Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Mille splendidi soli by Khaled Hosseini

233 reviews

commiebeatle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and War

katie_m26's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This wasn’t an easy read. It moved well and I felt a need to keep reading, but it was emotionally very heavy. The struggles Mariam and Laila went through are something I could never imagine and made me very grateful to live in the US.

On a higher level, I feel like growing up I didn’t learn much about the war in Afghanistan let alone the Soviet occupation. This book taught me about the history while telling a compelling story which I really appreciated. 

I would read this again with the emotional weight I takes in mind and will be adding the other books by this author to my TBR.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Rape, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

kend7aaa's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

so so sad

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, and Pregnancy

misswendy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

aaliyah_bilky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Abortion

bfadool2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ed_moore's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is the tale of two women surviving through the patriarchy and political turmoil of Afghanistan, this being the control of the soviets, violence and civil war between different rebel factions and the rise of the Taliban. It was a brutal and honest depiction of Afghanistan’s struggles which didn’t shy away from depicting the true horrors of living there from starvation, violence and patriarchal control, to war and occupation and the labours of childbirth. 

It is difficult not to reflect on this alongside the other work of Hosseini’s that I have read: ‘The Kite Runner’ and whilst I preferred the longer term focus on the turmoils of Afghanistan which was lost in ‘The Kite Runner’s’ movement to America, I did however find myself much more attached to the characters of that book and to be more emotionally impacted by such. That may  be down to gender resonance. That is not to discredit from ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ however, as it was still utterly heart-wrenching and persistently took from the reader alike to the persistent theft of the livelihoods of Laila and Mariam. His use of foreshadowing is also really effective but in cases a bit explicit, it is clear when such is occurring but I would conclude it still works well.

Reading in todays political climate, with the return of the Taliban plaguing Afghanistan, it was also likely more harrowing and impactful than it would likely be if I read such when it was published. Knowing the country has regressed to the under-occupation state it faced in the book after 20 years independence and rebuilding was constantly on my mind and made every tragedy Hosseini described even more saddening and relevant. Hosseini really has a talent for tugging on the heart strings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

nellys0phie's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book itself is a very heavy and emotional story and is incredibly well written, however I was often bored in the beginning. Eventually things got interesting, and it is cool to see accurate historical moments in chronological order as time goes by in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War

br14nn4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War