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vaniaj's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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? N/A
4.5
Very slow in the beginning but worth it once you get to the end. The slow buildup was necessary to develop the characters and background.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Suicide
this_just_in's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Genocide, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual violence and Suicide
zoejjj's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I don’t know how to sum up this book other than it’s a perspective of the war that we don’t always see but that doesn’t make it less painful. There wasn’t a single person who lived in Europe at that time that didn’t experience pain but this book isn’t just trauma porn. It’s introspective and reflective and kind. There’s the joy of rebelling and simple pleasures even when the world is falling apart and you’re starving. That being said I did cry at multiple points during this book.
uhm, Werner dying via passive suicide ideation was so painful that I had to take a break for like a week. It makes sense, but it also makes me so insanely angry. I hate that that’s how he went out. Every scene with Fredrick after he was beaten made me cry. His final scene where he kind of recognizes that owl but it doesn’t actually mean he’s better messed me up. AND WERNER THROWING “five Eiffel Towers” INTO THE OCEAN BECAUSE AT HIS CORE HE WAS DECENT took me out. Ugh. Finally, I listened to this as an audiobook and at the end, Claire de lune played and I cried like a baby
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Murder
jjb21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nice story. Great to read from the viewpoint of a blind character. Evocative settings and characters interesting periods of history.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and War
nmckelv's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Violence, and War
Minor: Child death, Rape, Suicide, and Grief
lindasoderlundd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide
sauvageloup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
a good read with a lot to recommend it
pros:
- the characters were probably the best part, particularly Marie-Laure and Werner, and all the side characters of Jotta, Frau Elena, Etienne, etc. Even ones like Volkheimer were compelling. There was a lot of feeling behind each of them, their struggles of fear and whether to rebel or comply felt very human, and i never felt frustrated with them despite some of their mistakes or foibles.
- the plot was good too, it stayed tight and interesting throughout and I always wanted to know what would happen next. the idea for the diamond and the model city was clever and fresh, against some of the more familiar tropes of a war novel
- i liked the characters talking about their interests - Werner and Etienne's fascination with radios, Marie-Laure with her books and her snails, Jotta with her art, Volkheimer's music, even.
- the writing was excellent too, very poetic at times, especially on discussing nature. the loss of Frederick's mind felt the most poignant, because of the pointlessness of it, how he was such a sweet boy and a dreamer, and Werner's guilt of it
- the epilogues were good, satisfying because they weren't too sad or too unrealistic. the sense of the randomness of who survives and who doesn't was palpable
- I also liked that the idea of their being a curse on the Sea of Flames was never really confirmed or not, just left as a question of belief. it was more representative whether or not the characters kept the stone than what the stone actually was.
- also, the placing of a blind character centre stage and presenting her as brave, capable and important, was good to read. while it wasn't easy for her, there wasn't a huge amount of bullying or abelism she went through, which I think makes for a change. sometimes authors seem to include disabled characters only to make them suffer, to make everyone else feel better about not being disabled.
cons:
- somehow it just didn't touch me as much as some others, particularly Life after Life which I read recently. That really showed the horror of the war somehow, whereas this felt surface level? too much like tropes? I'm not sure.
- as lovely as it was when Marie-Laure and Werner finally met, I wish they'd had more time together
- perhaps Marie-Laure was a little too perfect, though that is the point of her I suppose. Werner sees her as the pure thing the men at his school talked of. saving her was him saving the last bit of innocent goodness
- the scene were Jotta, Fray Elena and the others were abruptly raped by the Russians felt.. gratuitous. the horror of it wasn't conveyed in the short segment and it felt like an add on, like the author thought - oh and rape must happen at some time in war, and stuck it in without any emotional lead up or conclusion.
- the shortness of each chapter or segment did frustrate me a bit, always chopping and changing. I also got confused between the times, not sure how Von Rubel had in one chapter crushed the model house and in the next, couldn't find it (one was in the Paris, the other in Saint-Malo)
- whilst I (as a non-disabled person) thought Marie-Lauren's disability was written well, I did think that for Etienne's 20years of claustrophobia to disappear just like that, because he loves Marie-Laure so much he just overcomes it, wasnt a great depiction.
all in all, a very good read, but not as emotionally poignant as it might have been (or else I'm just a bit numb rn)
pros:
- the characters were probably the best part, particularly Marie-Laure and Werner, and all the side characters of Jotta, Frau Elena, Etienne, etc. Even ones like Volkheimer were compelling. There was a lot of feeling behind each of them, their struggles of fear and whether to rebel or comply felt very human, and i never felt frustrated with them despite some of their mistakes or foibles.
- the plot was good too, it stayed tight and interesting throughout and I always wanted to know what would happen next. the idea for the diamond and the model city was clever and fresh, against some of the more familiar tropes of a war novel
- i liked the characters talking about their interests - Werner and Etienne's fascination with radios, Marie-Laure with her books and her snails, Jotta with her art, Volkheimer's music, even.
- the writing was excellent too, very poetic at times, especially on discussing nature. the loss of Frederick's mind felt the most poignant, because of the pointlessness of it, how he was such a sweet boy and a dreamer, and Werner's guilt of it
- the epilogues were good, satisfying because they weren't too sad or too unrealistic. the sense of the randomness of who survives and who doesn't was palpable
- I also liked that the idea of their being a curse on the Sea of Flames was never really confirmed or not, just left as a question of belief. it was more representative whether or not the characters kept the stone than what the stone actually was.
- also, the placing of a blind character centre stage and presenting her as brave, capable and important, was good to read. while it wasn't easy for her, there wasn't a huge amount of bullying or abelism she went through, which I think makes for a change. sometimes authors seem to include disabled characters only to make them suffer, to make everyone else feel better about not being disabled.
cons:
- somehow it just didn't touch me as much as some others, particularly Life after Life which I read recently. That really showed the horror of the war somehow, whereas this felt surface level? too much like tropes? I'm not sure.
- as lovely as it was when Marie-Laure and Werner finally met, I wish they'd had more time together
- perhaps Marie-Laure was a little too perfect, though that is the point of her I suppose. Werner sees her as the pure thing the men at his school talked of. saving her was him saving the last bit of innocent goodness
- the scene were Jotta, Fray Elena and the others were abruptly raped by the Russians felt.. gratuitous. the horror of it wasn't conveyed in the short segment and it felt like an add on, like the author thought - oh and rape must happen at some time in war, and stuck it in without any emotional lead up or conclusion.
- the shortness of each chapter or segment did frustrate me a bit, always chopping and changing. I also got confused between the times, not sure how Von Rubel had in one chapter crushed the model house and in the next, couldn't find it (one was in the Paris, the other in Saint-Malo)
- whilst I (as a non-disabled person) thought Marie-Lauren's disability was written well, I did think that for Etienne's 20years of claustrophobia to disappear just like that, because he loves Marie-Laure so much he just overcomes it, wasnt a great depiction.
all in all, a very good read, but not as emotionally poignant as it might have been (or else I'm just a bit numb rn)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Torture, Excrement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
johannafrth's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
the story is tragic and heavy and that's exactly the way it felt reading the book. uneasy, oppressing, frightening. the atmosphere of the plot and the situation during WWII were well matched and projected onto the reader which made the story feel extremely real. i really appreciated the style of writing. highly poetical and tragical and so beautiful. apart from that i was a little underwhelmed. the different storylines and time jumps were confusing from time to time and it took some time to get used to it. also, at some points the story felt very repetitive and dragged and i think it could have been done with at least 100 pages less. what i really liked however were the extremely well researched background and historical information which added to the feeling and realness of the plot i mentioned at the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Antisemitism
nicolesreadingbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
i cried a lot... the last few chapters were tense and heartbreaking
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Suicide, Violence, and War
clarisseep's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Other evenings they play Flying Couch. They climb onto the Davenport and sit side by side, and Etienne says, “Where to tonight, mademoiselle?”
Immediately he can smell it : the perfume is so sweet, so outrageously sweet, that he nearly faints. What is the word? Pêches. Les pêches.
[…] “We will share, she says. “For what you did.” […] That first peach slithers down his throat like rapture. A sunrise in his mouth.
[…] They eat. They drink the syrup. They run down their fingers down the inside of the can.
Marie-Laure hears Madame Manec : You must never stop believing.
litteraly heartbreaking, devastating and heart wrenching.
it indeed took me a while to get un the story : between the characters and the different times swaps, but once I was hooked, I read the book definitely way faster.
then I understood who was everybody and cherished everyone (except for Von Rumpel - I didn’t really quite understand he was in the book)
honestly I would've wished more «together-time» between Marie-Laure and Werner, but their meeting was just beautiful and had solemnly devastating consequences.
I was then really absorbed, but felt sincerely shocked after the ending.
Really I would’ve rated the book a 5 out of 5 but somehow the unequal balance of grabbing content throughout the whole book made it lower.
I would’ve also have loved a Jutta's, Frederick's and Madame Manec's point of view during the story, it would’ve made it more grabbing.
an other point I have is how great the importance of radios is in this book.
I still absolutely cherish Marie-Laure and Werner's less of a day together. simply shattering.
overall beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and War