Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Drachenläufer: Roman by Khaled Hosseini

168 reviews

okiecozyreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Finally read THE KITE RUNNER for a chat with my hometown bookstore tonight @anovelideabookshop.

I can see why it’s on so many lists- both of books you should read and books that people are banning. Khalid Hosseini writes in the introduction of my copy how he writes to tell himself a story. But after September 11th, his wife demanded he send his work to a publisher to show them a different side of Afghanistan. I thought it was interesting he also has a MD in internal medicine.

KITE RUNNER is the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy, hardworking businessman. His father has a servant whose family has worked for them for 40 years, who has a son of similar age Hassan, who is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic group. Hassan is very loyal to Amir and Amir is not as good of a friend to Hassan. When a tragic event occurs, Amir’s guilt makes him miserable, and he can no longer face Hassan. About the same time, the Afghanistan country is invaded by Russia and he and his father escape to the United States. In THE KITE RUNNER, we see how the Afghanistan culture changes with all of the power struggles and how Amir’s loving family and friends change him for the better.

“For kite runners, the most coveted prize was the last fallen kite of a winter tournament. It was a trophy of honor, something to be displayed on a mantel for guests to admire.” P47

“Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?”
…
"When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?" P16

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir, he said.” p125-126

“Returning to Kabul was like running into an old, forgotten friend and seeing that life hadn't been good to him, that he'd become homeless and destitute.” P218

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, Self harm, and Cancer

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, and Death of parent

sareidle's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide attempt, Grief, Self harm, War, Death, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Infertility, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Death of parent

banes's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Racism, Infertility, Murder, Violence, Rape, War, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Cancer, and Sexual assault

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

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

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

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

newdream's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was so incredibly emotinal while still maintaining the hopeful, unexpected style of storytelling. This man has a specific writing style and you either love it or hate it. My favourite part was the beginning, then it got slow and not very interesting in the middle, but it regained its pace at the second half of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

caitlinm248's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, and Sexual assault