Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Toda a Luz que Não Podemos Ver by Anthony Doerr

6 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

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.5

I didn’t dislike reading it— I enjoyed the character development and world-building, but the fact that it was all out of order and time-jumpy was a complete and horrible mess and was extremely frustrating to try and keep track of what was going on at any given moment. Also I HATE knowing the end/climax of a book at the beginning, so that ruined it too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

emilyjamison14's review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.75

Beautifully layered writing - the story unfolds in such a way that sometimes I would think “Did I somehow miss something huge in a previous chapter?” but it was all intentional. I liked how the author uses Marie-Laure’s blindness as part of the story: there are vivid descriptions of sounds and smells,

and there is also a scene where I wasn’t 100% sure who she was interacting with without a physical description of the character.

This book is heartbreaking, and I would definitely check the content warnings.

Frederick’s story absolutely devastated me, as he was my favorite character. I did really appreciate Werner’s character arc as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

pigeongreen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The beauty of the writing and story cannot be overstated. Be prepared to absorb, to forget, to re-read, and re-read again — paragraphs, pages, chapters. This author fits so much meaning into so few words. This story spans decades and nations, grabs you by the elbow and leads you along the journey, at times gently, at others aggressively.  Savor the experience and emotions and don’t be surprised if a few tears fall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Devastating.

paigemushaw's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty

sammymilfort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Genocide

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death