Reviews with content warning for Death - All the Light We Cannot See

My favourite quote was when Marie-Loure asked "we are the good guys though? And her uncle responded "I hope so" because you often don't know until the war is over.

Overall though I don't think I enjoyed this book, I kept flip-flopping between. I like it and I don't like it but in the end it was too long and the timelines going back and forth between present and past was a little confusing and hard to keep track of sometimes, especially because the book was sooooooo long. The ending was also really unsatisfying. I wish it had ended a lot sooner than it did. I feel like this could have been edited down by at least 200 pages. I was also quite upset by the unnecessary updates on some of the characters at the end. Finding out what happened to his sister in particular, yikes. I mean I understand that this is what happened in real life after the war and during the war. But I felt like it didn't add anything to this book. It was just unnecessary and upsetting.

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hmbrokaw's review

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dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I’m not sure how much this book sticks with me considering this was my second read and I couldn’t remember anything from the first read. But it was quite good

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jamanji's review

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adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed reading this book every step of the way. The writing is masterful and the author’s ability to manipulate the plot and intertwine two seemingly unrelated lives into one is remarkable.

**SPOILER ALERT**

I did not expect the ending, especially Werner’s death. it was surprising and abrupt that one of the main characters was killed in one simple sentence. The irony of his death at the hands of German machinery when he himself was a slave to German machinery was not lost on me. I did obviously hope for a happy ending for Marie and Werner (why didn’t he just take off his damn uniform), but I guess it’s more poetic this way.

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naomiannerie's review

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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aestass's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved this book! San Malo really came alive and I enjoyed the slow build of multiple story lines. Marie is my favorite and I appreciate that the author chose to portray a blind character properly.

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