Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

14 reviews

shaleen64's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

This book is beautifully written with two characters at its centre. Both lovable in their own way, both forced towards different goals but ultimately brought together by a sense of doing what is right.

The book makes you view the Second World War in a different light without becoming a history text book. There’s heartbreak, anger, horror and despair but hope and love throughout.

If you loved the Book Thief, or anything similar, this should be your next read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture

eliya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Historical fictions are difficult for me, and this one was beautifully written. I loved following two people as they grow up, I found it very interesting and informative the different ways in which they interacted with and experienced the war. Heartbreakingly told, such incredible detail done in every moment. 

I think this is a book I would not recommend the audiobook for - I found myself getting too distracted on the small details and had to go back several times. I started the beginning chapters probably thrice. Although, Zach Appelman does an incredible job - there was so much consistency throughout the 16 hours I was astonished. 

I learned a lot about radios and sound waves and science. I learned more about WWII.

I particularly enjoyed

the story about the Sea of Flames, I listened to that probably three times it was so fantastical..

  I savored Yutta’s story as much as I possibly could. I found her fascinating. Verner

:-( I totally get why he had to die but :-( did he really have to. I get that he did some bad things and made some bad choices but 😭 I wanted them together so badly.

Liked this book a lot, other than the out of no where horrificly anti-fat descriptions of fat people lol. I am excited to see what Netflix does with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, and War

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Fatphobia and Rape

isacarvalho91's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

katerinakr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful sad slow-paced

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

I liked the plot wrapping -- one of the best I've read in ages.

The key part, though, is just annoying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Antisemitism, and Medical trauma

mhairi_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Cancer and Chronic illness

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

nialiversuch's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

cutepatzie's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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?" 

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Content Warnings

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

polpolpolulu's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

This book was beautiful written, a lot of foreshadowing and many literary devices. Once you get hooked you develop and attachment to the characters which makes the last 100 pages of the book hurt like crazy. This is the second book I’ve read in a long time that has made me cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism