Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

132 reviews

claudiabrekker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, and Rape

abysalsnug's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Homophobia

myriam_almonti's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Genocide, Abandonment, Vomit, War, Addiction, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt

ermina12's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Child abuse, Islamophobia, Rape, and Toxic relationship

sydneys_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

this was so hard to read sometimes, just because i had no idea what was going to happen in this book before i started it. moving story. generations pass and this man is trying atone for his mistakes still.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape and Trafficking

sinchen_30's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Rape, Child abuse, Death, and War

isabellamaria's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Ableism, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, War, Suicide attempt, and Violence

imaginefishes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was originally skeptical of starting this book due to its length and what I believed to be touching on heavy topics, and the start of the book was somewhat slow to get through because of that. However, as the story progressed, I found I couldn't help but be drawn more and more to the book, and I genuinely could not stop thinking about it. The book is deliciously tightly woven together, where certain things certain characters say make an appearance throughout the book much like they sometimes would in our memories and lives, and the author touches on so many social issues pertaining to the context of Afghanistan, which, many of which remain unsolved and continue to be perpetuated today, especially with the recent insurgence of the Taliban. I find this book to be as relevant now as it was nearly 20 years ago, and the way the plot points and how each character is written is truly marvelous and leaves such a lasting imprint on your memory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Body horror, Ableism, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Slavery

The plot points on

paedophilia and rape

were quite shocking, especially initially, and it is truly horrifying to realise these are real things that happen to real people, real children in Afghanistan (and the rest of the world), and the violence and ideology held by Assef which eventually led him to

become one of the leaders of the Taliban and partake in an ethnic cleansing of his own

was really quite vile and again, extremely shocking when it happened.

Luckily, not all hope is lost, and he manages to get some sort of payback, however little.

However, what I have to say is I really did not enjoy the company of the main character - while it is understandable he did what he did, I found it enraging how

Hassan was always the one to come to his rescue, even in death, via Sohrab and his use of the slingshot, though it does make sense in the context of the book and his societal standing.

The book is rife with tragedy, but that small sliver of hope by the ending managed to bring it back a little, thankfully, and

somewhat redeem Amir from the demon he once thought he was

.

laelia's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.0

2 things:
1. I really liked the descriptions in the second half of the book. 

2. I didn't like the protagonist at all. Which is why I couldn't love this book. 

This book is great in the way it addresses this difficult situation from the pov of someone who grew up in Afghanistan. But other than that, I didn't like the protagonist's story. I have some issues with it, which made it really difficult for me to decide if I liked this book or not.

To be frank, the protagonist is an asshole. And this whole book is about his 'redemption.' Did he redeem himself in the end? I can't say. But what I can say is that I have some issues with this book presenting him as someone who is not a good person in the first half of the novel, who mistreats his 'friend' because he can't help himself but see him more as a servant, although he pretends he doesn't, who is a liar and has fun at someone else's expense who is not even aware that they are secretly made fun of, and then tries to redeem him by 'saving' their son, who turns out to be his nephew. This is very oversimplified and I know this novel has more to offer than this but it bothers me that this redemption story can be summarised as: hey, you were a horrible person and witnessed your servant's rape but didn't do anything and then made sure their life is hell, but then find out they died, leaving their son orphaned in a really bad situation, so moving him to the US will redeem you? This part just really bothered me.. Did he become a better person? Did he learn from his mistakes? I can't tell.. Then also is he only taking his nephew to the US only because he's his nephew and he feels responsible and they're related? And taking his nephew to the US does not equal saving him. He's far from saved. He may no longer be in a bad situation but he has to deal with that traumatic experience. But does the protagonist help him or get him some professional help? 
A lot of things and ideas in this book are also very outdated. A product of its time, as they say. Does it excuse it though? I don't know. I just know that I am not comfortable with this, so for me it was not the best reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Child abuse

nixicat1's review against another edition

challenging 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: War, Grief, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Infertility