Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Goodreads synopsis:

A novel set mostly in Afghanistan. The introverted and insecure afghan narrator, Amir, grows up in Afghanistan in the closing years of the monarchy and the first years of the short-lived republic. His best and most faithful friend, Hassan, is the son of a servant. Amir feels he betrays Hassan by not coming to his aid when Hassan is set on by bullies and furthermore forces Hassan and his father Ali to leave his father´s service. Amir´s relatively privileged life in Kabul comes to an end when the communist regime comes to power and his extrovert father, Baba emigrates with him to the U.S. There Amir meets his future afghan wife and marries her. Amir´s father dies in the U.S. and Amir receives a letter from his father´s most trusted business partner and, for a time, Amir´s surrogate father, which makes Amir return, alone, to a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan in search of the truth about himself and his family, and finally, a sort of redemption.

Pages: 371 (Paperback)
Release Date: April 27, 2004
Series? No
Publisher: Riverhead Books

LONG STORY SHORT:

This was a truly outstanding novel. The writing style was pure, true, honest. The plot felt real, as sad and as happy and lucky as real life. The characters were well-rounded and most of the time likeable. Even the really evil ones had a history that explained why they acted the way they did. You can't really break it up like that, though. The Kite Runner is simply amazing.

REVIEW:
I got this book for my birthday from my aunt who is truly obsessed with it - and now I am, too. I pretty much expected to develop that weird forced-to-read-and-like it feeling I always get whenever I'm supposed to read an adult book or a classic or any kind of school reading assignment.

I can't even say what I loved most about this book. The round-up characters or the plot that was just so realistic. I could never guess how things turned out because - like in real life - things always went their own way and the characters just had to deal with it. Whenever I was sure the author would lead them a certain way, the story took a totally different turn, because of something that happened in politics or because of someone's personality - it was so unpredictable! I felt like I was told a true story.

I said it before, but the characters were very real, as well. Like the plot, it seemed like they were real people living their life as I was reading about them. Although I liked how the characters - especially the main character - weren't flawless sometimes I found that fact was pointed out by him a bit much, but that's really not relevant in comparison to the awesomeness that was this book.

All in all, I'd recommend this book to everyone. There's just one thing I'd like to mention: Usually I only review YA books and this is not YA. I am seventeen and I found this book quite heavy sometimes. There is violence in it and if you're younger you should definitely talk about this book with your parents or librarian or someone else who can decide if this book is for you.