Reviews

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

jessicamason362's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? No

3.75

The book as a concept is super strong and I really enjoyed how I learned about Afghanistan through a story book. In fact it actually made me feel quite ignorant that I need to research more about it. I liked that at the beginning it explained things such as language but by the end of the book you know what it means and it’s second nature. I also liked learning about things such as how cafes needed to be made safe etc. my favourite characters were Yazmina, Isabel, Halajan (in places I didn’t like her though), Ahmed (by the end) and Rasif (gentle man). It’s not that I didn’t find Sunny & Candace annoying, but I also did. I also didn’t mind jack & bashir, they just weren’t given much of a story. Although I wouldn’t remove any of the characters as they all make the book, and I think the author does well with moving from story to story and I didn’t find it overwhelming, I just think some of the problems were solved too easily in reality and that things were always heading to a conclusion. There was rarely much back and forth. So maybe the story could have been longer. And although I like happy endings and of course I was rooting for happy endings, I do always feel they are unrealistic and the thing that moved me the most in the book was the suicide bombing because there was actual sadness to it. I don’t think I have ever cried before but Layla’s return made me cry. I loved the character progression of Ahmed. I think Yazmina and Isabel were the bravest characters. I don’t understand how all of the characters bonded so quickly, they would say one thing in the coffee shop and then be besties. And Sunny said she knew Jack for many years but like how ?? I wanted more background on some of the characters. Also some of the dialogue parts were dreadful which is a shame and always lacked depth and were simple and sometimes cringe sentences. I probably will read the sequels eventually, but not for the writers writing style, just for the characters as I now see the characters as real people. I think there was room for so many more emotional conversations to be had. I also wanted to know how the characters reacted to Sunny leaving. Instead this was wrapped up in 3 pages. I do agree with some of the other reviews on here that a book written by someone born there would be better as I understand she lived there and she was writing from her perspective but some of the white characters situations seemed like nothing in comparison and it is like what are you complaining about.  

eli_cart's review against another edition

Knew I wouldn’t read it :(

lola_yegon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

barbietheboomop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

oliviaax's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It’s a well written and engaging book, with loveable characters and an insight into other cultures. I worry that this story was not the authors to tell, and perhaps the ending misses the cultural nuances relevant  to this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Hate crime, and War

thepageunfolds's review

challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

blluberri's review

2.0

There were some parts I felt were patronising and not written in the right way. I found out that this was written by an American non-Afghan women which makes sense. There were many things that I saw was wrong. It just doesn't show Islam and Afghanistani people in a good light and instead it is very obvious that it was written from a Westerners perspective.

Another thing is there is a continuous reference to Muhammed. Remember in Islam he is a prophet not a deity, but it is written in this book like he is. For example it says 'thank Muhammad' after they helped someone, no we thank Allah. If you want to write about Islamic religion please do your research.

0hwell00hwell's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

calloe's review against another edition

DNF

sharon68's review

4.0

I enjoyed reading this, it was not to heavy.