Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - เด็กเก็บว่าว

I first read this book over 10 years ago, when I was old enough to understand it but definitely didn’t know much context around it. I’m so glad I picked it up again now that I have a better understanding.

This year I have befriended a family of Afghan refugees (and by that I mean I have pretty much been adopted into their family), and the heartache I feel for them and their country made this book hit very differently. My friends fled Afghanistan over twenty years after this book’s plot ends, and yet the situation there has not changed for the better. This might be a work of fiction but the pain in it is so real and so unimaginable to me.

I am also in awe of the language and use of parallels in this book. Khaled Hosseini’s descriptions are real and harrowing, but they never feel forced. There is so much emotional depth. I normally struggle with unlikeable characters and the main character definitely is a little shit at the beginning of the book, but Hosseini achieves to write him in a way that makes me not hate him or want to put the book down.

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eliisar's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-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

4.0

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shamelessbibliophile41's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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beanbag0509's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

3.5

i believe i started the book in high school, but stopped just before chapter 7. picked it back up several years later, and i'm glad i waited. just like in 'to kill a mockingbird', i found the side characters (especially the more oppressed ones) to be more intriguing to me than the main character/narrator; and just as similarly, this novel's politics seem to be painted with a fairly wide brush.

easily, the most gripping parts of this book are in its characters and the trauma they endure, as well as the conflicts they grabble with. i appreciate the emotional roller coaster this put me through, i got some healthy cries out of it.

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katlyn_m6's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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dempewolf's review against another edition

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It broke my heart in too many places and was too soon after my own sexual assault to continue.

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alysson's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I hated the first half of the book. Not because it was bad, but because I had a very strong hatred for the main character.
The second half of the book helped me see the the humanness in the person I felt was monstrous in the beginning.
I am pretty sure I had every feeling while reading this book. It is worth the read, even though I doubted that during the first half.

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