March BOTM Discussion - All the Light We Cannot See & Chaysing Dreams

[Kirstin, Moderator]

Thank you for the GREAT nominations for this month's discussion. The chosen books are: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr & Chaysing Dreams by Jalpa Williby.

Let us know what you thought... Did you like it? What did you think about the characters, plot, ending... share your reading experience.

[Sharon]

I read All the Light We Cannot See last month. To be honest, I did not like it as much as I thought I would. It took me a long while to get into it, as alternating chapters are written in different points of view. I did like the main characters and thought the plot was well developed.

[Luccia]

I'm going to read the book gradually. I've read the first 30 pages, and I'd like to share my first impressions.
I’ve been looking forward to reading this novel. I’m impressed with the almost 8,000 four and five star reviews. I’m an avid reader, and I’m also a writer, so I’m keen to discover why this book has enthralled so many readers.
Some novels start with action or dialogue, but ‘All The Light We Cannot See’ ATLWCS starts giving us the setting before the action, (I enjoy both types of beginnings).
I like the way this novel starts with vivid images. The action unfolds as if the reader were watching a film. The leaflets and the bombers let us know what is happening: the second world war in France. Then the camera closes into the girl, Marie Laure and the boy, Werner, are introduced. There are no secrets. We are told the girl is French and blind from the start, and that the young man is a German soldier. So far there’s a lot of telling, but I like the short sharp chapters. Their lives are shown in parallel movements, and we can guess that their paths will somehow be connected.
Suddenly the narrative goes back 6 years to Paris. Marie’s enigmatic father who works at the Natural History Museum and is building a scale model of their neighbourhood, and tells some children the mysterious story of a powerful diamond called the sea of flames, which enables its owner to live forever, at a high price. Meanwhile, Werner is an orphan living in Germany with his sister Jutta.
I'm not sure what it's going to be about, except the war, a mysterious diamond, and the four characters mentioned so far.
I'm curious to find out what will bring them together and how their lives will influence each other's.
I’m looking forward to reading another 30 pages or so tomorrow.
What are your first impressions of this novel?
What makes you want to continue Reading?