From the Bookshelf of Reading with Style…

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

Start date: September 1, 2016

Finish date: December 1, 2016

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What Members Thought

Feb 04, 2015 Whitney rated it really liked it

Shelves: all-the

Intricately and beautifully written. It has heart-wrenching things. It has one or two funny things. I would recommend this as a textbook. Someone could write a combo literature-history paper on this. Is this book too advanced for high school level? If not, I can see it being in the curriculum. Makes the beauty and terror of history - Second World War - very immediate. And it is also an original story! It's difficult to believe that a fresh perspective was still available for this part of history ...more

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Sep 10, 2015 GONZA rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 02, 2015 Megan added it

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

Very beautifully written and beautifully structured. Aside from the writing itself, I loved the science-y stuff the most, and those were the parts of the book that made me feel, that made the book and its story unique, that made me think there was something interesting happening thematically. I wasn't as compelled by the plot or the emotional beats it was hitting (a lot of it felt too sentimental for me, but it's not actually that sentimental of a book--I guess I just could hear the creaking of ...more

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Aug 18, 2015 Jensen Wahlquist rated it it was ok

Shelves: could-not-finish

Ugh I KNOW! I was supposed to like this book! I am so mad right now! Allow me to explain myself.

I got about halfway through and realized I was forcing myself to finish. Did I actually care if I finished this book? No, not really. Was I invested in the characters? No, there wasn't a whole lot of character development. Was I invested in the story? Was there a story?

Anyways, anytime I find that I am forcing myself to read something I put it down. And here's the reason why. I have A LOT of books o ...more

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Dec 28, 2014 Kate S rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2014

Not my favorite story of WWII. I think the young narrators were a good choice. It allowed some of the horrors of this novel to be expressed in a naive voice. Frequently, I thought there was too much going on for the main story to carry the weight it should.

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Feb 01, 2015 Sam rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, books-of-2015

While the writing was fantastic, I just didn't ever really get engaged and into the story. I found it hard to connect with and care about the characters. So in the end, not a bad book by any means, but just not one that did much for me. ...more

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May 03, 2016 Rosemary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wonderful. Had me in bits by the end!

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Mar 27, 2015 Hilary rated it really liked it

I loved the characters in this book, and the language and metaphors are beautiful. I only gave it 4 stars because I wasn't a fan of the way it ended. I also truly felt like the book is heavier on the fiction than the "historical". Yes, it's a war story, but was Paris ever bombed in WWII? I'm thinking not...but that's just me. Could be wrong. Not going to say anything else because I don't want to spoil. Recommend. ...more

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