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A review by egbella
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
5.0
I couldn't put this one down.
I can't vouch for how accurate the history or geography is, as I don't know much about Afghanistan, but the story was incredibly rich and real. Like The Kite Runner, which I also couldn't put down though I preferred this story by far, I liked how deep and nuanced all of the characters are, and how their stories all wove together at the end. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to live through such horrors, but Hosseini's descriptions of their thoughts, feelings, and actions made me feel as though I was there.
A warning that it is a very bleak story, and Hosseini didn't hold back from hurting his characters at any point, but the not knowing what could happen to them next and realizing that at any time any number of awful things could happen kept me hooked. It made the tension very real.
All in all, the well-described settings, realistic characters, constantly moving plot, and painful but deep themes made for a captivating read.
CW: assault, abuse, death, sparing expletives, mentions of rape, some graphic descriptions, etc. Definitely not a book for young readers, but it was tactful rather than excessive.
I can't vouch for how accurate the history or geography is, as I don't know much about Afghanistan, but the story was incredibly rich and real. Like The Kite Runner, which I also couldn't put down though I preferred this story by far, I liked how deep and nuanced all of the characters are, and how their stories all wove together at the end. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to live through such horrors, but Hosseini's descriptions of their thoughts, feelings, and actions made me feel as though I was there.
A warning that it is a very bleak story, and Hosseini didn't hold back from hurting his characters at any point, but the not knowing what could happen to them next and realizing that at any time any number of awful things could happen kept me hooked. It made the tension very real.
All in all, the well-described settings, realistic characters, constantly moving plot, and painful but deep themes made for a captivating read.
CW: assault, abuse, death, sparing expletives, mentions of rape, some graphic descriptions, etc. Definitely not a book for young readers, but it was tactful rather than excessive.