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

I don’t know how to sum up this book other than it’s a perspective of the war that we don’t always see but that doesn’t make it less painful. There wasn’t a single person who lived in Europe at that time that didn’t experience pain but this book isn’t just trauma porn. It’s introspective and reflective and kind. There’s the joy of rebelling and simple pleasures even when the world is falling apart and you’re starving. That being said I did cry at multiple points during this book.

uhm, Werner dying via passive suicide ideation was so painful that I had to take a break for like a week. It makes sense, but it also makes me so insanely angry. I hate that that’s how he went out. Every scene with Fredrick after he was beaten made me cry. His final scene where he kind of recognizes that owl but it doesn’t actually mean he’s better messed me up. AND WERNER THROWING “five Eiffel Towers” INTO THE OCEAN BECAUSE AT HIS CORE HE WAS DECENT took me out. Ugh. Finally, I listened to this as an audiobook and at the end, Claire de lune played and I cried like a baby

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friedeggyolive's review against another edition

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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

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stardust_heidi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.0

This book was so depressing. Interesting at times. Overall, I liked it, but I know I won’t reread. Maybe the TV show will be better, idk. The narrator wasn’t great, and I’m kind of annoyed I wasted a libro credit on this one since I also own the paperback. It was nice to check off another book from my TBR. LOVED the blind protagonist; excellent representation there.

I liked the converging timelines, but I’d hoped we’d get more from that rather than what happened. I don’t know. It was kind of a letdown. I much prefer Kate Quinn for WWII historical fiction.

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kim_lommaert's review against another edition

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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

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ktbeth143's review against another edition

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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.

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kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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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megb64's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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smkelly1997's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Overall, I felt this book was written beautifully. The prose, word choice, flow, and quick chapters left me throughly engaged. Regarding the actual story I felt as if I needed more. I just felt like something was missing to the the whole book together.

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