An Emotion Of Great Delight

Written by Tahereh Mafi

Narrated by Lanna Joffrey

From bestselling author of the Shatter Me series and the National Book Award-nominated A Very Large Expanse of Sea, Tahereh Mafi, comes a stunning novel about love and loneliness, navigating dual-identity as a Muslim teenager in America, and reclaiming your right to joy.

It’s 2003. It’s been several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq, and the political world has evolved. Shadi, who wears hijaba visible allegiance to Islamkeeps her head down. Hate crimes are spiking. Undercover FBI agents are infiltrating mosques and interrogating members of the congregation, and the local Muslim community is beginning to fracture. Shadi hears the fights after servicesthe arguments between families about what it means to be Muslim, about what they should be doing and saying as a communitybut she does not engage.

She’s too 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 has tried to navigate the remains of her quickly-shattering world by soldiering through, saying nothing, until finally, one day, everything changes.

She explodes.

Perfect for fans of the Shatter Me series as well as Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give and Nicola Yoon's The Sun is Also A Star.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9780755503278

Tahereh Mafi

Tahereh Mafi is the #1 international bestselling and National Book Award–nominated author of over a dozen books, including the Shatter Me series, the Woven Kingdom series, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, and An Emotion of Great Delight. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages. She lives in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. You can find her online at taherehmafi.com.

Reviews for An Emotion Of Great Delight

[SammiKoalaReads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Content Warning:
? self harm, bullying, sick parents, untreated mental health disorders.

Themes:
? Family
?Friendship
? Love
? Islamaphobia
? Colourism
? Grief
? Mental Health

What I liked:
? Mafi takes the reader along the internal dialogue of Shadi, a young Muslim girl living in the US just after 9/11
? Mafi manages to portray micro-aggressions faced by Muslims so well. Like being asked to "not pray by the lawns" when all Shadi was doing was sitting there thinking about life.
? Mafi's portrayal of teenage female best friend dynamics. I remember desperately trying to please and 'keep' my best friends by accomodating their every whim. Being a teen is so tough, because you just want to be accepted.

Thoughts:
? Mafi skillfully portrays how young people of colour are viewed as adults in society, how we are viewed not as individuals but as representatives and spokespeople for our entire ethnic groups. I've often had to caveat any thoughts on politics or social commentary with saying this is my opinion and I am not speaking on behalf of all Zimbabwean people ever.

?I resonated deeply with Shadi, especially with her approach to microaggressions. I often think, should I teach this person why it's not okay to make these assumptions and how their tone and choice of words is violent and discriminatory? Then I think, no... I don't have it in me to fight to explain my existence and presence in this world. I pick my battles.

?Mafi also touches on the fact that news outlets and newspapers hold a lot of power in what they decide to share with their audiences. When 9/11 happened many news outlets shared misinformation, some unknowingly, and this spurred numerous hate crimes and misplaced fear and blame in the US and globally.

Favourite Quote:

"my father tried to break him, so he bacame water. My father tried to contain him, so my brother became the sea"

[MarHasHobbies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wow I really enjoyed this book, I kind of forgot how young actually the caracter was and when you are reminded of that you are in aw what she carries on her shoulders.
Usually not the type of book I read that's why it's 3/5 but I really liked it.

[Bihh Montenegro · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

quero começar falando que a tahereh é minha escritora
favorita, amo a escrita dela e não mudou nesse livro, mas
esse livro foi estranho?
esse livro não foi pra mim. a carga emocional do livro é
profunda mas acho que faltou desenvolvimento dos
personagens e aprofundamento em tudo? até a metade do
livro eu não tava entendendo nada do que a protagonista tava
falando, parece q foi tudo corrido e sem explicação.
e o final, parece q cortaram uns 10 capítulos, sei lá, não rolou.

[dairyqueen84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If there had been some resolution, I might have given this 5 stars. The writing was lyrical at times. Shadi is dealing with so much and it almost seems like there are too many issues but Mafi makes it work. Shadi's brother dies, her mother is self-harming and depressed, her father is in the hospital, and her sister is too busy trying to keep the household running. I listened to the book which was great for the pronunciation of the Farsi phrases and sentences, which Mafi always translated. But it was hard with the timeline, last year and 2003. It was unclear when last year was. I might have to reread this one with my eyes. The ending was too abrupt for me.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lots of good intentions behind this novel, but it was way too slice-of-life for my taste.

[hccpsk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Tahereh Mafi is an excellent writer, and there are some interesting pieces to her new book, An Emotion of Great Delight, but it needed a little bit more time in the oven. Shadi’s life is falling apart — her brother died, her father is sick, and her best friend hates her. She cannot focus on anything, but she needs to keep it together for her mother and to get into a good college. Mafi handles a lot of the high school angst and Muslim family dynamics very well, but she lost her way somewhere. Random characters, some unbelievable plotlines, and an ending that makes no sense at all really drag this book down.