All The Light We Cannot See

 

 If you like The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, then you will love this novel! Due to my love for Kristin Hannah's book, I decided to pick up a copy of Anthony Doerr's book.

   The first thing that made me love this book was the set up of the book. There are roughly eleven "sections" that are split in time periods. Such as August 1944, April 1943, etc.. At first this was a little confusing to follow, but it really was a great writing tool and really helped to build suspense. Within each of these sections, there are mini chapters that are central to one character at a time.

   Werner Pfennig and Marie-Laure LeBlanc were the two main characters that readers follow throughout the novel. Both were fighting in the war, both in completely different ways. Marie-Laure is a blind teenager who is uprooted from her home in Paris with her father. Werner is a young boy who is faced with a decision - fight in the war or work in the mines.

   At first, I did not really "fall" for either of the characters. In a lot of novels I am quickly in love with the characters and want to see exactly what happens and where their paths lead. However, with this novel I fell in love with the story. I did not particularly care if Marie-Laure survives the war or wether or not Werner joined the army. I cared about how the story unfolded.

   A central theme in the novel is a gem. A rare gem that is supposed to hold some magical property that protects people from death. Four French men have a gem, three of them are fake and one is real. A German soldier with a body ridded with tumors is in search of the magical stone and the protection from death. This was this part that I cared about. The stone. I am not sure why I fell in love with this stone and what happened to it, but I cared more about the stone than I did about Marie-Laure or Werner.

   Most likely, I loved the stone so much because the whole novel revolved around it. Marie-Laure's father has one of the stones, and he does not know if it is real or not. The German soldier in search of the stone is tracking down all four men in hopes to find the stone. Werner is a young German soldier whose brain is being used to find the bad guys with radios and ends up meeting Marie-Laure. Why? Because not only does her father have a potentially rare stone, but her great uncle has a massive transmitter in the attic of his house. The stone draws everyone together! Via radios and health prospects, and so much more.

   Though I am sure most people who discuss All The Light We Cannot See like to write about the characters and how they coexist. But truthfully, I think that the more subtle parts of the story are more intense and intriguing. When tragedy strikes the characters, my mind was not that worried. I was more interested in how the stone would alter peoples lives and what chaos it would cause next.

   Once again, if you loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, then I highly recommend this book to you! Doerr perfectly balances history and intensity and so much more. Though there is no "love" aspect in All The Light We Cannot See, the book is one of my favorite that I've read! I say this about the love interest because most of the books I read are all about love and who ends up with who.

  All in all, I loved this book! Though the start of this book was relatively slow, it picks up and takes over your life. I would give this book an 8.5/10 because it could have made the characters more interesting, but made up for the characters in the stones story.

Make sure to pick up a copy at your local bookstore!!

XO,

Allie

PS-
  I am so so sorry for the inactivity from my blog! I enjoyed my first few weeks of "summer" and decided to take time away from writing reviews and self love posts! I promise to be more active soon!