All the Light We Cannot See

I am pretty sure that this is the first time I've written a review on Goodreads, but I think that it's time.

I have to say that initially, I had a very hard time getting into this book. I have a hard time reading works that use a lot of descriptive language, and Doerr does just that. It is beautiful, evocative language, but my brain really struggles with it most of the time. But I told myself that with so many stellar ratings, a Pulitzer prize, and all of its critical acclaim, I had to give All the Light We Cannot See a good college try.

I am so glad that I did. I found myself completely enrapt by the characters' nuances, namely main characters Werner and Marie-Laure, but also great-uncle Etienne. The depth that I felt I understood them is unparalleled in many of the books I've read, and I did not expect this from a work set in WWII Europe. I could not stop reading, hoping, quietly wishing for the best for these robust fictional people.

My favorite thing about this entire book, though, is that when I first started reading, I found myself predicting the ending. I read through a lot of the book kind of assuming that a certain thing was going to happen to wrap the story up. I am very pleased to say that this was not what happened at all. To be fair, if my prediction had been correct, I still would've loved the book and rated it highly, but the fact that the predictable finale that I was so sure of was not the case at all gave me faith that good, non-formulaic authors still do exist.

I am so, so very glad that I gave this book a chance. I don't think that I can say that this is my favorite book of all time, but I am now resolute in my decision to not write off historical fiction (as I had been wont to do) and to give the “difficult” books a fair shot. This is a book that we will be reading and raving about for decades to come.