Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

63 reviews

scienceworks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, War, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Rape, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child death and Death

bfields352's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

This book was great but was a difficult read based on the topic at hand. There are triggers which can cause distress

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, War, and Sexual assault

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, War, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Classism, Child abuse, Torture, Suicide, Child death, Murder, Rape, Islamophobia, and Genocide

larissasbookclub's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

BOOK REVIEW

A Thousand Splendid Suns / Khalid Hosseini

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

STUNNING! such an eye opening read for me and I literally felt so many emotions - happy, sad, angry, ashamed 😮‍💨

I enjoyed the dual POV in this one, it was interesting seeing some parts of the book from both Mariam and Layla’s POV, especially when Layla first became part of the family. 

upon finishing this one, I sat on the floor crying because it just made me so sad, but also happy because despite all the grief and loss that is experienced by our two FMC’s, they still hold so much hope and love in their hearts. this review truly cannot do this book the justice it deserves, but I hope you choose to give it a go and if you do, please let me know your thoughts! 

reading books like A Thousand Splendid Suns and Pomegranate & Fig definitely makes me grateful to live in a country where women have rights and can make our own choices for our bodies, careers and futures. it always hurts my heart to read stories like these, but they are so important to read and share, because there are so many people who don’t have the same benefits and advantages as us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child death, War, Death of parent, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, and Domestic abuse

michellembruhn's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense

3.5

I've never read a book so simultaneously hard to read and impossible to put down. This book made my heart hurt so badly, but I needed to know how it ended. It was satisfyingly bittersweet. I will probably never reread this book, but I will also never forget it. (Trigger Warnings: neglect, abuse both physical and sexual, child deaths, miscarriage and barrenness, violence with just enough gore to make me queasy but not enough to make me stop reading)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage

3lillies's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

ktv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book made me flare up in a rage 70 pages in and then i was crying another several chapters down the road. it kept pulling me along on this wonderful (not rly) emotional roller coaster ride. i have never cried this extensively while reading a book. thank u to khaled hosseini for creating this masterpiece and teaching me what its like to feel again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Pedophilia, Child death, Death of parent, War, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

aliwhaley's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense 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? No

3.0

This book is unrelentingly sad. It doesn’t romanticise pain and hardship, which I appreciate, it looks it in the face and points out how hard it is. But, it made for harrowing and difficult reading. It didn’t necessarily need to make a bigger point aside from ‘the Afghan war is terrible’, but its worth saying that it didn’t make a bigger point. I feel like the only thing I learnt from this is that we in the West need to be more compassionate towards the people in Kabul. It felt very specific, it didn’t make me think about anything outside of the situation it describes, and I think that is something of a fault.

More harrowing still is that, this was written in 2007, and the author obviously didn’t know that American troops would pull out of Afghanistan in 2021. That made the ending harder to swallow.

The first 150 pages feel like a preamble until the women move in together, and then the plot starts. After that, the pace picks up and we have something to root for. I felt the first 100 pages dragged a bit.

It does a good job of conjuring a world and drawing you into it. I cared about the characters, I cared what happened, and the villain is believable and terrifying.

But, I give this book three stars because of the slow start and the violent middle. It’s worth having read to learn more about Afghanistan, but it is not an enjoyable experience.

I think my qualm with this book is that it’s important, but it’s not interesting. There’s just something missing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Violence, War, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion and Body horror

Minor: Child death

absurdlyalex's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Infertility, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Grief, Sexual violence, and War

katrinarose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I have struggled to rate this book. I didn’t enjoy it, but I did fly through it. The writing style is beautiful and emotional but not overly flowery. My biggest complaint is that the characters were a bit black and white - either painted as a monster or perfect. I appreciate depth and complexity even in the most vile characters. In lacking this, most actions the characters took were a bit predictable.

I did cry while reading this book, but I was almost angry at the fact. Hosseini is praised for how raw he displays the suffering of generations of people in Afghanistan, especially women, but combined with the lack of real character depth, it feels like trauma porn for a western audience. I go back and forth on this opinion because their suffering deserves to be told in all the horror it was, but I can’t decide (and in the end it’s not up for me to decide) whether it’s honoring them or exploiting them.

So I didn’t enjoy it due to the immense pain I felt for the Mariam and Laila (and all the other women who suffered), however I couldn’t put it down either. A 3.5 it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, War, Grief, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Gaslighting