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lizbethandthelifeinbetween
3.5
So, I've thought it over a bit and I think the main problem with this book was the short perspectives. It made it really hard for me to really fall into the book because every two or three pages I was being thrown into someone else's head, but I did enjoy seeing the same scenes in different perspectives without repetition. Unfortunately, this did make it harder for me to enjoy the story in the way that I had Between Shades of Grey, but let's be honest that book is hard to top. The writing was still beautiful and so descriptive even of the tough and gritty which I've come to expect from the author. Her characters were still very down to earth and real, and I felt for them, just not all time, because, again, those short little chapters made it really hard to experience one character emotion for more than a little bit. Still worth the read and the hype though!
So, I've thought it over a bit and I think the main problem with this book was the short perspectives. It made it really hard for me to really fall into the book because every two or three pages I was being thrown into someone else's head, but I did enjoy seeing the same scenes in different perspectives without repetition. Unfortunately, this did make it harder for me to enjoy the story in the way that I had Between Shades of Grey, but let's be honest that book is hard to top. The writing was still beautiful and so descriptive even of the tough and gritty which I've come to expect from the author. Her characters were still very down to earth and real, and I felt for them, just not all time, because, again, those short little chapters made it really hard to experience one character emotion for more than a little bit. Still worth the read and the hype though!
2.5 I really wish there were half stars because I don't want to give it a two, but I don't want to give it a three slightly more.
I didn't hate this book, which was strange because I found problems with it. It was long but enjoyable and I don't regret reading it. But my feelings are mixed and I can't help but point out the things that made this read only 2.5 stars on five.
So let's start with what blew me away before we get into the things that bugged me. The message was given to us at the end of the novel, or what I interpreted it as was that people can and will have an effect on others. Even if they are separated by countries, wars, and generations. Even if they never meet. Something someone says or does can travel a long way and impact someone else's life, connecting in people in ways they can never imagine, even after their death. That is the beauty of All the Light We Cannot See, and why you should read his book.
Now what bugged me besides the beautiful message:
First, it's extremely long and the pages could have been used so much better. Anthony Doerr did an outstanding job at developing the leads, Marie-Laure and Werner, and some of their supporting characters. But the problem was that he only developed some! Many characters just seemed to just disappear after the first 100 or so pages, becoming nothing but a name. Like Jutta. By the end of the book, she was someone from a memory who I didn't care for enough to care for the ending. Also, Jutta was the only character I felt any connection to, and I promptly lost attachment to the book when she disappeared, becoming nothing more than a name on a letter we never see again until the end.
Also, as someone who likes old french authors and [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1622832627p2/656983.jpg], it seemed like way too many pages for the small amounts of description. I wanted so much more than what I was given. The description was or at least felt like, it was one or two words in a phrase on a page, giving me the faintest ideas for the world. Sure, it's the world that I live in, but I've never been to Paris before. Or France. I've seen Heidelberg Germany and the Frankfurt Airport, but only the touristy areas like castles and palaces. I can't imagine accurately what everything looks like, especially in the 1940s. I often found myself imagining that it looked like the sceneries from wither Harry Potter or the film for [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368] and I have no idea how accurate my imagery is.
Also, it flipped between time and perspectives randomly and often. The book started near the end in 1944, and then the next about 200 pages were in 1940, so long that I had almost forgotten what had happened in the prologue. Now, this did keep me interested throughout the story, was I wanted to know how it got to that point and whatnot, but a good story shouldn't have to leave cliffhangers for every time and character to keep the reader hooked.
Then for the character perspective change. I enjoyed reading about the different characters, but the chapters were so short and the characters not even being in the same country made it hard to follow. As soon as I got wrapped up in Marie-Laure's story I was thrust into Werner's or von Rumpel's. And von Rumpel's seemed totally unnecessary, just as the gem was. It was interesting in the beginning, but gave no lift to the story and lost its "wow" factor after the first couple hundred pages. In all this left me unattached to characters, in the end, when I felt little emotion. I was like "Okay, well that happened. Too bad. Not what I was expecting."
And finally, I wish the main characters had met up sooner. It felt like the whole plot of the book was building up to these character meetings, which they didn't happen soon enough nor in a satisfying way. I guess as I said at the beginning, I feel like the moral of the story is about how two people with no similarities who barely meet can have an impact on each other. And that is the beauty of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. If I can look past all these flaws and see the light in this novel then you can too!
I didn't hate this book, which was strange because I found problems with it. It was long but enjoyable and I don't regret reading it. But my feelings are mixed and I can't help but point out the things that made this read only 2.5 stars on five.
So let's start with what blew me away before we get into the things that bugged me. The message was given to us at the end of the novel, or what I interpreted it as was that people can and will have an effect on others. Even if they are separated by countries, wars, and generations. Even if they never meet. Something someone says or does can travel a long way and impact someone else's life, connecting in people in ways they can never imagine, even after their death. That is the beauty of All the Light We Cannot See, and why you should read his book.
Now what bugged me besides the beautiful message:
First, it's extremely long and the pages could have been used so much better. Anthony Doerr did an outstanding job at developing the leads, Marie-Laure and Werner, and some of their supporting characters. But the problem was that he only developed some! Many characters just seemed to just disappear after the first 100 or so pages, becoming nothing but a name. Like Jutta. By the end of the book, she was someone from a memory who I didn't care for enough to care for the ending. Also, Jutta was the only character I felt any connection to, and I promptly lost attachment to the book when she disappeared, becoming nothing more than a name on a letter we never see again until the end.
Also, as someone who likes old french authors and [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1622832627p2/656983.jpg], it seemed like way too many pages for the small amounts of description. I wanted so much more than what I was given. The description was or at least felt like, it was one or two words in a phrase on a page, giving me the faintest ideas for the world. Sure, it's the world that I live in, but I've never been to Paris before. Or France. I've seen Heidelberg Germany and the Frankfurt Airport, but only the touristy areas like castles and palaces. I can't imagine accurately what everything looks like, especially in the 1940s. I often found myself imagining that it looked like the sceneries from wither Harry Potter or the film for [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368] and I have no idea how accurate my imagery is.
Also, it flipped between time and perspectives randomly and often. The book started near the end in 1944, and then the next about 200 pages were in 1940, so long that I had almost forgotten what had happened in the prologue. Now, this did keep me interested throughout the story, was I wanted to know how it got to that point and whatnot, but a good story shouldn't have to leave cliffhangers for every time and character to keep the reader hooked.
Then for the character perspective change. I enjoyed reading about the different characters, but the chapters were so short and the characters not even being in the same country made it hard to follow. As soon as I got wrapped up in Marie-Laure's story I was thrust into Werner's or von Rumpel's. And von Rumpel's seemed totally unnecessary, just as the gem was. It was interesting in the beginning, but gave no lift to the story and lost its "wow" factor after the first couple hundred pages. In all this left me unattached to characters, in the end, when
Spoiler
Werner diedAnd finally, I wish the main characters had met up sooner. It felt like the whole plot of the book was building up to these character meetings, which they didn't happen soon enough nor in a satisfying way. I guess as I said at the beginning, I feel like the moral of the story is about how two people with no similarities who barely meet can have an impact on each other. And that is the beauty of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. If I can look past all these flaws and see the light in this novel then you can too!
Definitely not my taste in book. Can see how others would find it charming but this is not up my alley. The writing was very basic and the characters were flat and very stereotypical.
2.75, maybe 2,5.
Jack of all trades but master of none is the phrase I'd use to describe this book. It tries to do too many things at once and they clash together, allowing nothing to truly shine. It's not a bad book, or even a boring one, but it falls flat in so many areas.
The description, which is the main star of the book, is dragged down by the insistence of a deep and daring plot that is a letdown and to me, the weakest element in the book. While Morgenstern managed to create fantastical imagery to an impressive scale through the completion, it never felt high stakes, or even that it mattered. The book would have been so much better without it, or if the circumstances had been tweaked. I felt like this book was going from enemies to lovers but never committed to it because the lovers were never enemies, their tutors were just making a bet on who was the best tutor and forcing them to compete in a completion where the penalty is humiliation for the tutor and it can go on for as long as it must and it will be over when it is over and there are no rules just someday someone will know that there has been a winner, and then someday after that someone will know that it is over.
Secondly, while the tense allowed for wonderous descriptions, it meant that the entire book was told to us. Again, fine for description, but for the plot: breaking the cardinal rule of storytelling, show, don't tell. And it suffered for this.
I wish this had just picked a lane and stayed in it because it could have been great.
Jack of all trades but master of none is the phrase I'd use to describe this book. It tries to do too many things at once and they clash together, allowing nothing to truly shine. It's not a bad book, or even a boring one, but it falls flat in so many areas.
The description, which is the main star of the book, is dragged down by the insistence of a deep and daring plot that is a letdown and to me, the weakest element in the book. While Morgenstern managed to create fantastical imagery to an impressive scale through the completion, it never felt high stakes, or even that it mattered. The book would have been so much better without it, or if the circumstances had been tweaked. I felt like this book was going from enemies to lovers but never committed to it because the lovers were never enemies, their tutors were just making a bet on who was the best tutor and forcing them to compete in a completion where the penalty is humiliation for the tutor and it can go on for as long as it must and it will be over when it is over and there are no rules just someday someone will know that there has been a winner, and then someday after that someone will know that it is over.
Secondly, while the tense allowed for wonderous descriptions, it meant that the entire book was told to us. Again, fine for description, but for the plot: breaking the cardinal rule of storytelling, show, don't tell. And it suffered for this.
I wish this had just picked a lane and stayed in it because it could have been great.
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I was a bit worried about how the story would translate given how small this graphic novel seemed and I've seen shorter books split into many volumes. This did an amazing job capturing the imagery in Cashore's writing as well as telling the story. I absolutely loved it as a major fan of the original book. It's full colour and the art is beautiful. I highly recommend this for fans of graphic novels and the original book. Would definitely buy more if the rest of the series got adapted. I would love to see [b:Fire|6137154|Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)|Kristin Cashore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331535456l/6137154._SY75_.jpg|6128277] in this medium.
DNF @ 298, light skimming done after
It has been a very long time since I DNF'd a book, especially after I joined some book communities a few years ago, because I always wanted to read a book to the end to give it a full chance.
Honestly, this feels like Real Person Fanfiction, with the added bad-taste that it's been published and thus approved and endorsed by many. I don't feel like Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have been deceased long enough for this to be some historical book in the vein of Philippa Gregory. If we consider their lives as stories, they have not been dead long enough (nor has enough time passed since the events in the book took place) for them to be considered public domain. Maybe in another century, but even then this is not it. It feels disrespectful and it is clear the author does not know God or has anything but the most superficial understanding of religion. I would be mortified if someone wrote a book like this about me, and I have a feeling that the real-life people mentioned here would as well. There's smut and everything.
It's well written, and I will say that Callahan seems to be a competent author. However, this romantic take on real people is not a testament to her talents. SHe could have explored these themes in a biography much better, or written a romance novel with fictional people. This book tried to do both and it does not work well.
It has been a very long time since I DNF'd a book, especially after I joined some book communities a few years ago, because I always wanted to read a book to the end to give it a full chance.
Honestly, this feels like Real Person Fanfiction, with the added bad-taste that it's been published and thus approved and endorsed by many. I don't feel like Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have been deceased long enough for this to be some historical book in the vein of Philippa Gregory. If we consider their lives as stories, they have not been dead long enough (nor has enough time passed since the events in the book took place) for them to be considered public domain. Maybe in another century, but even then this is not it. It feels disrespectful and it is clear the author does not know God or has anything but the most superficial understanding of religion. I would be mortified if someone wrote a book like this about me, and I have a feeling that the real-life people mentioned here would as well. There's smut and everything.
It's well written, and I will say that Callahan seems to be a competent author. However, this romantic take on real people is not a testament to her talents. SHe could have explored these themes in a biography much better, or written a romance novel with fictional people. This book tried to do both and it does not work well.
I don't think this is the best example of Morton's work. It fell a bit short, honestly, when I compare it to the likes of [b: The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547843777l/3407877._SY75_.jpg|3448086] and [b: The Secret Keeper|13508607|The Secret Keeper|Kate Morton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455089196l/13508607._SY75_.jpg|19060869]. The mystery left something to be wanted. It felt watered out and thin.
From a technical perspective, this book was quite interesting. I felt like as I read I could see the technical aspects and the hints that were dropped along the way that made sure the big reveal at the end was not random or unfair to the reader. I think it helped that one of the characters was an actual mystery writer. But it was enough to make me feel like she was trying to do something different., though in the end I was let down when I learnt she was not.
This story felt different from her other works because it wasn't so much a family affair as an on-leave detective who has too much time on her hands trying to solve a closed case. I always loved the family aspect of Morton's books and how people go on long quests to try and find out little secrets of their past, but this was lacking a bit on that aspect as those still alive believed they knew what happened and the investigator was a stubborn outsider.
In the end, I found that while I did not guess the solution as I did for The Forgotten Garden, I was not in the least bit surprised. I felt she reused some plot twists and motives from her other books and the big reveal at the end was not very shocking. I wasn't dumbfounded or amazed, I just sat like thinking that it made absolute sense if you compare it to her other works and was wondering why I had not seen it coming. It made this book feel very recycled. It might be because she writes very similar novels in plot and style and there are only so many ways one can do something, but I would have liked a bit more originality to it.
From a technical perspective, this book was quite interesting. I felt like as I read I could see the technical aspects and the hints that were dropped along the way that made sure the big reveal at the end was not random or unfair to the reader. I think it helped that one of the characters was an actual mystery writer. But it was enough to make me feel like she was trying to do something different., though in the end I was let down when I learnt she was not.
This story felt different from her other works because it wasn't so much a family affair as an on-leave detective who has too much time on her hands trying to solve a closed case. I always loved the family aspect of Morton's books and how people go on long quests to try and find out little secrets of their past, but this was lacking a bit on that aspect as those still alive believed they knew what happened and the investigator was a stubborn outsider.
In the end, I found that while I did not guess the solution as I did for The Forgotten Garden, I was not in the least bit surprised. I felt she reused some plot twists and motives from her other books and the big reveal at the end was not very shocking. I wasn't dumbfounded or amazed, I just sat like thinking that it made absolute sense if you compare it to her other works and was wondering why I had not seen it coming. It made this book feel very recycled. It might be because she writes very similar novels in plot and style and there are only so many ways one can do something, but I would have liked a bit more originality to it.
Okay, well I can't tell if this book is utter brilliance or a total waste of my time. I could make an argument either way. Let's proceed with the knowledge that we all know that Catherine will become the Queen of Hearts, as it is a backstory for the Queen of Hearts after all. But I'll make sure not to include anything else that spoiler-y.
So the first part of the story was absolutely boring. It was at like page 350 that this book really started to pick up and the very first lines of prose text and analogies on the first and second pages were very cringe-worthy in opinion. The writing did get better after, or maybe I just got used to it, but I did stop noticing it after the third or fourth chapter and just move on.
So the most annoying thing about Catherine was that she just lacked a spine and here's where we get into my confusion about whether or not this book is genius or annoying. I couldn't root for her because so was so infuriatingly passive that I kept telling myself she deserves whatever she gets for not sticking up for herself, but again this is the backstory to the Queen of Hearts so are we really supposed to be rooting for her to get her way? Plus we already know what's going to happen so the conflict seems a bit irrelevant. BUT the thing I can't figure out is if Marrissa Meyer os a genius for not letting me root for Catherine or just waiting my time with an unlikable character. Still can't figure it out!
Let's end this on a high. The author's interpretation of Wonderland was spot on. I loved the whimsy and the play on words. It felt very authentic to Wonderland and during the boring beginning and middle, the world was what I used to push myself through this book because it was such a treat to read this take.
I'd also like to add I wasn't the biggest fan of the backstory either. It seemed a bit predictable and lacking like I had a feeling it would turn out that way since before I even picked up the book and I was waiting for it to prove me wrong. I really like the backstory from the Splintered series by A G Howard if you're looking for a really good one, but the series as a whole feel apart around the third book. I think it was a good idea to make this one a stand-a-lone. I wonder if maybe that's why it fell flat because as far as I can tell the author has previously written series and they have been doing very well. I really loved Renegades.
Okay, I think that's it.
So the first part of the story was absolutely boring. It was at like page 350 that this book really started to pick up and the very first lines of prose text and analogies on the first and second pages were very cringe-worthy in opinion. The writing did get better after, or maybe I just got used to it, but I did stop noticing it after the third or fourth chapter and just move on.
So the most annoying thing about Catherine was that she just lacked a spine and here's where we get into my confusion about whether or not this book is genius or annoying. I couldn't root for her because so was so infuriatingly passive that I kept telling myself she deserves whatever she gets for not sticking up for herself, but again this is the backstory to the Queen of Hearts so are we really supposed to be rooting for her to get her way? Plus we already know what's going to happen so the conflict seems a bit irrelevant. BUT the thing I can't figure out is if Marrissa Meyer os a genius for not letting me root for Catherine or just waiting my time with an unlikable character. Still can't figure it out!
Let's end this on a high. The author's interpretation of Wonderland was spot on. I loved the whimsy and the play on words. It felt very authentic to Wonderland and during the boring beginning and middle, the world was what I used to push myself through this book because it was such a treat to read this take.
I'd also like to add I wasn't the biggest fan of the backstory either. It seemed a bit predictable and lacking like I had a feeling it would turn out that way since before I even picked up the book and I was waiting for it to prove me wrong. I really like the backstory from the Splintered series by A G Howard if you're looking for a really good one, but the series as a whole feel apart around the third book. I think it was a good idea to make this one a stand-a-lone. I wonder if maybe that's why it fell flat because as far as I can tell the author has previously written series and they have been doing very well. I really loved Renegades.
Okay, I think that's it.