Books & Chocolate
I love to read just about anything, as long as it's fiction. I read for me - that means I read what I want, when I want. My reviews tend to mostly be based on how I'm able to personally connect with the story/characters. They are not intended to influence someone to read, or not read, a particular book. I always encourage people to take a chance and make up your own mind.
Oh, and I love chocolate.
All the Light We Cannot See
I'll start by saying that All the Light We Cannot See is beautifully written. I also loved the characters and the complexity each one brought. This extended beyond the main characters. I enjoyed seeing the effects of WWII from both sides. We had Marie-Laure, a blind Parisian girl, who loses her home and eventually her father because of the war. Then there is Werner, an orphaned boy, who is brainwashed to believe that not only will his life be better as part of the Hitler Youth, but that he would be doing the right thing. Both are victims, just in different ways.
I didn't really like the back-and-forth on the timeline. I always find that hard to follow, and I'm not entirely sure it was necessary for this book. I might have enjoyed it even more if it had followed a linear path. I also felt there were moments where it dragged. It was a bit too long. Maybe one option would have been to leave out the whole Sea of Flames story arc. I'm not exactly sure what that brought to the story. The critical moments that occurred because of this story arc could have still been achieved through some slight tweaking.
I listened to the audiobook version, and I do believe that it enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. The narrator, Zach Appleman, did a very good job.
