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A review by yannea
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood."
This is a story that deserves 5 stars but it took me three months to actually finish the book. It's a heavy and painful read but it shouldn't come as a surprise when the cover has words like "devastating" and "haunting" written on it.
There were three things that pulled the rating down for me. First of all, I couldn't understand why the main character had to a writer. It depicted a very naive American dream because a 22-years-old immediately getting a book deal that pays all of his bills sounds too far-fetched. Maybe I missed something but I just couldn't see how it played any part in the plot.
Secondly, the "face" of the evil was a blonde, blue-eyed sociopath who worshipped Hitler and wore dark round sunglasses like John Lennon. His description made him a cliché cardboard character. Him being born a sociopath felt such a simple explanation of why someone would support Taliban. It's like someone told you to draw a human shaped monster and this is what you draw. It would be much harder to explain why normal common people do evil things. And normal common people have done a great deal of horrible things.
Lastly, it's written in first person with main character that is not very likeable so sitting so many hours with his regret and insecurity is very difficult. It's a spiral - you think something is bad and then takes place something that is worse. And then it keeps getting worse.
Also if you are triggered by child abuse and explicit violence, then stay away from this book.
This is a story that deserves 5 stars but it took me three months to actually finish the book. It's a heavy and painful read but it shouldn't come as a surprise when the cover has words like "devastating" and "haunting" written on it.
There were three things that pulled the rating down for me. First of all, I couldn't understand why the main character had to a writer. It depicted a very naive American dream because a 22-years-old immediately getting a book deal that pays all of his bills sounds too far-fetched. Maybe I missed something but I just couldn't see how it played any part in the plot.
Secondly, the "face" of the evil was a blonde, blue-eyed sociopath who worshipped Hitler and wore dark round sunglasses like John Lennon. His description made him a cliché cardboard character. Him being born a sociopath felt such a simple explanation of why someone would support Taliban. It's like someone told you to draw a human shaped monster and this is what you draw. It would be much harder to explain why normal common people do evil things. And normal common people have done a great deal of horrible things.
Lastly, it's written in first person with main character that is not very likeable so sitting so many hours with his regret and insecurity is very difficult. It's a spiral - you think something is bad and then takes place something that is worse. And then it keeps getting worse.
Also if you are triggered by child abuse and explicit violence, then stay away from this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Rape