Reviews tagging 'Blood'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

73 reviews

deianeiraann's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.75

I was pleased with how quickly it felt the story got going, then it lulled, then I was enthralled through to the end. Very short “chapter” breaks let us switch between two main and a few other characters’ perspectives. Time jumps can be tricky to keep straight but this is all done effectively: keeping the story interesting and avoiding giving too much away. The war is a backdrop as the setting and reason for the events unfolding as they do- I wouldn’t describe it as a WWII book. Instead, it is a historical fiction playing with the magic of radio communication. The the title of the is very fitting. A clever novel

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Genocide, Sexual assault, and Blood

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

barrymeinbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, and War

deestreet's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, and Terminal illness

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I did like this book, but it was a slow read, and I struggled with how I felt about one of the main characters. I didn’t like what he was doing but at the same time, I knew he had no choice, and ultimately was very sad at what ended up happening. It’s not often that a book can shock me, and this one SHOOK me at the ending. Overall, I liked it but I wouldn’t reread and I wish it would have had an underlying subplot to make it more interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

jules_farkas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

izzy_14's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, and Death of parent

toricall's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

A good read with even better characters. This is a book that I typically wouldn’t read, but I’m glad I did. 

The character development throughout this story is what makes this book so lovable. Each character, good or bad, had a storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. I found myself liking even “minor” characters as they all made a crucial part of the main characters story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Rape, Blood, and Antisemitism

The book takes place in Europe during World War 2

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

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