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ashleysweitz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, Dementia, Death, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Ableism, Trafficking, and Child death
blau_elmo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Emotional, dark and sad, uncovering all the depressing stories nestled within Afghanistan following the war.
A novel covering the stories of the different generations of a single family, some left a more lasting impact than others, but reading it gave me a better understanding of the turmoil of the Afghan people, as well as greater insight into the geopolitical climate of the region at the time.
Hosseini never fails to deliver his poignant stories of family, love, loss and his everpresent representation of his homeland.
A novel covering the stories of the different generations of a single family, some left a more lasting impact than others, but reading it gave me a better understanding of the turmoil of the Afghan people, as well as greater insight into the geopolitical climate of the region at the time.
Hosseini never fails to deliver his poignant stories of family, love, loss and his everpresent representation of his homeland.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: War
cato_o's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, and Terminal illness
lesejaguar's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, War, Death of parent, Dementia, and Suicide
fe_aye's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Khaled Hosseini is a good author, I adore his writing style and that is the main reason I ended up finishing this book,. He knows how to weave words together masterfully and I have previously enjoyed his other books The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
This book did not gel with me, it spends a vast majority of the narrative veering off into long winding tangents that end up having almost no contribution to the story of Pari and Abdullah. Granted I am biased as these sorts of theme based slice of life stories are not my thing at all, but this book spends 90% of its narrative around characters who have little to absolutely no interaction with the supposed central two characters of this story.
Pari and Abdullah don’t even appear in the book for over half of the pages, that is instead dedicated to lengthy descriptions of different characters who have a very shaky connection to these two at best and their lives. They are all interesting in their own ways but I would have preferred to stick to the narrative of the two siblings than this. It ended up feeling disjointed and more like a compilation of several shorter stories tied together by a central theme of family, which I don’t mind but the description for this book is a little misleading. It makes it sound like the entire book will be focused on Pari and Abdullah’s separation when that particular plot beat only takes up about 20% of the book.
Regardless this is still a wonderfully written piece of literature and I’m sure so many people will be able to see their own lives in this and connect with the characters and their situations in ways I couldn’t. I hope you found this experience more engaging than I did.
This book did not gel with me, it spends a vast majority of the narrative veering off into long winding tangents that end up having almost no contribution to the story of Pari and Abdullah. Granted I am biased as these sorts of theme based slice of life stories are not my thing at all, but this book spends 90% of its narrative around characters who have little to absolutely no interaction with the supposed central two characters of this story.
Pari and Abdullah don’t even appear in the book for over half of the pages, that is instead dedicated to lengthy descriptions of different characters who have a very shaky connection to these two at best and their lives. They are all interesting in their own ways but I would have preferred to stick to the narrative of the two siblings than this. It ended up feeling disjointed and more like a compilation of several shorter stories tied together by a central theme of family, which I don’t mind but the description for this book is a little misleading. It makes it sound like the entire book will be focused on Pari and Abdullah’s separation when that particular plot beat only takes up about 20% of the book.
Regardless this is still a wonderfully written piece of literature and I’m sure so many people will be able to see their own lives in this and connect with the characters and their situations in ways I couldn’t. I hope you found this experience more engaging than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing, Ableism, Classism, and Bullying
cultbyproxy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The rope that pulls you from the flood can become a noose around your neck.
and the mountains echoed tells the story of several families, all connected by afghanistan, over a period of 50 years. it starts with a folktale which can be seen as an allegory to the ways in which the lives of our characters will unfold. from the small fictional village of shadbagh, the lives of abdullah and pari unfold and spill into the lives of those as near as pakistan and as far as france and the united states. it is a story of descent, a story of effect and consequence, and ultimately a story of family (both the one we choose and the one we don’t). steeped in culture, i felt invited into a home unlike my own and made to feel welcome. enjoying the delicacies, language and customs unaccustomed to me. as a guest, i began my education, and as a friend i concluded it.
yes, this is the story of brother and sister, of parent and child, but it is so much more. it is love, and loss, and secrets, and friendship, and the attempt to reconcile the holes in our hearts that grow wider, and deeper, with age and experience.
yes, this is the story of brother and sister, of parent and child, but it is so much more. it is love, and loss, and secrets, and friendship, and the attempt to reconcile the holes in our hearts that grow wider, and deeper, with age and experience.
the characters were slightly disjointed to me in the beginning, with an array of characters that probably required a mind map to keep up with how each one is connected to the other. the ever-changing POVs make it a little difficult to really sink into each character; however, as the chapters continue they become more established and easier to decipher.
overall, definitely something to add to my frequently forgotten favourites list.
Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
- Jelaluddin Rumi, 13th Century
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Abandonment, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Misogyny, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
sadiaa's review against another edition
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Khaled hosseini is one of my favourite authors, I have read everything he's put out. He masterfully creates emotional stories that put the Afghan people at the forefront, showing us their culture and ways of life.
I love that the book had multiple povs, I found each story engaging. However I found that there were almost too many different stories intersecting, anytime a pov started I would get into it and then suddenly the pov changed and we don't get to hear about what happens next. I was listening to the audiobook and when the povs changed, I found myself listening and trying to figure out who's pov it was. Took me out of the story a little.
The ending is bittersweet,Abdullah and Paris find each other, but Abdullah has succumbed to dementia and doesn't recognise her
I love that the book had multiple povs, I found each story engaging. However I found that there were almost too many different stories intersecting, anytime a pov started I would get into it and then suddenly the pov changed and we don't get to hear about what happens next. I was listening to the audiobook and when the povs changed, I found myself listening and trying to figure out who's pov it was. Took me out of the story a little.
The ending is bittersweet,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, Dementia, Grief, Medical content, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
schnarlie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Dementia, Abandonment, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Murder, and War
Minor: Physical abuse and Cancer
amir_hamza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
ginbat's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Hosseini's writing always has a poetic feeling to it, I would say this book is of course more "enjoyable" than The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns if only because our characters are not subject to the same amount of violence. This story is more.. Floaty? The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is that the ending feels too much like ATSS.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Medical content, Abandonment, War, Chronic illness, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Infertility
Minor: Child death
Adoption trauma