Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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:
No
It took me a while to get into the timeline shifts, but in the end I absolutely loved this book. It’s one of the rare ones that leaves me feeling as if I’d stepped into a rare [written] performance, with crystalline, evocative writing. I read slowly and loved it.
It is possible I would have enjoyed this more had I read it over audio, but I felt like nothing really ended up happening.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While there were times that I could tell Doerr was struggling to portray a realistic version of a German child who fought for the Nazis that was also sympathetic, I was still greatly moved by Werner and his journey. I was shocked by his death and cried as those around him mourned.
It is much easier for me to imagine the way someone joins the Nazi party than to actually be willing to portray that. It is understandable how someone who feels they have no options is taken in by the power of such a movement and given a chance at a better life, and how that may have looked. To watch someone travel through the war in this way, however, is very difficult, because while the motivations are understandable, the information I know about the war from my future perspective will always color those actions. To shoot someone who will shoot you is not all-together bad, until the person who will shoot you is trying to liberate France and the countless people lost to labor camps and you are in his way.
It is much easier for me to imagine the way someone joins the Nazi party than to actually be willing to portray that. It is understandable how someone who feels they have no options is taken in by the power of such a movement and given a chance at a better life, and how that may have looked. To watch someone travel through the war in this way, however, is very difficult, because while the motivations are understandable, the information I know about the war from my future perspective will always color those actions. To shoot someone who will shoot you is not all-together bad, until the person who will shoot you is trying to liberate France and the countless people lost to labor camps and you are in his way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, War, Classism
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent
(3.5) Very beautifully written, leaves desire for a more compelling story underneath.
I really wanted to love this book, but ended up DNF-ing it at around page 200.
Everyone raves about it, Doerr's writing is genuinely beautiful, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
I kept waiting for that moment when I'd get invested in Marie-Laure and Werner's stories, when their struggles would start to matter to me. But it never happened. The more I read, the more I realized I was just going through the motions.
It's weird because I can see that this is a well-written book. The historical details are solid, the parallel storylines are cleverly constructed, like, objectively I understood that terrible things were happening to these characters, but I felt completely detached from it all.
I think this is one of those books where your mileage will vary hugely depending on what you connect with. Clearly it works for a lot of people, but just not for me.
Everyone raves about it, Doerr's writing is genuinely beautiful, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
I kept waiting for that moment when I'd get invested in Marie-Laure and Werner's stories, when their struggles would start to matter to me. But it never happened. The more I read, the more I realized I was just going through the motions.
It's weird because I can see that this is a well-written book. The historical details are solid, the parallel storylines are cleverly constructed, like, objectively I understood that terrible things were happening to these characters, but I felt completely detached from it all.
I think this is one of those books where your mileage will vary hugely depending on what you connect with. Clearly it works for a lot of people, but just not for me.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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:
No
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No