Reviews tagging 'Racism'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

48 reviews

letsreaddrew's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A magical story set in WWII France about a blind French girl navigating her way through life in war torn France, and a German boy navigating his way through being a child soldier in the Wehrmacht with a gift for understanding radios and the dangers they face that lead them to crossing paths.... It's one is them great WWII hf books out there.... Very easy to read told in small chapters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Racism, Murder, Death, and Abandonment

janan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Antisemitism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Terminal illness

lettersinthemargins's review against another edition

The bleakness of the text is obvious considering it is a WW2 novel. However, the characters did not stick as much as other works I've read in this genre. Even a book as popular as The Book Theif. The women characters serve to further the male character's story. And Marie Laurie's disability narrative felt over the top. A few of the Nazi narrative details felt a little sensationalised and devoid of empathetic condemnation. Ultimately, couldn't get beyond the second half because it felt like too much effort for nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Genocide, Misogyny, and Sexism

aaryan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

lilandraws's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

The amount of times I had to close the book and just cry about it: [redacted]. This hit different in the middle of the pandemic, honestly, I don't think I'd have the same reaction to Marie-Laure's descriptions of the outside world if it weren't for the fact that I haven't gone out in a year. Anyway. If you were to tell me a year ago that I'd root for a Nazi white haired sad boy, I would look at you funny but now ???? 

Doerr wrote the experiences of the main characters so elegantly and intricately that I was invested in their hobbies and interests like yes, Werner, tell me more about radios and soundwaves, yes, Marie, tell me more about mollusks. The way Marie-Laure described things were amazing and I might even prefer it to the regular way of describing things. Doerr also handled the topics of death and war so delicately; making us feel for and understand the Germany's side of the war but not diminishing the atrocities they committed. Werner is a prime example of compliance and I'm glad that he chose his own path in the end.

All of the characters are lovable and well-rounded, I loved them all so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Grief, and Stalking

noshelf_control's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, and Racism

Minor: Terminal illness and Rape

eleennaeisloved's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

emberysing's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective

• 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? Yes

5.0

(reread)
I loved this book even more the second time, if that’s possible? 

I personally love the writing style: it’s poetic enough but not too flowery, and the way that it’s paced out really does make it easier for me to get through the slower first half of the book.

The characters are well fleshed-out and are so easily loveable; and the war was portrayed realistically impacting the characters while still not stealing from their narratives. The very bittersweet ending (dare I say) added to the feeling of how the war stole so much from what these characters could’ve had and made me break down crying at several sections.

The way the author finds so many ways to vividly describe Marie-Laure’s perspective, without the use of her sight, is amazing to read because it still feels as rich as it would’ve been with the extra sense.

Just everything in this book was tied together nicely, and really feels finished at the end; and now I kind of miss it already.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape and Racism