Challenge Corner discussion

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one...Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari - as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named - is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.

I'm starting this tomorrow! Super excited since I loved his other two novels

hey! somehow i forgot that we had planned this for the 21st🤦‍♀️ i’m going to start today or tomorrow!

Chapter 1 - 2
(view spoiler)[ It really saddens me to see that his sister, who he makes clear is his sunshine in live, is taken away. I think it's horrible of the father to seperate the children, and I don't think one bit that he did it to ease his daugthers live but either to facilitate his own burden of being the sole provider.
I started catching up on the forshadowing but I would have expected a more heartfelt separation. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3 - 4
(view spoiler)[ I saw the forced adoption of Pari coming but am quite shocked that all contact ceased from that point onwards. I'm deeply hoping for a reunification of the brother and her, especially after her moving away to Europe. I also struggle understanding at the end, as to why Nabi only gifted his inheritance to Pari and not also some to his stepnephew. Might he be already dead at this point? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5 - 6
(view spoiler)[ This is moving quite quickly now but I don't object. I'm not feeling the characters as much as I did with Hosseini's other books but maybe that will change once we narrow down on the siblings' reconnection again.
I'm also sorry to hear that Pari could not find longlasting happiness - Eric dying must have been a hard hit. (hide spoiler)]

Isabel wrote: "Chapter 1 - 2"

i agree, that was terrible ):

Chapter 7 - 8
(view spoiler)[ Marko's story was way out of the other plot lines, I don't really see where it connects, except to give him some background?
In gerenal, I'm quite lost in the different plot lines.
I did like seeing him reconnect with his mother after coming back home and especially liked his thoughts on how his mother will never abandon him. I myself cannot imagine what that must feel like. (hide spoiler)]