A Thousand Splendid Suns told a story of tragedy, suffering and sacrifice; a story about the strength of women, how endurance is a necessary tool for survival, not a choice-trait one simply picks. There were many times were I had to put this book down, to sit with the weight of its story and feel the heaviness of its pain. This is not simply a tale of Mariam and Laila, but of many women and girls just like them, and how our society fails them. How, even in victory, they are still left with much to endure, much to suffer, much to sacrifice.

There is a beautiful quote from which I believe the name of this novel stems:

“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”

And I believe this story was the door at which we were welcomed in as guests and allowed to feel the full force of those thousand suns, shining in unison. Each representing the untold stories of women worldwide. And as we part with this tale, collect our coats at the door, and bid a final farewell to Mariam and Laila, we depart as guests with the lasting impression that “[They’re] like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing.”

- -

I base my star rating off of how I feel, what number speaks to me when I think about the book and usually this can be quite uncertain. But one thing that is never fleeting or faltering is the way a five star book makes me feel and Khaled Hosseini has managed to write a story which will remain with me forever.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

“Something still exists as long as there’s someone around to remember it.”

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult tells the story of a beaten down 17-year-old and the 19 minutes which change the reality of his entire community as he went through his highschool, shooting fellow classmates.

An aspect of Picoult’s writing that is ever present is her multiple narration, which we see through the process of the school shooting, investigation, and trial. Whilst this is usually done in a more cohesive manner in her later books, this made the reading of Nineteen Minutes quite chaotic, with no definitive switch in narration. This was made more confusing in the never-ending list of characters who were introduced, only to never resurface. As much as this was a negative, it did help in outlining just how broad of a scope the impact of school shootings have on the students, the parents, the community and the country at large; how no one is untouched and the grief divides but also unites people eternally. Picoult’s nonlinear timeline also makes an appearance, as we jump between a pre-shooting and post-shooting society, putting the pieces of the story together leading up to the shooting, as well as the trial (like solving a mystery, or trying fixing something broken?).

There is mass criticism into Picoult’s writing style, as having the shooter’s perspective and reading his thought process and justifications can come off as sympathetic or defensive of his position and actions. I believe, however, that this was simply a way of portraying the sea of nuance that divides such a polarising issue. That in the aftermath of tragedy, there are those who will look at impact and those who will look at reasoning, and both can bring closure.

As much as I blitzed through these pages and got completely engrossed in the story, I do find that other Picoult novels were more impactful for me. This could, however, be due to the lack of personal experience I have with the subject matter growing up in a country that does not experience mass shootings, much less school shootings.

I did find a lot of relatability in the issues of conformity and the pressure to maintain appearances in positions of authority. The removal of the masks we all wear and how beneath them we are all simply people trying to do our best. And how to continue loving someone who has caused harm to so many. I think it is a story about kindness, to other and ourselves. And how the smallest acts usually have an everlasting effect.

Content Warnings