Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

13 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

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

ella_ruby's review against another edition

I really liked what I did read specifically the almost lyrical and highly descriptive style of writing. I actually completely forgot about it but want to read all of it in the future

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Violence, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Minor: Genocide, Racism, and Antisemitism

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Moderate: Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Deportation

lzaz87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

lalalily17's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

I have read this book 2 times now and it is still one of my favorites. The writing is beautiful and vivid and I love how the author weaves multiple perspectives and multiple timelines into one massive, impactful story about family, memory, the destructive natute of war, and hope. The main characters are well written, complex, and interesting. I love them terribly!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Medical content, Abandonment, and War

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

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

,Let's face it, the world war II genre is overplayed. The writing here wasn't bad, it was good even, but the plot mostly lost me. It mainly follows two people, a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy as they grow up in Europe. The plot just doesn't feel very grabbing or original to me, it's your standard world war II book, with a bit of romance and, for some reason fantasy, thrown in unnecessarily. The short-lived romance between the two main characters seems odd and forced and the up in the air magical artifact McGuffin that then has no actual plot value is downright strange. Honestly, the best parts of this book are the ones that focus on the German boy's sister, and fellow soldier, but even those aren't very original. There's simply so much of the same world war II book a person can read without getting tired of the same old schtick, and this hit the limit for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

svenjaxx3's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder