Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

22 reviews

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, and War

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

mscalls's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

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

ninakzz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Me encantó este libro. Las descripciones desde el punto de vista de los personajes son geniales, varían de la manera correcta, especialmente las descripciones de Marie sobre lo que le rodea, considerando su ceguera, describe con olores, con colores que asigna en su mente, con sensaciones, con sonidos. Increíble como la historia va llevando a los personajes a través de los cambios de la época, a la ocupación nazi y la liberación. La guerra es lo que es.

Fue muy triste lo que sucedió con Werner, me habría gustado que se reencontrara con Marie, pero al menos debo decir que fue muy realista.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

enchantingreads_rosyreviews's review against another edition

3.75

"You know the greatest lesson of history? It's that history is whatever the victors say it is. That's the lesson. Whoever wins, that's who decides the history. We act in our own self interest. Of course we do. Name a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are."

📻
Reasons why this book is great: 

1. Every sentence and paragraph paints a vivid picture in your head; almost as if creating a world for someone who is unable to physically see it (like the main character, Marie-Laure). 
2. Definition of a beautifully tragic tale. The author doesn’t shy away from the dark side of war or survival during occupation, but also describes the world to remind us to cherish every day. 
3. Written as an epic tale, with high-stakes, action, character growth, and drama. 
4. For anyone who’s a fan of independent films or typical Oscar-nominated films, this story taps into that same general vibe.

Whew! This book is one of those that feeds and starves your soul. It's a hard read because it focuses on tragedy (WW2) and the tough choices regular people have to make in times of extreme circumstances. Although the Netflix series did an AMAZING job adapting this book, there is SO. MUCH. MORE. to absorb from the book. Doerr's descriptive language, epic scenery, unique world-view, and likeable characters are truly something to experience.

Also, this was my first book that I used an audio guide to follow along. Honestly, because of the book's epic-ness, I found myself getting lost in the words/descriptions. Having the audiobook companion to keep me on track with my paperback version, was a great help to stay grounded in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and War

Minor: Xenophobia and Death of parent

This book takes place during Nazi occupation in France, bringing all of the historical elements into this story.

mdwsn27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Grief, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Death of parent

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

lwelch94's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zosiablue's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

GodDAMN 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Dementia, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Grief