Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

39 reviews

beatriceku's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

this book is many things. a waste of time is not one of them. the story is an overwhelming and heart wrenching tale, one that i feel is relatable, but other-worldly at the same time. you’ve heard it said before, but this is truly one important book. does anything ‘good’ necessarily happen in this novel! i would probably argue not. but it is filled with complexity and layers of human emotion that are unreachable in your typical YA novels and arguably, the most renowned classics. it speaks to the immigrant experience, the heartbreak of war, guilt, shame, class, and so many more in a gripping, nuanced, and eloquent manner. not only so, but is a riveting read, with twists and a fair share of devastating turns. all in all, although the term is cliche - it is an important read. to not only understand the history of Afghanistan, and the story of Amir, but also as a guide in how to navigate our own burdens and deepest shames.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Classism

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Religious bigotry

monicalaurette's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

“Because the past claws its way out.”

So this book was something that I had always heard of as such a great book and something everyone should read. So I bought it years ago. Then my mom borrowed it for one of her college courses and loved it, so I kept the book even though I never looked up the summary. So I went into this book totally blind. And part of me wishes I was still blind to it.

I could not get myself to really enjoy the book. I think I finished the book out of spite for the main character because I just didn’t like him. Most of what he did rubbed me the wrong way, even as a child yes some of those things, and I don’t feel that he really changed by the end. The only thing I liked was Amir’s wife and the fact that we got justice for Hassan through his son.

“But Baba had found a way to create good out of his remorse… What had I ever done to right things?”

The trauma and assault that Hassan went through, while I guess I understand why it was added in the book, given the story and the time it was written, but I felt that it wasn’t needed, especially with the constant flashbacks with new details that Amir had. I almost stopped the book when it happened and each time it was brought up again I was close to stopping, but I had to know what happened to Hassan by the end. And I was only sad about what happened to him and his wife.

The somewhat namesake of the book, that kite tournament, was very interesting to read about though. I’d love to watch something like that or participate in. I think that it was a great point to start and stop the book during two different tournaments; possibly the two most important ones in Amir’s life.

Due to me just not liking this book or the main character (given the fact that his growth really only happened during the last few chapters in my opinion) I gave The Kite Runner 3 stars. I was originally going to do 3.5 stars but after thinking about it more I decided against it. I have started the author’s second book, and I wonder if I’ll complete it or DNF should I feel the same as I did with this one.

“Or, maybe, it was meant not to be.”

Hassan was just too loyal and accepting. The mother who abandoned him comes back years later and he aides her back to health, he does what he is told and never tells on Amir, and for just watching the home while Rahim was gone he is met with trauma, grief, and his own death.

I know why Baba also probably paid for the surgery, but did anyone ask Hassan if he even wanted to get the surgery done on this lip? Because I feel like he only did it because his master told him to.

I didn’t like how we were supposed to just always feel bad for Amir when all bad that came to him was karma and his own doing. He was a rich boy and had bad things happen to him yeah, but what about all the bad he did himself?

Sohrab hitting Assef in the eye with that brass using the slingshot felt like poetic justice. The weapon and threat from Hassan finally came true and he should feel proud for what he did.

Soraya’s infertility was something that had to be done to bring Sohrab home, but I wish that it talked more into Soraya’s sadness with him and focused on her a little during that time. As someone with fertility issues it was sad to see that it was only written as a way to bring a child in later, that no woman can be happy without a child in her life.

I KNEW THEY WERE BROTHERS WHY ELSE WOULD BABA TREAT HIM LIKE THAT!?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Classism

aaronjdilkes'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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and War

bookswithgeorgia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

rettasbookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

dannythestreet's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

suz_n_van's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

mayana's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I do not entirely regret reading this book. I did learn a few things about Afghanistan from it, although its portrayal of the country is lazy and oversimplified. And it sometimes succeeded at producing emotion in my cold, cold heart; at the time of reading, the ending's hopefulness was quite wholesome.
But over all, I don't like it. At the time of reading, I wrote a long, anger-filled thread on Mastodon, attempting to explain why that is so. This review is mostly that rant, only slightly edited to ... ahem, remove excessive cursing. There is still some there, however; the book is very much not PG13, so I don't see a need to be, either.
Additionally, be warned that, because it is difficult for me to explain what disappointed me in this book without examples from its plot, this review will have uncovered spoilers. Since The Kite Runner was released in 2003, I don't think this will be a problem for most. So let's start!

The protagonist -- Amir -- is very unlikable. Now, that is not always a bad thing. Characters do not always have to be likable; humans are imperfect, after all. But it is incredibly hard to see him as the poor, misunderstood boy he believes himself to be, or perhaps, it could be argued, the author thinks of him as.
I could understand if he was just a coward; panicking, freezing, and not jumping to Hassan's aid. We all believe we would do the right thing in such a situation, but when gripped by fear, instinct can often outweigh morality. I could even understand him not wanting to talk to Hassan about this; of course he would be ashamed.
But what he did was not just cowardice. It was a level of victim blaming that, in my opinion, not even him being young can excuse. Hassan got raped while (far too) loyally defending a gift for Amir. A stupid kite that Amir wanted for winning his dad's approval, but actually no longer needed, since he'd already won the tournament. And what did Amir do? Proceed to completely ignore Hassan -- ignoring, as you know, being far worse than yelling and insults. Never telling him why. Because what would he say? "Oh, I'm being terrible to you because you dared to get raped"? And then he decided to break a life-long friendship between his father and Ali and make the servants jobless, just so he didn't have to deal with his guilt.
That is not something one can get redemption for just by rescuing a child and getting beaten up while doing so, especially since he had to be forced to do that in the first place.

But at least he is a complex character. As is his father. That's great! Hassan, meanwhile...
You know that Happiness in Slavery trope? Yes, that is Hassan. True, he is a servant. But he is loyal and obedient to an unrealistic degree. Even the stupidest puppy would eventually stop coming back if the owner kicked it often enough. Hassan does not. He tolerates Amir's mental abuse, patiently stands there to get pelted by fruits, claims to have the watch to help out Amir in getting rid of him ... and then, twenty years later, still wants to be Hassan's friend.
And this with a fair helping of the Magical Negro trope, or Magical Hazara in this case. Kind. Completely honest. Full of wisdom. Perfect in every single way, too good for this sinful Earth. He is just there to be a nice little well-behaved servant. Because, oh dear, if he has even a single human flaw, then maybe some terrible people couldn't feel bad for him when he got freaking raped!
Representation should not be done with flat characters.

Speaking of flat characters, let's look at the antagonists.
The author attempts to make the issue seem more complex by mentioning, several times, that the Taliban were praised when they first arrived. But besides that, this seems to be a feel-good book for westerners, telling us it's OK for those assholes to suffer, because they are all irredeemably evil. All political complications are neatly glossed over by having them be lead by Assef.
Assef, the open and unashamed racist who wants all Hazaras to die. Assef, who is really into Hitler (yes, Hitler). Assef, who first rapes a boy while still being a teenager himself, and then continues that trend into adulthood, taking children from the orphanage to sexually abuse them.
The only queer character in the story. Nazi bisexual pedophile. Lovely.

Why the hell does Khaled Hosseini have such a thing for boys getting raped as a plot device anyway? Protagonist needs to be guilty about something? Let's rape his best friend! A minor villain needs to be "redeemed"? Rape him, too! Protagonist needs to be redeemed in the reader's eyes through rescuing a suffering child? Third times the charm! Yes, male rape is unfortunately a thing. It is awful, far more common than commonly believed, and the victims deserve representation in media that doesn't make it into a joke. But not like this!

And that is about the time when I ran out of steam. Realizing, as one does, that I had spent too much energy on a (then) seventeen-years-old book, and that, doubtlessly, all of my points had already been made. After very brief research, I can confirm that yes, they have been, and far better at that. If you are for some reason still reading, please go find those other reviews instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Biphobia