Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

62 reviews

hammy_down's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

This book is a solid four. I do recommend it, but it isn’t one of my favorites. The book focuses on women written by a man. It is a little hard to connect to that. 
It is definitely heartbreaking and touching. You can feel it all. Great book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beckyjc's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

Where to even begin with this one? God, it's sad. Deeply, brutally sad. I had reservations reading it given that Afghanistan has fallen again to the Taliban since this book was published. Would this real-life backdrop make it even sadder? The answer is yes. But I do think it's important to read stories like this, as heartbreaking as they are. My knowledge of the conflicts in Afghanistan over the past few decades is limited, and likely full of misconceptions. I wanted to read an Afghan writer to try and understand more of the human impact.

Mariam and Laila's story's really affected me. Both women are drawn with such respect and empathy. The love story between Laila and Tariq is one of the sweetest I've read this year and I was rooting for them the whole time.

When Tariq returns 'from the dead' I gasped out loud on the bus where I was reading it. Some hope in amongst the sheer horror at last!

The complexities of the religious and cultural customs of the country (and the differences between Kabul and other towns or rural areas), and the relationship between men and women, are fascinating and sobering to a Western eye. Some of the chapters left me feeling desolate. How can we be so inhumane to one another? And knowing that the women of Afghanistan are once more having to live under such barbaric, utterly deplorable conditions is almost unbearable. I carried on reading because the characters are compelling and I was invested, but it was not a comfortable read in the slightest. 

The relationship between Mariam and Laila is beautiful written, moving from initial suspicion and hostility to a touching depiction of quasi-motherhood. The indignities and suffering they must endure is very troubling to read, but their ultimate resilience of spirit does give the book some respite and a welcome hopeful core. I just desperately wish that this wasn't the reality of thousands of women still today. Still. Again. Can we begrudge or blame immigrants fleeing such terrors? How can this be an acceptable way of life for the people of Afghanistan?

The ending made me very reflective. At first I didn't understand why Laila would want to return to Kabul. Surely, as the site of so much atrocity and personal tragedy, she should stay well clear and protect herself and her family? But this is an important lesson I took from the book. What happens when your home becomes a place of fear and destitution as a result of war? What responsibilities do we have to future generations, and to the past, to restore order? To rebuild and to grow? What does home and heritage mean? This is another reason the developing real world events are so devastating in the context of this book I think. The constant cycle of destruction and regeneration. When will it end?

The writing is not overly sophisticated. Hosseini has an eye for a good story and keeps things simple. But against such a complex political backdrop this is no bad thing, I think. I'm glad I saw it through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion

strange's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I... do not even know how to put words to this book. Mariam. Laila. These two women will live in my heart forever, and I am amazed at how they came to life in 400 short pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Blood and Abortion

Minor: Gun violence, Excrement, and Abandonment

laurendenton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use and Excrement

kmturpie1025's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

megknott's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, and Abortion

fullybooked22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was incredible, completely heartbreaking and yet hopeful. I had to keep reading it because when I wasn't it was all I thinking about. I adored Mariam and Laila and found them completely vivid in my mind, the grounding of the story in real life events just reflexed the relevance and similarities to the realities of so many. This made the reading experience even more impactful. I think I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse and Infertility

Minor: Excrement

eunoia11's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement and Miscarriage

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, and Abortion

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Confinement

lilifane's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

I've read a lot of bleak and depressing books lately but this one tops them all. I still couldn't put it down. I got attached to the protagonists Mariam and Laila whose lives you follow throughout the book. Loved to get to know them since childhood and learn how their lives intertwined, their friendship slowly developed. Didn't love what they had to endure, though. They didn't deserve all the pain and loss, noone does. Yet, similar things happened and still happen to people in countries with oppression and war.

I did like the writing and all the information you get on Afghanistan and its history. It was more detailed than in The Kite Runner and more depressing since the characters actually spend the whole book there. And you get to see it through the eyes of women, who were mostly affected by all the changes in the country.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder