A review by marywag08
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

5.0

It's easy to focus on the "extraordinary" people of WWII-- the heroes, the people who performed extraordinary feats, those who brought horrible atrocities on others, ect. Doerr decided to write from the POV of the million of "ordinary" people-- those who may not have performed acts of heroism, but rather lived to endure the war. Marie-Laure is a young, blind Parisian girl who escapes to Saint-Malo with her father, a locksmith from the Natural History Museum. What she doesn't realize is that her father carries a unique gem rumored to make it's holder immortal while bringing death to those around them. Concurrently, a young German boy unsure of his feelings toward the Reich finds himself in the elite ranks of the Hitler Youth after his skills in radio transmissions and repair are discovered among the top echelon of the Nazi Party. Despite being surrounded by the most devoted young Nazis (and thus presumed to be one of them), Werner continues to question what he sees around him and never seems to define his feelings toward the party. This beautiful tale depicts the fear and uncertainty that defined the time while also highlighting the simple acts that helped bring down the Reich.