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Sunday, February 28, 2016

Review Sunday: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr


Stand-alone to date

Goodreads Blurb:
"WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge."




Review:
I actually don't really have all that much to say about this.  It's one of those good books that you just love, you know?

1.  The overall mood.  It may seem like a weird thing to like, but I did really enjoy the overall feeling of despair.  It fit the subject material so well!  The way the mood was crafted as well with the short chapters with alternating POV's and the timeline is just perfect.  It's not so overpowering that you just feel depressed, but it is potent enough that you feel it in nearly every scene underlying some of the hope and happiness that is present.  The way the mood was crafted through the ending as well with the extremely short chapters switching from life to life is wonderful!

2.  The characters.  I really loved all of the characters but especially Werner and Marie-Laure (of course, being the MC's).  Because of the short chapters, it may seem like you don't have a grasp on them but when you reach the end, you realize how much you actually know them.  So, in those terms, they are very 3D.  One thing I also wanted to mention is Marie-Laure's blindness and how it was integrated into the story.  I really loved that she was blind because of the way it changed the dynamic of her character and thereby changing the characters around her.

3.  The themes.  Again, this may seem like a weird thing to say but I really loved the themes of death, hope, war, and enemies.  They're so perfectly woven throughout the story until the ending when you have the sad revelation of what it all means.  The way the diamond plot was integrated also helps along those themes.

The Final Verdict:
This book perfectly captures the many contradictions of the human condition and the lengths that people are willing to go for their goals.
4.5 stars


Quotes:
“Some people are weak in some ways, sir. Others in other ways.”


“A real diamond is never perfect.” 


“When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?”


“All your life you wait, and then it finally comes, and are you ready?”


“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.” 


“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”


“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.” 

12 comments:

  1. This sounds very interesting. I'm going to have to look up more about it! Great review <3

    Carrie @The Book Goddess

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    1. It was really good - I hope you decide to read it! Thanks :)

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  2. Interesting how much you like dark themes, ahha! Don't worry, I'm like that, too, sometimes! Rainbow and sunshine books are awesome, but some gritty from time to time or hopeless situations make for a change in atmosphere. Am I making sense? Great review! :)

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    1. Haha yeah, sometimes I just get really tired of fluff and want some darkness :) Thanks so much for stopping by, Lola!

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  3. I personally love books with an atmospheric moodiness to them like you described. I almost requested this as an ARC on NetGalley, but I've really restrained myself as far as review books to try and focus on all those historical fiction novels I already own. Still if I found this on sale, I'd have to pick it up- I love WWII novels.
    ~Litha Nelle

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    1. I know what you mean; so many books look so tempting but there are already so many books on my TBR that I have to get to! I hope you enjoy it when you get to read it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. This book has been on my radar for quite some time now. Great review, Laura! I really want to check it out soon, the atmosphere sounds delicious (weird choice of words, I know) and the characters sound pretty well-done too!

    Check out my latest post here

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    1. Thanks so much, Ruzaika! Haha, if the word fits... :D I hope you enjoy it!

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  5. I ride public transportation every day to and from work, and without fail I think I see at least one person reading this each day. I really need to get around to it! It would be a great way to integrate more adult fiction into my TBR.

    -Cristina @ Girl in the Pages


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    1. I see it everywhere too! It's been on my library's featured shelf for the past couple weeks. It totally deserves the recognition! I hope you enjoy it when you are able to read it!

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  6. I recently started this, so I'm happy to hear you've enjoyed it! Wonderful review <3

    ~ Booknut101

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    1. Ooo I can't wait to hear what you think of it! Thank you :)

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