Review: “All The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr

WARNING: this review contains mild spoilers.

RATING: 4/5

This book has a very special place in my heart, not only because of the story but also because of the circumstances I bought the book. I bought it in the prettiest bookstore I’ve ever seen: Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I was enchanted by the store and honestly I wanted to curl up in a corner and read for hours. But anyhow, let’s get back to the book itself.

I had some issues reading the story. This is for two reasons. The first one is that Doerr’s vocabulary is a lot bigger than mine, so I had some trouble understanding each sentence. The second reason is that there isn’t a lot of action in the story in general. I noticed that I got bored after a while reading the book, but something stopped me from putting the book down. To understand why, you should know a bit about the story.

The book describes the life of two children during the second world war. The first child is Marie-Laure, a blind girl living in Paris with her father. The other child is Werner, a German orphan. The book is about the war from their point of view and of course their paths will cross during the story.

While I was reading the book I was constantly waiting for the big encounter between Marie-Laure and Werner. I was waiting and waiting, and eventually after about 400 pages it happened. This is why I wasn't able to put the book down even though I didn't enjoy it a lot: I was eager to read their meeting because that is what the book builds up to. I previously explained that I had some trouble understanding each and every sentence due to the difficult word choice of Doerr. This also has a positive side. He uses a lot of adjectives in the book, so the descriptions are constantly very detailed. Because of this I got carried away very easily by the story, which can only be a good thing. Don't expect too much from this book right from the beginning, but I do recommend finishing it. The book is "hauntingly beautiful" due to the realistic storyline and the appealing descriptions. Also, don't forget to bring a tissue. I'm positive you'll need it.