Simply Splendid

Advantages: amazing characters, strong plot, unique style
Disadvantages: /

...the use of the language did in fact help transport me to Afghanistan and drop me right into the story. For me, the plot was what affected me most. The characters were strong, the style is unique, but the plot has made this book the enjoyment that it is. The one thing I noticed was the fact that this is told like a story, rather than a problem waiting to unfold. I'm used to reading fiction where the main issue is clear within the first few chapters and the story unfolds itself, leaving you with a solution at the end. However, A Thousand Splendid Suns has not one single problem. Instead, it has many. As soon as one issue arises, it is 'solved' within a few chapters, and then a new one crops up. Another thing I found is that nothing ever went to plan. Everything the characters plan blows up in their faces, sometimes too literally. There were two...

Amy69 23.08.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

A splendid story

Advantages: Gripping story, great characters
Disadvantages: Doesn't quite live up to The Kite Runner

...After reading Khaled Hosseini's first novel, The Kite Runner, I was keen to see if he could achieve the same thing again in his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. This time stepping into a woman's shoes, it tells the story of two women and their marraige to the same man, set against the backdrop of the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1970's and introduces us to Mariam, the illegitimate child of a wealthy cinema owner, who lives with her mother in a small hut on the top of a hill. They live a somewhat lonely life, outcast from any kind of community and with Mariam's mother blaming her for the downturn her life has taken and warning of the way that women are treated by men in Afghan society. Despite this, Mariam is often visited by her father, who takes her fishing and brings her gifts...

bubblegum_princess 03.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Simply Splendid

Advantages: Perfect for bedtime
Disadvantages: None

...The Mr Men and Little Miss series written by Roger Hargreaves and then later his son Adam will always be a hit with children due to their simply yet engaging stories and brightly coloured pictures. Little Miss Splendid is number 11 in the Little Miss series, which has a total of 33 books in it. Little Miss Splendid is green, wears a red hat, red boots and carries a very stylish red handbag. Her only problem is that she's rather stuck-up. The front cover of the book shows a picture of the character as described before and the back shows smaller pictures of all the other characters in the series, which enables you to keep track of which ones you have bought and which ones you would like to read. ****THE STORY**** Nothing is too good for little Miss Splendid and she lives in an enormous house with all of the best furnishings...

MI9to5 09.09.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Little Miss Splendid - Roger Hargreaves

Splendid & Absorbing A Thousand Splendid Suns!

Advantages: thought provoking, un-putdownable, entralling, beautifully written and current.
Disadvantages: I actually cant think of any

...You know that you have come across a special book when one passage makes you shake with anger and the next passage has you smiling at a small act of triumph. A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of those books. ~~The Author~~ I first became aware of Khaled Husseini and his books when he was nominated for three awards at the Galaxy Book Awards. Husseini was born in Kabul in Afghanistan in 1965, but was relocated through his fathers work to Paris in the 1970's. By the time they returned to their homeland in the 1980's Afghanistan was an extremely dangerous place to be and they sought and were granted asylum in the United States. A Thousand Splendid Suns is Husseini's second novel, following the hugely successful Kite Runner. He is now a goodwill envoy to UNHCR. ~~Plot~~ The story is based on two women in Afghanistan and how...

burtybookworm 02.09.2008 (25.09.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

The Perfume of a Princess!

Advantages: Smells Very Distinctive, Long Lasting, Beautiful Bottle, Very Feminine
Disadvantages: May be too sweet and floral for some

...One of my favourite things to treat myself to is perfume and those who have read my earlier reviews will know that I am a self confessed perfume addict. I love the different varieties you can buy all with their own distinctive scents and pretty bottles. I have worked hard at my perfume addiction though and have really cut back on the amount that I buy ? these days I adopt a one in one out rule as I started getting far too many bottles of half used fragrances sat in my wardrobe (any perfume lover knows that you keep bottles out of daylight to keep them smelling fresh). Before we went on honeymoon I used up a couple of bottles of perfume and so I decided to treat myself to something new rather than buy a replacement for the fragrances that I just finished from the duty free shop at the airport. I had already been and tested a few...

shazzaspannered 18.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Vera Wang Princess Perfume

A thousand splendid suns

Advantages: great read, throughly engaging
Disadvantages: very sad

...Having heard an awful lot about Khaled Hosseini's first book The Kite Runner, I put ' A thousand splendid suns' on my christmas list, knowing that I could fairly easily borrow a copy of The Kite Runner. Although I'm ashamed to say that I still havent read the first book. This book however is a first for me in the sense of Middle Eastern story telling. I tend to stick to perhaps tales with more of a happy theme, a sucker for a bit of romance I suppose. I am therefore not comparing this book to the authors first, but in it's own merrits. The book is set in Afghanistan where you are first introduced to Mariam, who spends the first 15 years of her life living with her troubled mother. Mariam is a 'harami' born out of wedlock, her father a wealthy business man with 3 wives. Mariam is visited once a week by her father, visits...

mussonanna 20.02.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

The Princess and the Perfume

Advantages: Light and delicate scent, sexy
Disadvantages: Slightly expensive

...If you've already read my Vera Wang Princess Satiny Body Lotion review, you will know I recieved this perfume along with the gift set from my boyfriend for my Birthday last November. And as promised, I said I would write a review about the Vera Wang Princess perfume, so here I am now. Vera Wang, if you haven't heard of her, is a lady from New York. At frist she was an editor for Vogue magazine,then going on to do other things. She started designing dresses for celebrities and now owns her own Wedding Dress collection. She has her own Vera Wang accessorie collection and more importantly her own fragrance collection, including more scents than just the Princess collection. As the story goes, Vera Wang Princess collection is a new spirit in fragrance, inspired by a modern-day princess. Confident, indipendent, with a total zest...

loise007 01.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Vera Wang Princess Perfume

Ibiza Hippie by Escada perfume!

Advantages: beautiful light smell!
Disadvantages: Hard to find, and a little expensive!

...Escada Ibiza Hippie I got this perfume in a Collector?s Edition pack of 5 Escada Perfumes; Island kiss, Rockin? Rio, Pacific Paradise, Sunset Heat and Ibiza Hippie. I first heard of Escada when I bought Pacific Paradise on the Ferry on the way to Italy, from then on the smell always reminded me of that holiday, and became one of my favourite perfumes. So when I saw this pack for £12.50 for 5 small bottles (4ml each), I just had to buy them to try them all, so I could choose my favourite one! And I must say they were all delicious! With such strong fruity smells which stuck around all day, my only problem was there wasn?t enough of it in the bottles, and I tended to use half a bottle each time I used it! But it gave me a great experience of using them all so I could choose which ones I wanted in larger bottles rather than...

stephbond89 15.11.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Escada Ibiza Hippie Fragrance

Definately is a Splendid perfume.

Advantages: Good for any occassion.
Disadvantages: Nothing I can think.

...I had never tried Elizabeth Arden perfumes before, but I had a sample sent to me from Elizabeth Arden and was quite amazed how nice this perfume was. Its quite a fresh floral perfume, which is not too heavy but at the same time gives just the right amount of scent, and is good for any age group. In the past I have always thought that Elizabeth Arden products were for the older generation, but this perfume just goes to show that anyone of any age can wear it. The bottle is nicely designed and the perfume itself is good for day and evening wear, so is a good alround perfume for any occassion, this one definately gets my seal of approval when it comes to perfume and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking of buying it....

zeebra 19.04.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Elisabeth Arden Splendor

Perfume -Compelling Cinematography

Advantages: Haunting visual and sound effects.
Disadvantages: None

...born without a body odour, and it is perhaps his own lack of a scent that stokes his obsession with odours. At the age of 13, Jean-Baptiste is cruelly sold to a tannery, where he spends his days surrounded by the foulest of smells. Luckily for him, he is one day sent on an errand in town, and it is there that he discovers the most intoxicating scent... that of perfume. Managing to become the apprentice of a renowned perfumer, he quickly learns the trade and eventually surpasses the genius of his master. In his pursuit of the perfect perfume, Jean-Baptiste comes across a beautiful young woman in the streets of Paris, and is seduced by her scent. The natural fragrance of a beautiful woman is intoxicating, and in a desperate need to capture it, he will resort to murder. His murderous obsession with scent, and his desperate need to...

GoFigure 12.02.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer (DVD)