All The Light We Cannot See Book Review

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Published by Scribner on May 6, 2014
Pages: 531
Goodreads

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

This was a reread for me and I’m so glad I did. I had read All The Light We Cannot See a long time ago, and I knew that it had become an instant favourite, but I was at the time well into my historical fiction fad. It was my concern that out of that haze that it would read the same and I would struggle. Well I needn’t have worried, it may not have hit the same notes, I still loved the imagery and characters.

Characters in All The Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See follows Marie-Laure and her father navigating occupied France in a small seaside town. I think the way that PTSD and mental health is dealt with in this book was fantastically done. Especially with the great uncle. I really enjoyed reading and experiencing his journey through anxiety and grief and seeing how he navigates through that throughout the story. There was a depth to his character that surpassed even the main character Marie-Laure. He was the shining light throughout this story and the person who I was rooting for.

I suppose we have to talk about Marie-Laure and her involvement within the plot. I think the fact that she was completely blind added a whole new dimension to the story. It really pushed me as a reader to use my other senses. It added a new perspective to the war, and also to the setting. When people say this book is beautifully written and is beautiful, I think this is the reason why.

Bad Bits in All The Light We Cannot See

The only bad bits for me was the ending. I couldn’t remember exactly what happened but I didn’t realise just how abrupt everything happened. It felt as though the pacing suddenly sped up and we weren’t almost left catching our breath. I do distinctly remembering being upset and sobbing at the ending but this time around it didn’t have that impact. I wanted desperately to feel something but I think the pacing made me disconnect to the story which was a little bit of a shame.

Good Bits

This is a hard one to pin down, because I feel as though there is a lot going for this book and story. It doesn’t struggle with some of the awful tropes that other WWII books. Plus the imagery and world that is created is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever read about. It is such an immersive, nail-biting experience and I adored reading about and learning the way the resistance worked within the town. It was a brilliant way of seeing the people’s resilience all the way through All The Light We Cannot See, especially the different levels. There were people who were openly hostile and riled against the Germans and other who were more silent about their disdain. It was a fantastic combination of people and circumstances.

What now?

I actually have another of Doer’s books on my shelf and I cannot wait to dive into it. I’m really holding out hope that there will be the same kind of imagery and beauty as this one. If it is only half as immersive as this one, it will be a winner in my book!

What are some of your favourite WWII books? I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations.