Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

9 reviews

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

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

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

laurenleigh's review

dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

It took me months to get through this one, for whatever reason. But I actually appreciated the time I took. It helped me conceptualize how long these characters suffered during the war. My slow reading matched the slower paced plot too. In general I’m a little worn out on WWII fiction, but I can appreciate the skill this writer has. There was so much brilliant poignancy, even when not much action was happening. It reminds me of The Goldfinch in that way. I’m interested to check out Doerr’s other work! I bet I’ll like it even more than this, it not being WWII historical fiction. I just don’t need depressing war stories in my life these days!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and War

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, and Blood

rachelmorag's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Deportation, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, War, Rape, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Confinement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

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

apiora215's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Antisemitism

polpolpolulu's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This book was beautiful written, a lot of foreshadowing and many literary devices. Once you get hooked you develop and attachment to the characters which makes the last 100 pages of the book hurt like crazy. This is the second book I’ve read in a long time that has made me cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, War, Vomit, Cancer, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Child death, Classism, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief