Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

19 reviews

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

4.0

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

rachel101's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jamanji's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

I enjoyed reading this book every step of the way. The writing is masterful and the author’s ability to manipulate the plot and intertwine two seemingly unrelated lives into one is remarkable.

**SPOILER ALERT**

I did not expect the ending, especially Werner’s death. it was surprising and abrupt that one of the main characters was killed in one simple sentence. The irony of his death at the hands of German machinery when he himself was a slave to German machinery was not lost on me. I did obviously hope for a happy ending for Marie and Werner (why didn’t he just take off his damn uniform), but I guess it’s more poetic this way.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

christiemaple's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

booksandbabble's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

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.

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

vas_17's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

snowwpuppet's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury