Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'
Alles Licht, das wir nicht sehen by Anthony Doerr, Werner Löcher-Lawrence
6 reviews
maddierandolph's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Pregnancy
erebus53's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I don't know what to tell you about this book. I am glad, that I finished it, even though it was difficult to read about all the suffering. I am so sorry for all the people that have been hurt by hate, greed and nationalism and I wish, history would have been different, but now we can only learn from it and be better.
This book is so amazingly detailed in it's places, characters, storylines etc. It's a marvel!
At first it was a little confusing because the chapters weren't really in a chronological order, but it honestly makes sense now. I can recommend this book, though I would tell you, that you need the energy for it. It's not an easy read.
"When my father left, people said I was brave. But it's not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?"
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
catherineduplessis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
That doesn’t mean I only like books that are funny and lighthearted, but I also like being intrigued, surprised, kept on my toes or at least being left with some kind of reflection or food for thoughts.
Well this book only made me feel depressed, sad and heartbroken.
It’s not a bad story. The imagery is beautifully written, but it just makes it even more heartbreaking.
The story is set during WWII. I knew it wasn’t going to be all rainbows and butterflies, but I was expecting a little more reflections.. maybe?
I had a glimpse of hope at page 400 (!), but nope, it became even sadder.
The last 30 pages are the most reflective ones of the whole 530 pages book, but they are still tainted with a dark cloud of death, loneliness and sadness.
Oh, and even if the chapters are very short, the pace is VERY slow. It’s like reading someone’s everyday lives in a very depressing time. There is no plot twist. Just a long slow series of moments in 2 different people’s life slowly becoming more and more lonely and depressing.
All this to say that this book didn’t make me feel good at all and quite the contrary, it put me in a reading slump. It took me a lot longer than I thought to read it because I always wanted to do something else rather than read more of it.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Pregnancy
agnes_skott's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Rape and Antisemitism
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, and War
aeriecircus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury