A review by belleden
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The
pointless rape chapter
is why I don’t read books written by men. 🙄 If you want to win a Pulitzer Prize, all you have to do is be a man and write a book about WWII, apparently.

I strongly disliked the way the framing device of a shifting timeline was used. The dates were sometimes clearly labeled, but often not, and I had to go back and reread several times to understand where we were in the story. I even felt that the opening chapters of the book were a spoiler and I think it would have worked much better chronologically.
Marie-Laure and her family were extremely lovable and the main reason why I kept reading.  Marie-Laure felt so real and I had a deep desire to protect her the entire time I was reading. The Sea of Flames storyline was fascinating and kept me wondering until the end.
I appreciate how this book handles trauma and the realities of war.
Not everyone gets a happy ending. Sometimes bad things happen to good people
  and I think historical fiction that ignores that fact is completely unrealistic.
This book was recommended for me for the Red TV prompt of the Taylor Swift reading challenge - "a book over 450 pages that will break your heart".
Frederick and his mother
well and truly broke my heart.
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