Rodriguez's strength as a writer is her ability to conjure up vivid, endearing-but-flawed characters, whose lives are not without their upsets and challenges. She avoids being too saccharine and predictable, and drops several heartbreaking twists along the way. I loved the change in Ahmet's personality and how he became somehow open minded, and that speech he said when he held his daughter was so touching:"). Yes, and what about a woman whose husband has four wives? He is allowed four, and she is allowed just one husband? In that marriage, is she worth just one quarter of a man?"

And then there is Zara, who is about to be forced into a marriage with devastating consequences, even for Halajan's family. In their respective lives, these women will learn a valuable lesson from Halajan; YAZMINA, a young pregnant woman stolen from her remote village and now abandoned on Kabul's violent streets. This has been a wonderful read. I found myself completey immersed in another world and felt as though I came to know the characters of this story intimately. Some of the favourite characters from the first book return in this and it is fascinating to see how events have changed their attitudes and outlooks and even though a lot of the book isn't set in Kabul anymore, there is still plenty of visits there to see how life has changed, if at all, for those trying to get on with normal lives and we see different aspects of the culture explored in a striking way. This in no way shys away from the reality of people's lifes and the treatment in which women are living in. This is very honest and some of the issues raised tell the reader about the extremes to which women are treated and the punishments , about the risk of death and abduction to slavery.While I have not read the previous installments, in the series, I got a good glimpse of what might have gone down in the books. But I am sure it would have been really nice to be familiar with the characters and that would have made my reading experience thousands times better because this is a book where each character has their own story, and an inspiring one at that. Deborah Rodriguez is brilliant at transporting her readers to far flung destinations' SUNDAY EXPRESS After a long absence Sunny arrives in the country that is fearful of its future, the trepidation and memories of life under the Taliban very real. Isabel is the kind of person I would feel honoured to have crossed paths with. I adore her for her commitment to her work and her aims of making a difference in the world, despite her less than fortunate circumstances. She is intelligent and creative, and I absolutely love her work.

I wasn’t sure about some of the words at first, the cultural difference and I was unsure if I could connect with it, but I enjoyed it as I read more, and it held my interest.’My favourite character was probably Halajan, although I did also like Yasmina. But I really didn't believe the 'metamorphosis' of some of the characters, particalarly one who had been set in the traditional ways for so long...

In a little coffee shop in one of the most dangerous places on earth, five very different women come together . . . Set against the terrifying fall of Kabul in 2021, Deborah Rodriguez concludes her bestselling Little Coffee Shop trilogy with a heart-stopping story of resilience, courage and, most importantly, hope. This book grabbed my interest when I read a review of it in my paper...They offer discounted prices on the book they review, I went the Kindle route instead and it was still cheaper. There are so many people like Kat and others like Layla, different flowers that bloomed from the same soil.But it's not all the same. While ATSS is set in the first time the Taliban took over, this book is set in recent times. And finally there’s elderly den mother Halajan, whose secret new hobby is itself an act of rebellion. Even though it was set in the middle east and tried to incorporate the very real dangers women (and men) face the book felt like a 'soap opera' to me. The dialogue was outright corny at times and it did feel very 'westernised'and watered down so as not to be too graphic or controversial.

Yazmina, a young pregnant woman stolen from her remote village and now abandoned on Kabul's violent streets ... While you will be eager to know what will happen next, thanks to Zara who maintains this feeling throughout the book, the previous characters of Sunny and Yazmina won't appeal to you that much. Even Halajan, who was like a neighborhood badass, is a notch down in the story. Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul could have definitely used some more twists and turns, but what I read was not that half bad. Also, if you think that reading the first book is important to understand the story, do not worry. Rodriguez has made sure to cover important areas and has not left the reader in the dark.The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul is the heart-warming and life-affirming fiction sensation that captured the hearts of readers across the globe.