Review: A Very Large Expanse Of The Sea

 

 

This may be a short review as I do not share the same thoughts on this book as many other readers do. I did not connect to it nor was I blown away by it. Maybe I’m just not the right reader for Mafi books.

I know this is an important book and I am not disputing that at all. I know that my thoughts and reactions to the book differ greatly from other readers. I liked the MC enough and I get why she was defensive and angry all of the time, but those two things made it hard for me to want to like her. She was constantly lashing out at people before getting to know their true intentions. I have been guilty of that myself and have worked hard to not do that, but sometimes old habits die hard.

Perhaps one of the big reasons I did not enjoy this story as much was because of the forced romance. I did not find that believable at all. Every time she talked about having almost instalove feelings for the boy, I found myself rolling my eyes. It felt awkward, forced, and out of place in this story. I don’t believe it was necessary in this story.

The other thing that I had a hard time with was the writing style. Mafi’s delivery felt broken, choppy, and jagged. Chapters could be one page or less and that was frustrating for me. It felt like complete thoughts or events or even points could not be properly expressed in the very short amount of page space they were given. I felt that way about her other books so maybe that is just me as a reader. It also felt super rushed, as if everything was wrapped up in a pretty bow in the last few pages. I am not ever a fan of books ending that way. Don’t take the entire book laying out the story and then BAM end it in two pages.

I know this is an important story and it will resonate with a lot of readers, sadly it was just not for me. I could not connect to any part of this. I know it will still be a beloved story for many people.