Reviews with content warning for Racism - All the Light We Cannot See

,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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desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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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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readingrainbill's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

It was meh. It had the potential to be a truly wonderful book but terrible pacing ruined that. While I liked the dual narratives, it just didn't work. The jumping back in forth in time was haphazard and did nothing to make the book more interesting or pique my interest.

Some decisions in the book made no sense like a certain content warning event that happened near the end served no purpose. While stuff like that really happened in the war, it did nothing for the story except maybe trigger some people.

I did like Werner and Marie-Laure as characters but the eventual climax of their stories was underwhelming. Also von Rumpel was a pointless character. If you removed him from the story it wouldn't have changed at all.

This book had promise but was too messy and long winded to be any good. Did it deserve the Pulitzer? If you gague worthiness by artsy literature BS then yes, it did. Otherwise no, it's an overhyped book.

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jlautry's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? No

4.0

My first 500+ page read in years and my first paperback library book (I was very nervous about damaging it).

Two teenagers, a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy navigate their way through WWII. This story was beautifully written and the imagery is *chef’s kiss*.

But I do want to know what the author has against commas. 🤔 I got some use out of my (very limited) German knowledge, so that was a plus.

Loved:

Short chapters
Imagery
Attention to descriptive detail
Multiple narrators
Storylines

Disliked:

Short chapters sometimes gave you whiplash with how quickly they jumped back and forth
Can be confusing to know who is narrating. Chapter titles don’t always indicate and it can take a bit to realize where you are
Took me ~150 pages to really get invested
Sentences can be an entire paragraph long
I think the author has a grudge against commas (or he needs a better editor)
The last few parts (especially part 13) were completely unnecessary

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sauvageloup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

3.5

a good read with a lot to recommend it

pros:
- the characters were probably the best part, particularly Marie-Laure and Werner, and all the side characters of Jotta, Frau Elena, Etienne, etc. Even ones like Volkheimer were compelling. There was a lot of feeling behind each of them, their struggles of fear and whether to rebel or comply felt very human, and i never felt frustrated with them despite some of their mistakes or foibles.
- the plot was good too, it stayed tight and interesting throughout and I always wanted to know what would happen next. the idea for the diamond and the model city was clever and fresh, against some of the more familiar tropes of a war novel
- i liked the characters talking about their interests - Werner and Etienne's fascination with radios, Marie-Laure with her books and her snails, Jotta with her art, Volkheimer's music, even.
- the writing was excellent too, very poetic at times, especially on discussing nature. the loss of Frederick's mind felt the most poignant, because of the pointlessness of it, how he was such a sweet boy and a dreamer, and Werner's guilt of it
- the epilogues were good, satisfying because they weren't too sad or too unrealistic. the sense of the randomness of who survives and who doesn't was palpable
- I also liked that the idea of their being a curse on the Sea of Flames was never really confirmed or not, just left as a question of belief. it was more representative whether or not the characters kept the stone than what the stone actually was.
- also, the placing of a blind character centre stage and presenting her as brave, capable and important, was good to read. while it wasn't easy for her, there wasn't a huge amount of bullying or abelism she went through, which I think makes for a change. sometimes authors seem to include disabled characters only to make them suffer, to make everyone else feel better about not being disabled.

cons:
- somehow it just didn't touch me as much as some others, particularly Life after Life which I read recently. That really showed the horror of the war somehow, whereas this felt surface level? too much like tropes? I'm not sure.
- as lovely as it was when Marie-Laure and Werner finally met, I wish they'd had more time together
- perhaps Marie-Laure was a little too perfect, though that is the point of her I suppose. Werner sees her as the pure thing the men at his school talked of. saving her was him saving the last bit of innocent goodness
- the scene were Jotta, Fray Elena and the others were abruptly raped by the Russians felt.. gratuitous. the horror of it wasn't conveyed in the short segment and it felt like an add on, like the author thought - oh and rape must happen at some time in war, and stuck it in without any emotional lead up or conclusion.
- the shortness of each chapter or segment did frustrate me a bit, always chopping and changing. I also got confused between the times, not sure how Von Rubel had in one chapter crushed the model house and in the next, couldn't find it (one was in the Paris, the other in Saint-Malo)
- whilst I (as a non-disabled person) thought Marie-Lauren's disability was written well, I did think that for Etienne's 20years of claustrophobia to disappear just like that, because he loves Marie-Laure so much he just overcomes it, wasnt a great depiction.

all in all, a very good read, but not as emotionally poignant as it might have been (or else I'm just a bit numb rn)

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polpolpolulu's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

ghanshaw's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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