Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Drachenläufer by Khaled Hosseini

246 reviews

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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: Mental illness, Terminal illness, War, Self harm, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Cancer, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cannibalism

themrshedrick816's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 I wanted to read this book because I knew it had a lot of cultural aspects to it as well as being considered a “banned” book. It’s not my usual style/genre of reading, but with that being said, it was good. I did struggle some with the concepts and cultural differences and fully understanding them as I read but also enjoy that I feel more educated on them after reading this book. Overall, there were a lot of difficult, sad, and frustrating parts to read, but I do think the story was told well.  While not based on a true story, I did feel that all the aspects and hardships faced by the characters are real things that happen to Afghans and I feel that after reading this book I have an even deeper sympathy for what people of this origin faced during this time period. I do recommend this book, not necessarily as a “pleasure” read but as an expand your knowledge read, if that makes sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Death, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Genocide, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Grief, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

ienbdri's review

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, War, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, and Violence

rileydobereading's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Bullying, War, Cursing, Child death, Cancer, Trafficking, and Infertility

Minor: Racial slurs and Alcohol

hellothereforeitsalex's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The story is skilfully crafted, it covers a large period of time and hits you at every turn. Rolling through the loss of innocence, the full spectrum of emotion guilt, loss and everything else. It covers the conflict in Afghanistan from the eyes of one of its people. 

⚠️ GOOGLE TRIGGERS ⚠️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Classism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, War, and Violence

tabbiscuit's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, War, Torture, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs and Death of parent

theemster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Watch the trigger warnings, this one is heavy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Genocide, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture

karlin0336's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5

Yep.  This book is absolutely devastating.  ☹️

The writing was so good, the characters were amazing, and the historical part of the book was facinating.  The story was just as sad as everyone says it is. A few chapters in particular were hitting me very hard --- expect to cry while reading this.

Fair warning: there is quite a bit of cursing, some intense violence, and very difficult topics are dealt with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Racism, and War

Minor: Infertility, Genocide, and Mental illness

shiftycow1313's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, War, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Police brutality, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Grief, Animal death, Racism, Child abuse, Self harm, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Rape, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Infertility, Ableism, Classism, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Genocide, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

squidlord23's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

This was a very good book that I'm glad I waited until I was older to take the time to digest and reflect. It is a very tough emotional read and Amir, especially as a child, you want to slap. He struggles with his father's approval but it was hard to digest how he treated Hassan. Overall the development of the characters as they grow, experience the changes of Afghanistan throughout the 60s/70s/80s to present day (2001) was a very interesting read. Half a star off because I felt that towards the end the last piece of trauma for the reader was unnecessary and the way some of the big events conclude in the way to benefit Amir were too obviously coincidental to help wrap a nice bow on the plot and just keep our emotions on a roller coaster we're ready to get off. I definitely recommend this book if you're interested in a small perspective on the Afghan family dynamic and some history of the country. This is not all encompassing and the history clearly is more complicated than this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, War, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Child abuse