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

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

43 reviews

jlautry's review against another edition

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

Content Warnings

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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camillewhowrites's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

The best book I've ever read (and that's all that I need say).

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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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rebekahvldz's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-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

3.5

I came to this book with the expectations of a crushing, thrilling tale- a romance between two lovers or friends not fated to end up together amidst a turbulent World War 2 backdrop. I expected heartbreak, insights and a lot of sobbing a la Book Thief. This absolutely was a romance book but not between people- rather it was two characters who fell in love with everything and everyone around them, who would do anything to preserve the life they lived so dearly in the countries they were loyal to. It was interesting to see the contrast between what that meant for both characters and both of them did end up breaking my heart in small ways. But there was no fanfare finale, no resolution to the two particular storylines that suggested the story was moving forward. It was kind of worse in a way, because it lacked those. I still loved the book- , the writing was poetic and enthralling, the characters were passionate, curious and dedicated and made me love the things they did but I will say there was no major plot here. It was more a study of two characters, an exploitation of their passions and how that interacted with the impending war but again no grand sweeping story. It was still beautiful, of course and I did enjoy it but I was still waiting for the story to start at page 450. Other than me turning the pages, I would’ve had no indication that the story was moving forward. And each chapter spends only a couple pages with either character so you don’t really get to sink your teeth in, despite the 527 pages. I thought it was worth the read but I deeply wish I had come with no preconceived notions- I might have enjoyed it more.

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alaskayoung1734's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I love this book so much. It has a bit of a slow start but it is 100% worth continuing. I read it in 5 days. Truly amazing. It gives a really deep and immersive look into ww2. I would definitely recommend it.

Content Warnings