The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

From Goodreads: 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 priviledged life in Kaboul 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.

My review: There is that point when a book crosses that line of a book you really like to that book that you can't stand to read, because it hurts to see what happens to the characters and it makes you feel every single emotion. This book crossed that line. That said, I'm always being told that books will make me cry, but I will always be, like, stonefaced while reading them, and I was told that about this book, and it didn't make me cry. God, I'm heartless. It's the saddest book I've ever read, though.
And the characters are great, interesting, and you care about them. Actually, I couldn't stand the main character. But that's not necessarily bad writing...I don't think Hosseini meant for you to like him, especially...
The bottom line: This is great writing, and a very interesting read to learn about the recent history of Afghanistan. Even if you're not interested in that, you should try this one out. Great book.

5/5*