A powerful story and an exciting dive into contemporary from fantasy author! I have never read anything else by Tahereh Mafi but I am so excited for A Very Large Expanse of Sea!

Thank you NetGalley and the Electric Monkey imprint of Egmont Publishing for providing me with a free sampler for review.

I have only read an ARC sampler of the first few chapters of this novel, but I'm already hooked and will definitely be picking this up in the future when it is released.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea follows Shirin, a young Muslim teen who is living in America in 2002 and who has faced a great deal of stereotyping and xenophobia throughout her life that has only increased following 9/11 the previous year. She has a strong voice and refuses to show any weaknesses or allow this torment to get to her and instead focuses her time on learning to break dance with her brother and his friends.

This novel addresses many topics that are important to society, especially today when xenophobia and ignorance still continues to rise, and it is definitely a book that I believe many people should read. I really appreciate the authors note at the beginning which states that this novel is partially inspired by true events because it really shows the realism and prevalence of the issues addressed throughout. It is not simply fiction.

I can't wait to read the full novel when it is released in October.

First off, I thought this was a full on book. Yes, it says in the description that it's a sneak peak, but I saw the title - which doesn't mention it's just a sampler, like other samplers I've got off this website - and so I was a tad disappointed. Partly my fault, but also, I think that needs highlighting a bit better.
Anyway. I've never read anything by Tahereh Mafi before. She's been on my radar for a while, and her Shatter Me series is on my to-read this, but I was super excited to read this. Contemporary stuff has always been more my jam than science fiction/fantasy stuff, even though I do enjoy that too. For one thing, the cover is so beautiful! Very simplistic but so pretty.
In terms of the story, Shirin is living in a post 9/11 world., and as a muslim in a head scarf, this makes her the target for abuse and racism. As a white woman, this book is obviously going to explore a lot that I am unfamiliar with, but I'm trying to read more diverse books, in terms of authors and characters, and this is going to explore a point of view I rarely come across in YA. So far the plot revolves around Shirin forming a break dancing club with her brother and their new friends at a new school, where she still so far feels unwelcome. I didn't get more than chapter 3, so it's hard to know where the book will go, but I enjoyed the beginning. I'm interested to read more of the relationship between Shirin and her brother, and am loving the representation of dyslexia in someone other than a white male which is again, so common. I'm interested to read more, and will definitely be picking up a copy of the book when it comes out - hopefully that cover I love so much will be out in the UK as well as US!

This sampler of the book has quickly made me realise that Tahereh Mafi can write contemporary fiction as well as the fantasy I admire her for. I was drawn in quickly to the context and characters.....and the overt but accepted prejudices that Shirin was encountering. I want to read more of this book desperately and can't wait for it to release..

It's 2002 and Shirin is a sixteen-year-old Muslim. Since 9/11 the previous year she has been verbally and physically abused. When people see her hijab they see a terrorist. Then she meets a boy called Ocean.

Ever since I heard about A Very Large Expanse of Sea and how it is based on some of the author's experiences I've been very interested in reading it.
The sampler did a good job of hooking my attention - I immediately liked and felt sorry for Shirin.
I definitely want to read the entire book to see what happens to her.
I'm hoping that there won't be too much romance but I liked what I read of Ocean.

wow i really loved this, so much so that its difficult to articulate why.
It was only 3 chapters long but as a Muslim growing up in the Western world i really connected with and related to Shirin. I can't wait to read the whole book and see what she gets up to!

As a Muslim teenager in the Western world, I loved how relatable this was! While I've never faced the level of abuse Shirin has, probably because I was only a year old when 9/11 happened and I'm in England anyway, I've certainly had my fair share of ignorant comments.

I'm keen to see how Shirin's story develops and she becomes more comfortable in her own skin.

Very promising start! Can't wait to read the whole thing in October. So far, the story is real, and heartfelt, an impressive opening, from Mafi's first contemporary YA novel. The setting of the book was the most intriguing part to me, including the importance of the story, and relationships between characters. However, I do feel as though the romance is slightly insta-love so far.

Thank you to Net Galley for a sample of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot wait to read the whole thing.

It is the year after 9/11, and this is Shirim's third high school in two years. Her parents are constantly striving to make a better life for her and her brother, Navid, and better schools mean better prospects. However, it also means that she is once again subjected to xenophobic and racist classmates, until they realise she's not a terrorist, anyway.

"It didn't matter that I told people, over and over again, that I was born here, in America, that English was my first language, that my cousins in Iran made fun of me for speaking mediocre Farsi with an American accent - it didn't matter. Everyone assumed I was fresh off the boat from a foreign land."

I can tell this is going to be a hard-hitting, relevantly powerful, extremely welcome diverse novel published on 16th of October 2018.

I could have sobbed when I ran put of pages! The prose is beautiful & lyrical and it is every bit as heartfelt as I've come to expect from Tahereh Mafi. I've already pre-ordered my copy!!

I didn't realise this was a sampler when I requested it, however it was pretty good.
I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the writing style just yet. It didn't seem to flow as smoothly as I was expecting. But, having said that I did enjoy the story. It made me feel numerous emotions from just a few chapters and I can't wait to read the rest of the book and see how Shirin's story plays out.

I devoured this sample of A Very Large Expanse of Sea as soon as I got it.
Focussing on the life of Shirin, an American born Iranian teen, in the aftermath of 9/11. We share in her life, the things she has to endure and the way in which she copes with these things. As an white revert to Islam, I find it interesting being able to study people’s reactions to my religion and being able to discuss common misconceptions.
I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of this book, I’m hooked, please don’t leave me hanging!

I downloaded this thinking it was the full book, and was absolutely over the moon when my request was accepted as this is my most eagerly anticipated book of the year. Alas, this is only the first three chapters so not quite what I was expecting - please make this more clear on the cover if you’re only giving a sampler, Egmont! However, I did devour the sampler on a very hot train commute home and am now even more excited to read the full thing in October so I guess the sampler worked!