Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Als je het licht niet kunt zien by Anthony Doerr

14 reviews

esjackson's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The jumping time periods was very confusing at times

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

erebus53's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nmckelv's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

minib's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

orchidlilly's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nialiversuch's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cutepatzie's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

I am not a fan of war books. But this was surprisingly amazing. I enjoy it so much. It's a heavy book, especially if you were born in Europe. And you can understand the fear, violence, and brutality of war. The story was amazingly written. Just a great book. And also love the representation of a blind person in book. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

no_this_is_patrick's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional

4.75

All the Light We Cannot See is  a book that revolves around two teenagers at the time of World War II . 
Marie-Laure , a blind girl who lives with her beloved father near the Museum of Natural History and Werner , an orphan who lives in a children's home with his little sister Jutta . 

First off I would like to say that the writing style is absolutely phenomenal .  Every idea is completely unique and original and even though I'm not used to these types of books , I loved it .  It contains a beautiful message about how everything you do has an impact  , how something someone says or does can change the life of a person who lives an ocean away .  I would definitely recommend it but a little warning the book isn't for everyone.
 
The book also had its fair share of quotes and they're absolutely stunning

  •  “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.” 
  •  “Is it right,” Jutta says, “to do something only because everyone else is doing it?” 
  •  “Don’t you want to be alive before you die?” 
  •  “Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.” 

All the characters are very loveable but Anthony Doeer did some of the characters dirty . For example:- Jutta . Werner's little sister who I felt deserved much more recognition . I would have loved to read more of her but unfortunately towards the middle of the book her name was barely even mentioned . That was a real disappointment . 

I'm torn between rating this a 4.5 and 5 stars . The book definitely had its imperfections but it was just overshadowed by all the things I loved so I think its definitely worth a 4.75. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bugzandthingz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • 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

"We rise again in the grass. In the flowers. In songs." 

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?" 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings