The Little Coffee Shop Of Kabul || Book Review

My usual type of book is a warm hearted chick flick but every now and again I like to read a book that explores more of a cultural aspect and has a deeper plot and meaning. My most favourite books actually end up being written in this style such as The Book Thief, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner. When I saw this book I knew it would be my cup of tea and I was right, it is now up there as my second favourite book and I've read a lotta books!

The book is set in Kabul, Afghanistan so has a lot of culture throughout the book which I find very interesting, especially since Afghanistan is a war torn country it's fascinating to get an insight as to what life would be like living there. The author Deborah actually moved to Kabul herself and married an Afghan man so she injects a lot of her experience of the culture and their attitudes to woman into the book.

There are five main characters to the book:- Sunny, Yazmina, Candace, Halajan and Isabel. Sunny is an American woman who lives in Kabul and runs a coffee shop there, Yasmina is snatched from the valleys by drug lords who dispose of her when they realise that she's actually pregnant. Halajan is an Afghan woman who owns the coffee shop and lives next door to it, Candace is an American woman who's dating an Afghan man and Isabel is a British journalist investigating the drug lords. These five woman meet at the coffee shop regularly and discover a bond with each other which leads to them becoming close friends.

It tells the tale of how unsafe it is to live in Afghanistan, the fear these people face just going about their daily lives, not knowing when attacks will come, not being able to nip to the shops for bread alone and even just simple supplies not being available and taking months to be ordered from abroad. The cafe has to build a giant wall to be regarded as a 'safe place' for people to want to visit it which makes you really realise how lucky we are to live in a wealthy country. 

I finished this book in under five days and I've been really busy so it is a true testament to how gripped I was by this book and how much I enjoyed reading it. I can't remember the last time I read a book where I literally couldn't put it down. It's a rare thing that you come across a book where you get into it right from the first few words but this book had me gripped from page one. I loved it so much I even painted my nails to match the front cover (coincidentally). 

The writing is the perfect size for me, it isn't too big or teeny tiny which is my pet hate in a book. The chapters are reasonably sized too with some being quite small making it easy to read a little more and not worrying about losing your place because I always lose bookmarks. 

If you like books and enjoy learning about other countries history, culture and enjoy books about the war, the taliban or different political attitudes then you will love this book. I cried when the book ended, not really because it was a sad ending but because I was genuinely gutted I had finished it. Without a doubt I will be hunting down other books by this author cause I'm so impressed, if you get the chance to read it then definitely give it a read!

Have you read the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul??

Lots of Love,

♥