The Kite Runner By: Khaled Hosseini

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• Title: The Kite Runner
• Author: Khaled Hosseini
• Publisher: Riverhead Books 
• Publication Date: March 5, 2013 (10th Anniversary Edition) 
• Pages: 400
• Genre: Fiction
• Recommended Ages: 13+
• First Read: 2013
• Source: Goodreads Giveaway
• Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 stars

The Kite Runner is a gut-wrenchingly amazing book that gave me a picture of Afghanistan that I did not know existed until reading this book. The plot was achingly spectacular and I became emotionally attached to each and every single character who graced the pages. This book is so much more than just a story about two boys growing up in Afghanistan, but a complex tale of friendship, love, loyalty, integrity, and family.

For you, a thousand times over. 

So haunting, so mesmerizing, so tragic.

Amir and Hassan grow up together in Afghanistan in the late sixties and mid seventies, when there was still a monarchy running the government. Amir is the son of a prominent man who is well known and respected throughout the community, and Amir is an affluent child. Hassan, though Amir never outright tells him, is undeniably his best and only friend, and also his servant. The two boys share a bond that starts in the womb and though they, as children are different social classes, they still become inseparable. The two boys' personalities are complex, with Amir being a bit of a coward, as he calls himself, while Hassan is infinitely braver (as Amir thinks) and a loyal friend to no end.

An incident that happens during the winter of 1975 during a kite festival changes Amir and Hassan's entire relationship. Amir is too cowardly to come to Hassan's aid, and as a result, Hassan is never the same again. The guilt that Amir carried was far to great for him to handle, and in desperation, rids himself of the cause of his grief by tearing apart his life.

Not long after that, Afghanistan itself starts getting into turmoil, and the country is never the same again. Amir grows up in America after fleeing his native Afghanistan and lives there for over two decades, suffering his own trials and tribulations while Hassan is almost always in the back of his mind.

Hassan is not introduced again until much later, when Amir gets summons to return to his roots by an old friend. What Amir learns about Hassan, himself, and his whole life changes everything. To make things right again, Amir agrees to look for Hassan's only child and bring him to Pakistan. This is not an easy task, and Sohrab is as much a tortured soul as his father and Amir.

The ending of this book is filled with tragedy as well as a bittersweet, hopeful moment that shows that there might be hope out there. For everyone.


Words cannot fully describe how haunting this book was; it just so beautifully crafted and powerful. Khaled Hosseini gives us all a window into the soul of Afghanistan and its resiliently complex people.