Friends with ARCs | An Emotion of a Great Delight

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

⭐⭐⭐ 3 stars | An Emotion of Great Delight is Tahereh Mafi's second contemporary novel and having read both, I can say that her work in this genre is raw, honest, and comes across as deeply personal. The heroine, Shadi, is struggling with the political climate as the Muslim community—her community—is targeted by hate crimes. She continues to wear her hijab and keeps her head down but between bullying at school, familial problems (which is putting it mildly), absentee friends, and being afraid to fall in love, it's a lot for one young woman to take and she can only stay silent for so long until she explodes. 

Despite the heaviness of the entire story, it's a surprisingly quick read. But I definitely went into it with certain expectations, which is why by the end I found myself wanting much more. It felt too short and too abrupt. That said, looking back now I can see how the first few chapters set the stage for this to be a very tunneled and brief view into a specific time of Shadi's life. There's no neat beginning, middle, or end. Instead it's pretty messy throughout, especially as we are often confined to being only in Shadi's head as she spirals internally with her feelings. I wish we had gotten more time with her talking to the people in her life who were clearly making an impact on her, good and bad, and just seeing her use her voice rather than being stuck in her head so much. It almost felt claustrophobic at times but maybe that was the point. 

How do you deal with stress or heavy emotions? | I think having a good long cry is one way to release a lot of emotion and tension. But I also turn to reading, jigsaw puzzles, and binge-watching TV as a way to clear my head. In the end though, talking to one of my best friends is usually the best cure. 

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pub 6/1/21 by HarperCollins
Young Adult - Contemporary
Received e-ARC from pub for review
Goodreads | Author

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