Reviews tagging 'Classism'

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

13 reviews

ottercorg's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I will begin by saying that were it not for the frequent change in POV keeping my attention, I would not have finished this book. It took me, without exaggeration, 400 pages to finally "get into it." I also kept going because I'd heard such amazing things, and I wondered when they'd arrive.

I feel that the writing style is good, I think the characters are well developed, and the story is moving and real. But...I just didn't like it very much. Maybe if I'd read it without hearing the hype, I wouldn't be rating it so low, but it's hard not to be disappointed.

Getting it off my TBR after it sat there for so long feels good, and trying more historical fiction feels good, I just didn't have a very good time in the process.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

ameliabeimler's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Classism

readerworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, Classism, and Deportation

medini_l's review against another edition

informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Classism

venice_the_vampire's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

such a compelling story, i couldn’t put it down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.25

Another book club read, and I'm glad I was put onto this one, as I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with it. This is a beautifully woven tale of .. uhm, nerds in World War II.

Werner is a snow-haired German lad who was orphanned by the mines of the Reich. As a curious child he develops himself into an electrical engineer who specializes in fixing radios, and is noticed by a German general who forwards him for advancement in an elite military school.
Marie-Laure is the daughter of keymaster of the French museum. She develops cataracts and goes blind as a child, and her father crates a scale model of her neighbourhood as a tactile map for her to learn her way around.
When the war starts, Marie-Laure and her father flee to her uncle's house, and Werner is a radio engineer for Hitler's army.

This story is told with deep emotional resonance, and using all sorts of literary quirks that focus on themes of light and darkness, sounds, sensation, fear and bravery, morality, logic and puzzles, knowing and learning, art and music, the love of nature, and of people. I love the descriptions of things like disappearing in fog– that it's about vanishing into whiteness rather than shadows.  The descriptions are visceral and evocative as well as clever.

This is a story of survival, of war, of fear and bloodshed, and it doesn't pull its punches. It certainly answers, in a humane way, questions about how people can do inhuman things in war, and the toll it can take on families.

I found the going slow, and occasionally tense, but also full of whimsy and beauty in contrast.
Well worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

gretaslittlelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

,Let's face it, the world war II genre is overplayed. The writing here wasn't bad, it was good even, but the plot mostly lost me. It mainly follows two people, a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy as they grow up in Europe. The plot just doesn't feel very grabbing or original to me, it's your standard world war II book, with a bit of romance and, for some reason fantasy, thrown in unnecessarily. The short-lived romance between the two main characters seems odd and forced and the up in the air magical artifact McGuffin that then has no actual plot value is downright strange. Honestly, the best parts of this book are the ones that focus on the German boy's sister, and fellow soldier, but even those aren't very original. There's simply so much of the same world war II book a person can read without getting tired of the same old schtick, and this hit the limit for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

jlautry's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

My first 500+ page read in years and my first paperback library book (I was very nervous about damaging it). 

Two teenagers, a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy navigate their way through WWII. This story was beautifully written and the imagery is *chef’s kiss*. 

But I do want to know what the author has against commas. 🤔 I got some use out of my (very limited) German knowledge, so that was a plus. 

Loved:

• Short chapters
• Imagery
• Attention to descriptive detail
• Multiple narrators
• Storylines

Disliked: 

• Short chapters sometimes gave you whiplash with how quickly they jumped back and forth
• Can be confusing to know who is narrating. Chapter titles don’t always indicate and it can take a bit to realize where you are 
• Took me ~150 pages to really get invested
• Sentences can be an entire paragraph long
• I think the author has a grudge against commas (or he needs a better editor)
• The last few parts (especially part 13) were completely unnecessary

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Terminal illness and Death of parent