me.

Imię głównej bohaterki to Shadi. Shadi po persku to "joy" czyli radość. Tytuł książki: An Emotion of great delight". Delight to synonim słowa Joy. Okay, Mafi zrobiła to ponownie, nazwała książkę imieniem bohatera bez nazywania jej dosłownie. Uwielbiam ten zabieg! An Emotion of Great Delight to kolejny majstersztyk Mafi. Dobra na wielu płaszczyznach, a jednak… jednak zabrakło mi czegoś. Nawet wiem, czego. Zakończenia. Nie jestem fanką półotwartych zakończeń, gdzie muszę się domyślać, co było dalej. Wiem, wiem, takie najbardziej skłaniają do przemyśleń, ale ja wolę mieć wyłożone kawa na ławę 😅. AEOGD zrobiło na mnie ogromne wrażenie i bez tego i na pewno zostanie ze mną na dłużej ❤️

I listened to the audiobook in one sitting, which was both a brilliant and horrible idea, as I now have too many emotions fighting inside of me and the urge to stop everything I'm doing and cry:) Tahereh Mafi will never let me live in peace, I must know pain and suffering (4.25)