Name: All the Light We Cannot See
Rating: 4.23208722741433 (1284 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008485191

ANTHONY. DOERR

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come.

All the Light We Cannot See

Moira

Valle Fernandez

Daniel Bower

vivian mizuno

Princess Twasam 

Samantha Mochrie 

ellie🤍

Anthony Doerr

A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after meeting on the Brittany coast. By the award-winning author of About Grace.

A Novel

Sara T-son

I incredibly randomly pick this book from an airport bookshop, buying it because I liked the title and the cover. Little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the best books I have ever read. It has an interesting mixture of World War II and of "fairytale". There is something almost magical laying over this book. A few moments in this book are truly breathtaking and also tear-jerking. It gives you an insight of the devastation of war and more specifically the Second World War. I finished this book being deeply concerned of what war does to people and also with the reminder that war is never black and white. I highly recommend this book to everyone, just read it and you will know what I am talking about.

jamiee

Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret. Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father's life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering. At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in. Doerr's combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric.

angie

Frank Huang

Keila Rico 

Jacey Manning

first time read rating: 3.75 stars (didn't complete)

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

first time read rating: 3.75 stars (didn't complete)

second time read rating: 5 stars

Maureen

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

***

Longest book I’ve read this year! The prose is one of the best I’ve read. Honestly got hooked because of its lovely cover and title... though the content doesn’t disappoint! The short chapters (1-2 pages) easily make it a page-turner. Everything is so vivid— Doerr does Marie Laure’s character justice. 4 stars because it’s such a slow burn that I dropped this halfway—however, I think it’s also one of the book’s strong points because the characters are properly fleshed out as a result. The ending felt anticlimactic, but I don’t usually read historical fiction so I can’t judge. Nevertheless, I’m glad I finally finished reading this and I truly understand why plenty of people love this book.

One of the best books I have ever read. Everything about it interested me so much. I thought it was really interesting to have 2 points of view with little connections to each other that are actually really important. I love the well-developed characters and the interesting plot. The ending left me in tears but it was worth it.

Heard good things about this book and was recommend it by some friends. It did not disappoint. It was a beautifully written story.

Jazz

Chris Dailey

Engrossing and beautiful fiction about two teens, one French, the other German, caught up in the machine of WWII. Told in 2-4 page bursts, the story operates in flashbacks with an anchor in the fall of the fortress city of Saint Malo in 1944. The two precocious protagonists deal with loss of family, longing for a normal life, stunted intellectual curiosity, and the horrors of war. Despite their national allegiances, the two seems to be one in the sense that they're looking for the same thing: the chance to pursue their interests. Engaging writing moves the narrative along quickly and could have benefited from a slower pace.

It was a gorgeous, heartfelt and poignant book about a blind girl in the midst of the Second World War.

Harriet 

Rec from Charlotte and Ella. I’m so sad guys. This was gut wrenching in a whole different way than expected. 

A beautiful, subtle book, very moving and clever.

Emma Randall

Crystal Mfeka

Luke Harkness

Just wasn't as big a fan of it as I hoped I would be. The chapters were too short, I just couldn't connect the characters, it jumped around times too frequently.

maitha mana

'Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever'

At first I didn't want another WW2 novel. Then I realised this was something special.

A cloth bag containing 20 paperback copies of the title that may also include a folder with sign out sheets.

3 of 5 stars

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Finally, I've read this book. I was craving for something historical and I remember having this on my TBR for such a long time. But unfortunately, it ended up being quite a disappointment for me. I knew that it was in WWII setting and I expected a very emotional and heartbreaking story. It was heartbreaking in its own way but not heartbreaking enough for my own taste. I didn't get attached to it as much as I wanted it to and the symbolism of the diamond in the story was not very helpful to achieve it. 
It was still a good read, don't get me wrong. It's just that I hope I went into it without having too much expectation. Maybe I would have liked it more that way.

All The Light We Cannot See

Suyash Goylit

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever

All The Light We Cannot See is like a sad song that touches your heart and leaves you contemplating long after you've heard it. It starts with an array of lovable characters in situations we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies. It, then, masterfully makes us live these situations along with the characters through masterful writing and storytelling. Multiple POVs and timelines developing coherently, almost like building up to a crescendo, then everything coming together and collapsing in that one moment. Flawless execution of a heart-wrenching story with a conclusion that ties up everything in a nice little bow.

Even though it was a bit longer than what I usually read, it never felt that way. Partly because dividing each scene into individual chapters works perfectly, as it never wore me out and compelled me to read just a little more every time. But mainly because since the penultimate chapter of part 1, Herr Siedler, about 80 pages in, I was completely engrossed in the story. From that point on, everything came together perfectly. The jumps between different POVs and even timelines felt so coherent until the very end.

There are three chapters that stood out for me. First, as I mentioned before, the penultimate chapter of the first part, Herr Siedler. It transforms the story and Werner's life completely by giving him a glimpse of what he thinks could be his way out. For the reader, I think it burns in the adverse condition this 13-year-old is in and gives us false hope for a better future. It is also virtually the starting point of Werner's story. The second is the ante-penultimate chapter of part seven, White City. (view spoiler)[It serves almost as a flip-switch moment for Werner. He was on the fence regarding his actions in the war from the very beginning but he pushed through everything, but, this chapter was essentially his breaking point. When he sees that little girl in the wardrobe with a bullet hole right between her eyes, it shatters him and lays the groundwork for things to follow. Finally, the very first chapter of the eleventh part, Berlin, broke me as a reader. We often forget that irrespective of the outcome of the war, the general populace always suffers. This chapter, in mere 3 pages, describes the horrible atrocities that were committed by the universally deemed "good side" in the war. And to top all that, it comes at the heels of Werner's demise, which was just heart-breaking. It, however, leads in to the conclusion of the story perfectly. The fallout of the war and the epilogue of the story, even though was not desirable, it was authentic. It was never meant to be a fairy tale and it didn't try to be that, not even at the end. It felt like every character had a satisfying conclusion, and even though none of them had a truly happy ending, it was the best they could have had in such adverse conditions. (hide spoiler)]

Audrey

Pamela Koh

Superb. Enjoyed every harrowing, hopeful, beautiful, disturbing, sad, happy moment of it. 

Mark Phillips

Tatiana

All the Light We Cannot See: 4/5

Wow, this book was beautiful. All the Light We Cannot See mainly follows two characters at the end of WW2 in a French town called Saint-Malo. The Allies are shelling the city to drive the Nazis out which is where we meet Marie Laure, a blind girl who fled with her uncle and father from Paris, and Werner a youth in the German Army specializing in radios. From here, the book jumps in time describing how the two main characters got to this place, and their experiences throughout the war. 

There is an underlining plot that drives the two characters together, but what truly made this book special is the journey they took and the people they met along the way. The small shots of life are what was breathtaking, and Doerr's writing made it difficult to put down. 

Doerr treats these characters with such care all the way until the end and it's heartbreaking in the best way. His words weave an incredible picture full of metaphor and perfect craftsmanship that is nothing short of a marvel. 

I really loved this book and would recommend it to all who like historical fiction.

All the Light We Cannot See

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