Reviews tagging 'Racism'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

47 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Title: All the Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: May 6, 2014

T H R E E • W O R D S

Daring • Vivid • Dense

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie- Laure's converge.

💭 T H O U G H T S

All the Light We Cannot See has sat unread on my shelf for far too long, yet with the release of the mini-series slated for December, I knew there was no better time to finally dive in. My expectations were incredibly high knowing it's beloved by so many, yet the size really had me hesitating. Unfortunately, the timing just wasn't right and my sky high expectations left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.

I'll start out by saying the imagery was stunning, the writing was evocative, and the relationship between Marie-Laure and her father was beautiful. I greatly appreciated the way she learned to find her own way in the world. It also paints a realistic depiction of young men being drawn into the Hitler Youth. However, the structure made it hard to follow the story at times, which made it unnecessarily long.

Even though I enjoyed the story overall, I never found myself totally invested. I know part of that was the timing and my expectations, but another part is just poor execution in putting the story onto paper. This is one case where I think I may enjoy the movie more than I did the book and I look forward to watching it sometime soon.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• WWII historical fiction buffs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?"

"It's embarrassingly plain how inadequate language is." 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, Genocide, Xenophobia, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual violence, Rape, Confinement, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Child death, Cancer, and Mental illness

PTSD

stindex's review against another edition

sad tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Bullying, War, Religious bigotry, Death, and Racism

xkwright's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Character development for the two main characters was particularly well done - I wished their stories overlapped more. The missing diamond plotline was initially interesting but didn't feel like it added that much to the book overall.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Death, Cancer, Abandonment, Racism, and War

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

esjackson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The jumping time periods was very confusing at times

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, War, Physical abuse, and Genocide

Moderate: Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Ableism, Abandonment, Murder, and Cancer

Minor: Cursing and Death of parent

friedeggyolive's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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? N/A

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Genocide, Death, War, Murder, Sexual violence, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, and Hate crime

kim_lommaert's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Racism, War, Death, Murder, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Deportation

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Violence, Infertility, and Rape

medini_l's review against another edition

informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, War, Xenophobia, and Bullying

ktbeth143's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I felt physically I’ll after finishing it. I’m amazed at how an author can tie up all the loose ends of a complex story and yet no one gets a happy ending…and how it’s understandable and necessary.

Have you ever read a book that makes you consider changing the entire way you rate books?

5 star reads for me are books where I wouldn’t change a thing, and normally that means if a character I like dies I give it a 4.75, but after really processing this story, I hate to say it, but Werner’s death was necessary. So I wouldn’t change it as much as I wanted every one to have a happy ending.

This story is emotionally gripping. And it shows the complexity of people dragged into war. Ultimately it left me feeling like anyone who grew up in Europe in the 1940s was gyped of a decent life. This book details how WW2 affected the youth who lived through it. 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, but also to anyone who likes good stories. Be warned though, you will not feel okay while reading it. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Murder, Racism, and Death

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

venice_the_vampire's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

such a compelling story, i couldn’t put it down

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Genocide, Death, Torture, Bullying, Antisemitism, Child death, and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

grommit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

Emotional and brilliant

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, War, and Rape

Minor: Racism, Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia