Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

5 reviews

gcoulsxn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

lycheeteareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny

enmcurrie's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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? No

3.5

I definitely enjoyed reading this book and it’s always as fascinating as it is sad to read about a country like Afghanistan experiencing political unrest and turmoil and how much the consequences of that disproportionately burden women, but it wasn’t my favourite of books set in this time period/location. 

I love the idea of 5 strong female main characters but the different stories felt all over the place at times and the story was scattered with cliches especially towards the end. The ending also fell a bit flat to me. I think the novel and the narration is heavily influenced by the author’s experience as a Westerner in Afghanistan and her views definitely infiltrate even though the book is fiction. It isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but I feel like if you’re looking for something authentic/culturally aware you won’t really get it with this book but I can see why people liked it. I wish Rodriguez was more emotional in her writing because the story just felt like a melodrama and the characters felt a bit one dimensional, despite the potential they had to be something more. I think the book would have benefited from focusing on 2 or 3 characters in more depth instead of the 6 or 7 it portrays in a more shallow way.

My main issues with this book are towards the end. The big climax event of Isabel being killed by a suicide bomb felt too glossed over for me. That must have been emotionally heavy and it just wasn’t adequately addressed or mentioned and the narrative was quickly replaced with the two weddings. I wish Rodriguez had delved deeper into the emotional impact of it all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Trafficking

catherineleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Trafficking, and War

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

kiwialexa's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry