Listen, I'm a simple woman. I read a sad narrative about multiple characters whose lives intertwine and echo over time? I give it five stars.

It took me a solid 100 pages to actually get hooked on this book. This was the definition of slow-burn. The payoff, however, was absolutely stellar and led to me staying up late to wrap up this book. The complexity of human relationships - siblings, lovers, parents, benevolent strangers - explored here forced me to reflect on my own difficult relationships and that's exactly the kind of emotional challenge I look for in books like this.

In short, as predicted (and as usual for Khaled Hosseini), this book wrecked me. Highly recommended if you enjoy literary fiction, multiple competing perspectives, and character studies.