Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - A Thousand Splendid Suns

Oh my God oh my God oh my God. Where do you even start in doing justice to an epic like this?

I have been drawn to both A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner since I first glimpsed the spines in Waterstones around six months ago. I took a glance at their covers, read neither of their blurbs, and immediately added them both to my TBR. My gut feeling (at least for ATSS; I haven't yet read The Kite Runner, but I'm determined to make that change very, very soon) proved correct. This was just so sublime and devastating and destroying and hopeful and honest and hard. So very hard.

Two things about this book show to me how special it is: 1) I'm usually not a very expressive reader (I probably cry/laugh/gasp to a handful of books a year, if that)--and yet I remember three separate occasions of gasping in shock at this book before rereading and rereading the section over and over for what must have been minutes trying to reconcile my thoughts; and 2) my memory has gotten seriously bad when it comes to remembering basic details about the books I read, even a couple of hours after I finish them (it's something that really really bothers me), and yet flicking through ATSS and landing on random pages, I can not only remember exactly what was going on at that moment by reading a line or two, but I can see it. I feel like I watched this book more than I read it; the experience was truly cinematic. I have detailed, textured scenes in my mind that I can actually travel through when I picture the events from this book, major and minor.

And yet I don't think I can explain exactly what made this book so profound for me. All I know is that Nana, Mariam ( Mariam:( ), Laila, Tariq, Rasheed, Mahfuzallah, Jalil, Aziza, everyone, I feel I have travelled through and seen into their souls and lived through a million lifetimes with them.

Looking back on some of the scenes in my head from this book is honestly so painful. I wanted to reach in an help every single one of these people. (Except Rasheed.)

Nothing short of a masterpiece. Truly (I hope!) unforgettable.

Content Warnings

phoebebridgersbitch's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

whitebabysbreath's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

shruti21's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

hammy_down's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

vaniavela's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I begin by saying that I regret not having read this book sooner, but I had been told it would destroy me emotionally and I was not in a good emotional position.

Now, this book was a huge journey.

I found Mariam's childhood quite sad. I understand the mother's perspective, how her view of Mariam's father is completely different from hers. To Mariam, her father is a wonderful being who loves her.

When she was engaged to Rasheed, I felt hatred from that moment on. I swear I hated him every second since he was introduced to the plot. All the physical and emotional abuse he committed against Mariam was repulsive.

When introducing Laila's character I had been a little confused, because I wondered who she was and what her importance was.It wasn't until the events of the bombing happened that everything became clear.

The relationship between Tariq and Laila made my heart fill with tenderness and pain. Watching him leave and return after not showing any signs of life tore me apart. When we found out that he "died" I SOBBED. I couldn't bear the thought. I didn't want to believe it.

When I found out that Rasheed paid a guy to say that Tariq had died, I swear my villain story began. I had sensed something from a comment he replied to Laila after reminding her not to speak ill of the dead. He said "some people are never dead enough" AND THEN CLEARLY. HE WASN'T DEAD.

I was so glad he was killed, I felt such satisfaction. But to see Mariam condemned for attacking him, it hurt me so much. AFTER ALL, THEY KILL HER FOR SELF-DEFENSE?

When Tariq and Laila finally meet after years and manage to live a "better" life, I cried with joy. I wanted nothing but happiness for them. AND SEEING HOW THEY WOULD NAME THE BABY "MARIAM" GAVE ME SO MUCH JOY.

I honestly felt so much with this book, I even threw up, but it was so good.

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