And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Having read Khaled Hosseini’s other two masterpieces, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, I went into And the Mountains Echoed with very high expectations. 

The opening chapter immediately pulled me in — the bond between Abdullah and Pari, the emotional weight of their separation, and the fable-like storytelling felt exactly like the Hosseini magic I was hoping for. It set the tone for a powerful, heartbreaking narrative. 

However, as the story progressed, I found myself slowly slipping out of the book. After the first chapter, the narrative shifts to completely new characters, new timelines, and new subplots. Instead of deepening Abdullah and Pari’s story, the book branches out into multiple perspectives. While I understand the intention — to show how one decision echoes across different lives — I personally found it confusing and disconnected. The emotional momentum built in the beginning faded, and I struggled to stay engaged with characters who felt distant from the main storyline.

By the time I reached the final chapters, I was relieved to see the story return to Abdullah and Pari. Their reunion was touching, but it came too late for me to feel the emotional impact I expected from a Hosseini novel. Overall, while the book has beautiful writing and meaningful themes, it didn’t resonate with me the way his other works did. The scattered structure made it difficult to stay invested, and I missed the focused storytelling that made his earlier books unforgettable.

I would rate it 3/5 ⭐