Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

43 reviews

lauradanby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

A deeply moving and beautiful book. I appreciated how short each chapter was - only a few pages - as this made it easy to read the book when I was quite busy. I love how the novel explores the complexities of people, not categorising or making clear distinction between good and evil.

This is done to the extent where we see it as a tragedy when Werner is killed towards the end of the novel, despite him being a Nazi.

Bird obsessed Frederick is an example of how one can get caught in a system, and despite having morals and choosing free will over blind obedience, he suffers the consequences.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Cancer, Violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Genocide, and Death

orchidlilly's review against another edition

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

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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: Ableism, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Deportation, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Violence, and War

cutepatzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

I am not a fan of war books. But this was surprisingly amazing. I enjoy it so much. It's a heavy book, especially if you were born in Europe. And you can understand the fear, violence, and brutality of war. The story was amazingly written. Just a great book. And also love the representation of a blind person in book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Gore, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual content, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and War

kgauthier's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A good book but not a great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: War

Minor: Death

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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

lacey_wi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War

imaginefishes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

The book is emotional and provides us with dual perspectives on the lives of two children before and during World War II: it recounts the innocence of their childhood and with the passage of time, slowly strips it away until they have nothing left but war, difficult choices, and pain. There is an obvious dichotomy between good and bad characters, but given the context of the war, it would be difficult not to - Werner is one of the few German military men who remain empathetic to those they were trained to discriminate against and kill, though self-preservation comes first and he never actually stands up against it. Some chapters and scenes felt a little drawn out, but the good thing about having two simultaneous storylines was that my attention could fluctuate between the two main characters if I was getting a little bored with the other. The end of their stories came a little sad, but then again, these things are expected to occur in war times, and the final eventual resolution provided enough closure to comfort the reader after all that had occured.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Torture, Child death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape, Murder, Cancer, and Terminal illness

I am glad that Marie-Laure survived, but it really pained me when

Werner died, the cause of his death being so senseless and stupid and unfair, especially because he was just a 16-year-old child

. That really came as a huge shock, and definitely contributed to the tragedy of war portrayed in the book.

lenni_sc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Murder, Genocide, Violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

gothmiku's review

emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Bullying, and War

Moderate: Vomit, Child death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Rape, and Confinement

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Gun violence, and Infertility