A review by hannaq
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

 

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𝑨 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒔⋆⁺₊⋆

Well this was absolutely heartbreaking again, the author needs therapy, I need therapy, everyone needs therapy.

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I remember going to a distant relative's house when I must have been around 12 or 13 and talking to their daughter who was a few years older than me about books. I asked her if she had a favourite and without hesitation she said, A Thousand Splendid Suns and urged me to read it. I said I definitely would.

It has been quite a while since that conversation and while I've never forgotten that book recommendation, I also never actually got round to reading it (don't judge me, you've done it too). But now that I finally have, I see why it was this book that she named.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns is an incredibly powerful and moving story about two women from very different backgrounds whose paths cross when they're trapped into marriage with the same man because of their individual circumstances.


☼.°༄ Mariam

My poor girl, from the moment she was born she was treated as if she did not matter. As if it was she was to blame for having been born. She literally grew up apologising for existing and all she ever wanted was to feel loved. To feel wanted. Instead, she suffers a life of abuse, rape and misery but somehow, despite it all, continues to be such a caring person that it makes you want to scream at the unfairness of what she endures.



☼.°༄ Laila

I cannot articulate how much respect I feel for her, making such an incredible sacrifice, choosing THAT to protect her child. I loved how she always stood up for herself, fought back and her relationship with Mariam was so beautiful.



☼.°༄ Tariq

No. We are NOT talking about it. I'm still screaming inside and not okay.



☼.°༄ Rasheed

You're at the top of my hitlist and I hope that when you and every other person like you burns in hell, the pain you caused everyone around you is added to your own and that your suffering is relentless. I want everything you loved and held dear to be destroyed right before your eyes and I want the pain to go and come, and every time it comes I want it to feel like someone forced a blunt, red-hot poker into your flesh. I hope that you maintain a glimmer of hope that everything will change, that you'll be forgiven, that you'll escape this torment and I want those hopes dashed against the rocks over and over again. I want to see you whimpering pathetically, begging for your miserable life and I want to be the one to have you thrown back into hell and hear you scream like your eyes are being ripped out of their sockets, like your nails are being torn out of your fingers, like you were doused in oil and then encased in a flaming ball which slowly, ever so slowly, begins to shrink in on itself. Which... I'd be happy to have arranged.

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That ending, well, close to ending, should have been ILLEGAL. I'm not even joking. How DARE they. After all that and- No. No. Absolutely not. I refuse. Shut up. Don't say another word.

“Tell her she is the noor of my eyes and the sultan of my heart."

I didn't understand before but now I do and god I wish I didn't.



I still won't be rating unfortunately but this was an excellent read and if you want to be absolutely wrecked by a book, look no further.

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Quotes:


“Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.”


“But the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her” 💔💔💔


Excuse me while I go and stare at the wall for a few centuries and try to repair my heart.