Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

17 reviews

enchantingreads_rosyreviews's review

3.75

"You know the greatest lesson of history? It's that history is whatever the victors say it is. That's the lesson. Whoever wins, that's who decides the history. We act in our own self interest. Of course we do. Name a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are."

📻
Reasons why this book is great: 

1. Every sentence and paragraph paints a vivid picture in your head; almost as if creating a world for someone who is unable to physically see it (like the main character, Marie-Laure). 
2. Definition of a beautifully tragic tale. The author doesn’t shy away from the dark side of war or survival during occupation, but also describes the world to remind us to cherish every day. 
3. Written as an epic tale, with high-stakes, action, character growth, and drama. 
4. For anyone who’s a fan of independent films or typical Oscar-nominated films, this story taps into that same general vibe.

Whew! This book is one of those that feeds and starves your soul. It's a hard read because it focuses on tragedy (WW2) and the tough choices regular people have to make in times of extreme circumstances. Although the Netflix series did an AMAZING job adapting this book, there is SO. MUCH. MORE. to absorb from the book. Doerr's descriptive language, epic scenery, unique world-view, and likeable characters are truly something to experience.

Also, this was my first book that I used an audio guide to follow along. Honestly, because of the book's epic-ness, I found myself getting lost in the words/descriptions. Having the audiobook companion to keep me on track with my paperback version, was a great help to stay grounded in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and War

Minor: Xenophobia and Death of parent

This book takes place during Nazi occupation in France, bringing all of the historical elements into this story.

mdwsn27's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Genocide, Antisemitism, and Grief

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Bullying, and Ableism

Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Another book club read, and I'm glad I was put onto this one, as I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with it. This is a beautifully woven tale of .. uhm, nerds in World War II.

Werner is a snow-haired German lad who was orphanned by the mines of the Reich. As a curious child he develops himself into an electrical engineer who specializes in fixing radios, and is noticed by a German general who forwards him for advancement in an elite military school.
Marie-Laure is the daughter of keymaster of the French museum. She develops cataracts and goes blind as a child, and her father crates a scale model of her neighbourhood as a tactile map for her to learn her way around.
When the war starts, Marie-Laure and her father flee to her uncle's house, and Werner is a radio engineer for Hitler's army.

This story is told with deep emotional resonance, and using all sorts of literary quirks that focus on themes of light and darkness, sounds, sensation, fear and bravery, morality, logic and puzzles, knowing and learning, art and music, the love of nature, and of people. I love the descriptions of things like disappearing in fog– that it's about vanishing into whiteness rather than shadows.  The descriptions are visceral and evocative as well as clever.

This is a story of survival, of war, of fear and bloodshed, and it doesn't pull its punches. It certainly answers, in a humane way, questions about how people can do inhuman things in war, and the toll it can take on families.

I found the going slow, and occasionally tense, but also full of whimsy and beauty in contrast.
Well worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Grief, War, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Excrement, Death, Child death, Blood, Antisemitism, Vomit, Torture, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Cancer, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racism, Confinement, Chronic illness, Animal death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Classism, and Bullying

lwelch94's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Violence, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Hate crime, Genocide, Ableism, Xenophobia, War, Antisemitism, Bullying, Rape, Mental illness, Confinement, and Death

zosiablue's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

GodDAMN 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Confinement, War, and Dementia

Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Police brutality, Hate crime, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

jlearnwriter's review

emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, War, and Violence

Moderate: Violence, War, Sexual assault, Racism, Murder, Confinement, Bullying, Death, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Rape, Racial slurs, and Police brutality

vas_17's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, War, Xenophobia, and Violence

gretaslittlelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Genocide, Murder, War, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

orchidlilly's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

,Let's face it, the world war II genre is overplayed. The writing here wasn't bad, it was good even, but the plot mostly lost me. It mainly follows two people, a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy as they grow up in Europe. The plot just doesn't feel very grabbing or original to me, it's your standard world war II book, with a bit of romance and, for some reason fantasy, thrown in unnecessarily. The short-lived romance between the two main characters seems odd and forced and the up in the air magical artifact McGuffin that then has no actual plot value is downright strange. Honestly, the best parts of this book are the ones that focus on the German boy's sister, and fellow soldier, but even those aren't very original. There's simply so much of the same world war II book a person can read without getting tired of the same old schtick, and this hit the limit for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Gun violence, War, Antisemitism, Bullying, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs, Child death, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Death, Classism, Torture, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Medical content, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Sexual assault, Deportation, and Vomit

desiderium_incarnate's review

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

"We rise again in the grass. In the flowers. In songs." 

I don't know what to tell you about this book. I am glad, that I finished it, even though it was difficult to read about all the suffering. I am so sorry for all the people that have been hurt by hate, greed and nationalism and I wish, history would have been different, but now we can only learn from it and be better. 
This book is so amazingly detailed in it's places, characters, storylines etc. It's a marvel! 
At first it was a little confusing because the chapters weren't really in a chronological order, but it honestly makes sense now. I can recommend this book, though I would tell you, that you need the energy for it. It's not an easy read. 

"When my father left, people said I was brave. But it's not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?" 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Death, and Death of parent