Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

51 reviews

cityiguana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Really a beautiful book. I read it right after Demon Copperhead (also an excellent book) which felt to be largely about the ways that adults can be cruel to children. There are cruel characters and dark parts of All The Light We Cannot See, but the kindness and nobility of the characters really shines through. Emotional, gripping, sad, beautiful, and incredibly hopeful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, War, Racism, Antisemitism, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Rape, Mental illness, Ableism, Grief, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Confinement, and Bullying

Minor: Terminal illness

shaleen64's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book is beautifully written with two characters at its centre. Both lovable in their own way, both forced towards different goals but ultimately brought together by a sense of doing what is right. The book makes you view the Second World War in a different light without becoming a history text book. There’s heartbreak, anger, horror and despair but hope and love throughout. If you loved the Book Thief, or anything similar, this should be your next read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Racism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Slavery, Torture, Rape, and Sexism

san_dra's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, and Cancer

ella_ruby's review

I really liked what I did read specifically the almost lyrical and highly descriptive style of writing. I actually completely forgot about it but want to read all of it in the future

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, War, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Confinement

Minor: Genocide, Racism, and Antisemitism

maddierandolph's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Ableism, Sexual violence, Genocide, Rape, and Pregnancy

amjone12's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Death, Violence, Genocide, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Rape

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Child death, Blood, Cancer, Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, War, Antisemitism, Death, Murder, Death of parent, and Ableism

Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, and Genocide

jennifertremblay's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, War, Blood, and Child death

Minor: Sexual assault

lzaz87's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Confinement, and Bullying

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Title: All the Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: May 6, 2014

T H R E E • W O R D S

Daring • Vivid • Dense

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie- Laure's converge.

💭 T H O U G H T S

All the Light We Cannot See has sat unread on my shelf for far too long, yet with the release of the mini-series slated for December, I knew there was no better time to finally dive in. My expectations were incredibly high knowing it's beloved by so many, yet the size really had me hesitating. Unfortunately, the timing just wasn't right and my sky high expectations left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.

I'll start out by saying the imagery was stunning, the writing was evocative, and the relationship between Marie-Laure and her father was beautiful. I greatly appreciated the way she learned to find her own way in the world. It also paints a realistic depiction of young men being drawn into the Hitler Youth. However, the structure made it hard to follow the story at times, which made it unnecessarily long.

Even though I enjoyed the story overall, I never found myself totally invested. I know part of that was the timing and my expectations, but another part is just poor execution in putting the story onto paper. This is one case where I think I may enjoy the movie more than I did the book and I look forward to watching it sometime soon.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• WWII historical fiction buffs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?"

"It's embarrassingly plain how inadequate language is." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, Genocide, Xenophobia, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual violence, Rape, Confinement, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Child death, Cancer, and Mental illness

PTSD