Hi friends, happy Wednesday, I hope you’re all well! Today I’m posting my review of Anthony Doerr’s novel All the Light We Cannot See.

All the Light We Cannot See by: Anthony Doerr: Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father until the Nazis start to occupy Paris and they flee to Saint-Malo to live with her great-uncle. When they leave, they carry with them one of the most valuable jewels from the Museum of Natural History. Meanwhile, Werner is an orphan living in a small town in Germany. He has a fascination with building and fixing electronics and as the war goes on, he’s recruited for his talents to track down the enemies. As time goes on, their lives begin to intertwine in the slightest of ways, yet making an enormous impact. This reader doesn’t usually love historical fiction, but this was a moving and fast-paced novel. The chapters were really short which had them flying through the pages, devouring the story because they couldn’t get enough. This did have a bit of a slow start and the reader didn’t think they would like this, but as the plot got going, it really picked up and left the reader hanging on every word to find out what would happen next. The plot took so many dips and dives that nothing was predictable. The reader liked how this was set in a dual point of view and watching those points of view as they slowly, slowly intersected with one another. Even the little nods to how the two main characters were connected was brilliantly done; it was so subtle, yet so powerful. The way this wasn’t written in chronological order threw the reader a bit because they always felt a little confused as to what year the chapter took place, in relation to the events that had already happened. But that aside, the writing was captivating and truly beautiful. The characters were deeply layered and developed; the fact that we got to see them as they grew up really let the reader get to know them and fall in love with all of them. The reader really liked Marie-Laure as a character; there was just something about her that was so humble and graceful. The way her father loved her and showed his love really struck the reader, as well as her great-uncle too. The secondary characters really uplifted the main characters and in some cases enhanced them to be stronger and resilient. In the end, this was masterfully written and told with strong characters and a fast moving plot.