Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

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

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, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, and War

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

Minor: Abortion

mollyanne624's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Grief, Gore, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying

ashlyndantonio's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Bullying

Minor: Torture

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, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Infertility and Child abuse

Minor: Excrement

manjutheosm's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

harderthanjade's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the best written books I have ever read while at the same time being one of thesaddest books I have ever read. I was deeply attached to the main two females and though I feel the book had a good ending...it was painful. I have never cried as much at the end of a book I felt ended well...ever.  And I felt this book exposed me to a side of the world and life I would never have otherwise come to know. I often think of this book despite first reading it years ago and feel the writing of this book has impacted my life in unexpected ways. I highly recommend this book but I would advise to only read it if you are in a good mental space and are not triggered by abusive situations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse