Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Kite Runner

Good book, SO hard to read. Trigger warning upon trigger warning. It’s so necessary to read books that deal with hard topics like this, but not easy nonetheless.

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noahfence's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

the kite runner is an absolutely heartbreaking and tragic exploration into taboo friendships, guilt, social and political turmoil, boyhood and manhood and, eventually, redemption. it follows the story of two boys, the underprivileged hazara hassan and the fortunate pashtun amir—and the seemingly irreparable rift that forms between them due to a tragic incident on what is meant to be a day of victory and celebration. it leaves amir reeling with guilt and self-hatred, of which stubbornly pervades into his adult life, and that he eventually goes to extreme lengths to atone for.

this was required reading for my a level course and i wasn’t sure what to expect before i read it. however, i can confidently state that i am left a changed person after reading the kite runner. it moved me to tears on multiple occasions and left me to reflect on the relationships i hold with those i hold most dear in my life, and how i need to hold them tight and never let them go.

broadly this book is the story of a troubled man learning that ‘there is a way to be good again’, and grasping that opportunity with both hands. i feel that, with its initial themes of self-hatred and lacking parental love, it resonates with many of us very deeply. and after the book has done this, it then jumps at the chance to show us how to learn to love ourselves again, and how to build and nurture that same, previously missing, parental love within ourselves so we may find the courage to atone for the bad things we have done… and, after all that, eventually find we are able to forgive ourselves.

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