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A review by helliepad
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
This books made my brain feel like somebody dipped their hands in menthol and camphor and deep massaged every gelatinous nook and cranny of it. I don't normally like war stories written by guys because 9/10 they all are about glorification of history and intellectual masturbatory fantasies but this book is very human. Very touching. I did not feel like I would be led astray by this book.
The characters were compelling and wholly fleshed out. The reader cannot help but feel for them- this is a story written in the middle of a war, and I am someone who clearly hasn't grown up in it, but I can relate to how these young characters felt to always be at the mercy and capricious whims of powerful external forces that were unexplainable, and very large and powerful that it can affect their life despite not being that involved in it.
This is a story not about the war, but about the kindness that can still pop up despite destruction. The little everyday, human, thoughtless things that can help and heal, and ultimately what happens during it.
At the end of the book, the story will have leapt through the next century. I cannot help but feel the weight of the years alongside the characters. Truly what else can we do but help each other? What else can we do after a storm, a war, a plague that ruins countless lives and generations- but to get up and live the next day?
It is a beautiful story and I'm glad I read it, and I will read it again.
The characters were compelling and wholly fleshed out. The reader cannot help but feel for them- this is a story written in the middle of a war, and I am someone who clearly hasn't grown up in it, but I can relate to how these young characters felt to always be at the mercy and capricious whims of powerful external forces that were unexplainable, and very large and powerful that it can affect their life despite not being that involved in it.
This is a story not about the war, but about the kindness that can still pop up despite destruction. The little everyday, human, thoughtless things that can help and heal, and ultimately what happens during it.
At the end of the book, the story will have leapt through the next century. I cannot help but feel the weight of the years alongside the characters. Truly what else can we do but help each other? What else can we do after a storm, a war, a plague that ruins countless lives and generations- but to get up and live the next day?
It is a beautiful story and I'm glad I read it, and I will read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Death
Minor: Genocide and Rape