Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

49 reviews

kiwichill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

A historical drama which follows the lives of two women over decades, with a background of conflicts and wars in Afghanistan 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Grief, Infertility, Rape, War, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Infidelity, Cursing, Gun violence, Murder, Hate crime, Police brutality, Self harm, and Sexism

rene_reads02's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? No

5.0

This was one of the best books I read in a while. It shows the horrors of war and what challenges women faced during that time. This book opened my eyes to a lot of the struggles people were dealing with on a daily basis. Some of these happened before I was born & the rest when I was just a kid, but it’s a perspective that I didn’t realize I’d been waiting my whole life to hear. The characters were so inspiring! There were times when my heart wept for them and times when I cheered them on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Genocide, War, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Torture, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Abortion

maajidah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

"one last time, Mariam did as she was told" 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, War, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

malucavia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

Maybe the best book I’ve ever read. 

It was beautifully written and really captivating. Hosseini has a very pleasant to read writing style. Because of its swift pace the book is a real page turner. 

It was also very unpredictable - in a good way. This kept you on your toes throughout the entire novel and made you eager to find out what happened next.

The story revolves around the lives of Mariam and Laila. Their lives are though surviving as women in a tumultuous Afganistan. It was at times very emotional to read.

I cried a lot during the book, but especially at the end when Mariam essentially sacrificed herself for Laila. And when Laila announced that she would name her daughter after Mariam. The way Hosseini wrote this (and tbh the entire novel) was both absolutely heartbreaking as well as beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma, Death, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder and Miscarriage

33cosmo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Abortion, Body horror, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child death, Classism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

aalayah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Violence, Gun violence, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and War

tash1531718's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, War, and Violence

happinessie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

fatsss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a reread and it was still as good as the first time I read it. Hosseini is an amazing writer. 

Although a reader can be skeptical about the stories of women being written by a man, he did a great job at portraying their stories. 

It’s filled with so much pain so it’s guaranteed to make you teary eyed. I also admire how easy it is to get sucked into this world because of Hosseni’s ability to use words that create vivid images. 

The book reenforces all the horrible pain and tragedy that comes with war especially those faced by women and children. I liked that Hosseini emphasized that the pain these two groups go through during war is incomparable. 

Though this book has the power to let readers see and understand the struggles of Afghanistan women, I feel the way it portrayed these struggles, it may also give readers who should not have the space to give opinions on certain issues the space to do so. 

For example, the discourse around women wearing burqa’s or hijabs where random people who it doesn’t concern say they are against it when it honestly isn’t their business. 

It reminds me of what Roxanne Gay said in Bad feminist, paraphrasing, she said forcing women not to wear the burqa is just as bad as forcing them to. 

Well at the end of the day, nothing is black and white and it’s all more complicated than that. 

But yes, good book. But approach with caution it deals with so many hard things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, Gun violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage