All the Light We Cannot See follows a blind French girl and a German soldier boy in the years before, during, and after the German occupation of France during World War II. Through split perspectives and a split timeline, a story of human perseverance unfolds. Werner's talents kept him from the battlefield, but will they keep him alive? Everyone has left Marie-Laure one way or another, but is she truly alone? And what is the price in blood of the Sea of Flames? 

ATLWCS is split into thirteen books jumping back and forth between the past and the present. It was incredibly rewarding when everything came together. The chapters are short, and there is never a lack of action. This was the first novel I read from the perspective of a blind character, and the descriptions of sounds, scents, and tastes made it all the more immersive.

The end of the novel flies. I was so invested I forgot to do my chapter/book summaries. And when I realized I decided against it in favor of reading on. I have read so many World War II books, but this one is unique in every sense of the word. I took a lot out of the emphasis on radios. Every character shines, even the loathsome ones.

I first heard of ATLWCS in my junior year of high school. A girl in my class recorded her presentation on this book and went way over the time limit. I don't remember what she said, but I never forgot her novel (even when I forgot my own). Now, in my junior year of college, I've read it for the first time, and whatever she said, I wholeheartedly agree.