GUYS: This is very different then the Shatter Me series. I know we all love that series, but Mafi proved she is a lot more than that with this book. It is very sad and emotional and so interesting!

I finished this book in 2 days. I should not be surprised because I read A Very Large Expanse of Sea in one day, but it made me feel completely different. Aside from similar central topics and breathtaking covers, these stories were polar opposites, in the best way.
Shadi is a Muslim teenager trying to finish high school in the years following 9/11. On top of the difficulties the Muslim community is experiencing, her own life is on the verge of unraveling. Tahereh Mafi tackles the loneliness that only occurs during grief. Shadi is trying to be the one person in her family who has it all together, yet when she is alone, she is anything but. Her best friend has cut her off, her brother is dead, her mother is withering away, and she doesn't know how much longer she can keep the tsunami wave of feelings at bay. And that is exactly how I felt the entire time reading this. Tears were stationed behind my eyes and I was waiting with baited breath to see how Shadi's story would unfold.
This book is not lighthearted in the way one expects. It ask difficult questions of the reader and forces them to examine how they handle their own feelings in a way that can only be done after reading such a story. While this book is *about* a Muslim girl, that is not all it is. It is about grief and rebirth. Love in the midst of extreme loneliness. It is about finding that singular moment that evokes the Emotion of Great Delight and using it as an anchor to guide you back from the cliff.
Tahereh's use of metaphors and figurative language might have seemed excessive at moments, but it made the story lyrical and played a large roll in the pacing. She has hit another homerun with this one and I cannot wait to recommend it to everyone upon its release.

~~ received as an ARC from NetGalley ~~

TW: Self-harm
3/5 Stars.

I LOVED Mafi's AVLEOS but An Emotion of Great Delight fell flat. The constant jumping between the events (I'm not sure I'd consider them flashbacks) and the addition of some characters who absolutely didn't need to be added. This story could have been much stronger had it focused on THE EMOTIONS within it -- grief and joy. I also did not like how little it focused on Shadi's mother and the struggles she had.

Saying the cons, I also have to talk about the pros. Mafi's writing is BEAUTIFUL as always. Her voice is clear and expressive, and it makes her books easy reads. The integration of Iranian culture, Farsi, and a post 9/11 world create a masterpiece. Had the plot been better and stronger, this would be a 5/5 for talking about grief and regret...but it also didn't talk about recovering from grief enough to warrant any more than 3 stars.

Right now, I'm giving it a 5/5, but I might have to mull over it a little more.

I'm gonna say it right off the bat—this is, if not the most, one of the saddest, heaviest, most emotionally propulsive books I've ever read. Chapter after chapter, there is something new happening, something thrown in the main character's way, and the way Tahereh Mafi describes it is just beyond good. She makes you feel it. My heart wrenched as I read this. I read this so fast because I needed to know what happened next, needed to see what would come after each scene. I was obsessively flipping pages, not because this easy or fun or exciting to read, but because it was so horrifying and real and raw that it was impossible to turn away. I was slack-jawed most of the time while reading this and I just could not stop. The character development was impeccable, the writing, as always with Tahereh Mafi, was exquisite, and the plot was enrapturing. I really loved how we got the chapters that take place the year before the story's start because I think it added a lot to the novel.

My only critiques that make me question whether this is a full 5/5 is that I think this book needed MORE. This is a short book with a fast pace, but most of the time, I couldn't stop thinking about how it was so narrow-focused. There was the main focus and then the only real side plot was the romance and even that could've used a little more development. AVLEOS was so amazing because it dealt with more than what the character was feeling. We weren't so confined to her thoughts and feeling; we got to see more of the world outside of her and see how Muslims were treated in that time. In AEOGD, we did get some of that but not enough in my opinion. It's a little difficult to explain without spoilers, but I felt like this book could've just been bigger. We could have had more scenes and interactions, but instead, I felt as though we were stuck in Shadi's head. It wasn't as well-rounded or expansive as AVLEOS, but then again, it could have been intentional, which is why I'm more forgiving and overall, enjoyed the story. We just could've gotten more outside of plot. I do wish we got more character stuff between Shadi and the other characters and just simply moments outside of the rollercoaster of traumatic events she was experimenting, but yet again, this could have been a conscious decision.

I might lower my rating to a 4.5 or 4 in the future, but for now, I'm keeping it at a 5 because...wow. I know I'm going to be thinking about this for years to come just like AVLEOS. It is achingly beautiful and a must-read for sure. Please, please, please read this book when it comes out on June 1st because it is definitely worth it!

EDIT: ooh, also, I just read another review about the very ending of this book. I interpreted it one way, but it seems the other reviewer interpreted it another way so...I'm interested to see was the general consensus will be.

<i> Thank you so much to HarperCollins for sending me an ARC (advance reader copy) of this book. All thoughts are my own, of course. </i>

Shadi is a Muslim American teen with a lot on her plate. After her older brother dies her family is torn apart by grief, guilt and blame. Each of those left is falling apart in their own way and no one understands, or even tries to understand, what's happening beyond their own nose. Some of the story is told just post 9/11, showing the reader the isolation and anger at the community. Most of the book though focuses on Shadi's relationship with Ali, the brother of her former best friend. It's a quick read, and compelling, but it feels very unfinished to me. Almost nothing is concluded. The book seemed to be building to a confrontation with Zahra, the former best friend, but nothing happens. Shadi never tells the secrets of what's happening at home, never gets help. She finally admits her feelings for Ali, but because she took no other action to save herself or her family, it seems like he's supposed to be her savior, an impractical thing to ask of a teenage boy and an unwanted ending in this age of girl power. Review from e-galley.

The setting of An Emotion of Great Delight is well constructed and important to the story-- 2003, when the United States felt so lost and broken. Which is how our main character, Shadi, feels. Shadi grew up in a strong, traditional Muslim family and now feels the pressure of an entire nation's prejudice and fear. To make matters worse, her family is in a state of its own turmoil and brokenness.
The story is strong, yet because of gaps that go unanswered for the majority of the book, I can only give it 3 stars. I liked it, but it feels like something big is missing at the end. . .the "so what."
In my library, the book will serve as a mirror into what American Muslims had to endure after 9/11.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Tahereh Mafi's previous realistic fiction release A Very Large Expanse of Sea is one of my favorite books, so I was excited to see another non-fantasy book. The writing in An Emotion of Great Delight is equally as beautiful and poetic. The plot felt a little loose to me, perhaps because of the movement between past and present, but I couldn't put the book down because I cared so much about Shadi's progression. I love a character driven book and this one was no exception. I look forward to listening to the audiobook once it's released as I feel the poetic language and Farsi will make for a beautiful listen, just like AVLEOS.