All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Review

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Book Title: All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

Genre: Historical fiction

Goodreads rating: 4.32

My rating: 4.5/5

Buy on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3gKql2s

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

- All the Light We Cannot See

Ready to follow Marie-Laure and Werner Pfennig through France and Germany? 

Marie-Laure lives with her father, Daniel Leblanc, in Paris. Daniel works as a locksmith in the Museum of Natural History. 

Due to war, they flee to Saint-Malo with the Sea of Flames, a diamond Daniel is entrusted with. This diamond plays a major role later on in Marie's life.

Werner Pfennig lives with his sister Jutta in an orphanage in Zollverein. He is exceptionally intelligent and has somewhat of an obsession with radios. He goes to a Schulpforta, a Nazi boarding school, and soon joins the war.

The narrative jumps between their parallel lives along with switching between their pasts and current time (during World War II).

"Beautifully broken" is the only way I can describe how I feel after reading this book. The imagery was soothing despite the story taking place during the Second World War.

A lot of symbolism (which I absolutely LOVE). The book reflects how people who survive wars lose so much that their lives are never the same. We follow the main characters as they lose their comfort, loved ones and sanity. 

Doerr also made sure the thefts of things that showcased the cultures weren't ignored.

The characters had their own uniqueness; even side characters like Jutta. I think my favorite character was Daniel LeBlanc. His love for his daughter and all his efforts to help her adjust to blindness just got him a Dad of the Year award from me.

The plot was quite short and just stretched out which resulted in a very slow-paced book. If you're a fan of books that keep you on the edge of the seat, then this one won't be the best book you've read. The style and tone weren't what you would normally expect from a book set in times of war.

Even though the characters were well developed, I didn't feel deeply connected to them by the end of the book.

Aside from these things, the beauty of this book moved my heart. It was loaded with deep words and symbolism that stirred my mind.

"All your life you wait and then it finally comes and... are you ready?"

-All the Light We Cannot See

Note: You might think it'll be hard to comprehend the plot when it's switching between the two characters AND time zones but, trust me, it's not confusing at all.

Related Post: 10 Best Quotes from All the Light We Cannot See