Hey everyone! Hope you all are doing great. I am here with a book review. I hope you all are gonna find this book interesting after reading this review.

The last time I tried to read this book in 11th grade, I couldn't get past Nana's suicide, for it had triggered my own depressive episodes then in many ugly ways. I felt insufficient, shamefully incapable of learning about lives far more adversely troubled than mine, and found it easier to just give up on the story. Cut to five years later, Mariam lives in my heart now, and she smiles through Rasheed's routinely beatings. In my heart, she forgives herself for pushing her mother ( and husband ) to death and blindly believing in Jalil's hollow promises. She prays for her war - torn country, and allows herself the vice to proudly cuss at the Taliban who rendered Afghanistan a bigger harami than herself. She has gratitude for experiencing motherhood ough Laila, and dreams of Aziza as a beautiful grown woman, still glowing with Tariq's blue eyes. She thinks of Mullah Faizullah and his teachings, and the thousand splendid suns that still hide behind her walls, even though she's long gone. There's no other way to say it. I was in shambles during and by the end of this heart - wrenching, soul - crushing, gut - shredding, tear - jerking story. The graphic descriptions of Rasheed's domestic violence on both his wives, of the bombs & rockets raining all over Kabul, of the oppressive patriarchal structure looming over women, only barely less unforgiving than the military rule all of it left me deafeningly quiet, inexplicably hurting, to even imagine that in many parts of the world this is normal life for countless people till this date. But most of all, it was Hosseini's solid grasp on his writing, the utterly moving poignancy of his words, and his relentless striving to plough the driest of lands for some semblance of quenching hope, a farce yet reaffirming sense of silver lining. And oh, the way he celebrated Mariam's & Laila's friendship in the face of the goriest kind of oppression. Very brilliant.

This particular copy was thrifted from @maydaybookstore the same evening I discovered them during a long lonely walk around my college in 2017. Been there multiple times since & can't wait to go back.

Thank you for reading. Keep supporting everyone. See you soon. Have a fantastic day ahead ☺️