The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, a boy born into privilege in Afghanistan. As a child, he spends a lot of time playing with his servant, Hassan, who is only a few years younger. However, because he feels that Hassan is below him, Amir never sees Hassan as a real friend and does nothing when he witnesses Hassan getting hurt. Feeling guilty, he pushes Hassan away in an attempt to forget what he did. As Afghanistan’s political system falls into turmoil, Amir and his father leave the country. When Amir finally returns, decades later, he learns a shocking truth and vows to redeem himself for his selfish childhood decisions. 

 Although I enjoyed the beautiful descriptive passages, I thought that the plot was unrealistic because there were far too many coincidences. I also disliked Amir as a character. His spitefulness towards Hassan at the beginning made it difficult to empathize with him since Hassan had a much better moral character and many more struggles. Additionally, When Amir decided to try to redeem himself, I felt like he was doing it to relieve his own guilt instead of because he wanted to help someone he had wronged. All things considered, I wouldn’t recommend this book, but someone who enjoys dramatic stories with a lot of plot twists might like it.

Review written by Jacqueline, 10th Grade