Talk Healthy

. . . and I'm slightly disturbed. This is a really engrossing story, but there are certain plot twists (that I won't get into for fear of spoiling it for someone else) that truly bothered me. Those who have read it know what I'm talking about . . . The main character has just turned 18 in the story. I'll see where it goes.

By the way, I never made it to my book club meeting - I didn't finish it in time!

It is a disturbing story - but beautifully written. Stick with it.

It is very disturbing, but so worth reading. I remember hating the main character for a while.

I just finished it. Great book!! Keep reading it.

Yup I finished. Definitely the best book I've read in a while

Since we like to discuss books, do you want to discuss why those parts truly disturbed you?

Sure

Spoilers Ahead!
























Consider yourself warned . . .


















I'm not kidding . . . I'm really gonna reveal stuff, I swear . . . .





















Okay. The thing that disturbed me the most was what happened to Hassan in the alley. First off, that is the second book IN A ROW (:wtf) where that happens to a boy. But, what made this so disturbing is that it was one child doing it to another child. That is truly sick.

Oh, and how one father killed himself after his son died during their refuge from Afghanistan. That also made me very sick.

No spoilers for me. I've read the book!

I think I interpret from your posts that you're shocked that those scenes even appear in books at all. The scenes certainly weren't being glorified. This stuff does exist, and I think it's important that it's acknowledged, so people can learn from it.

That's not to say that I didn't feel horrible for Hassan.

Lady Bug wrote:
Oh, and how one father killed himself after his son died during their refuge from Afghanistan. That also made me very sick.

I haven't read the book and don't intend to, but are you saying that you dislike books that include suicide? I can understand being saddened by suicide, but not the point that you would go out of your way to avoid it in books. Isn't the whole point of a book to gain exposure to a different life?

In my junior year of high school, I wrote a poem about a middle-aged man who looks back on his life, decides it was a failure, and shoots himself. My teacher wrote "TRITE" across the top of it, in big letters and underlined

No, no . . . I'm not criticizing the fact that it was included in the book. Those things happen and are part of life. Rather, I'm just sad that it happened at all and that the characters went through such hard times that led them to those actions . . . .

Cathy, I can't believe your teacher wrote "TRITE" over your essay. Shoot, I would've called the school psych to make sure you're alright! *lol*

Gotcha, LB. That makes sense

Yeah, I was kind of surprised by her reaction too. Whatever

Yep, the scene with Hassan in the alley was definitely the most shocking part of the book. I was listening to it on audiobook (read by the author) which I think may have made it even more impactful.