Finally, I've finished it. For whatever reason (a busy schedule, other projects, catching up on TV I missed during the school year), it took me forever to finish this book. It's not that it wasn't great, because it truly was, but I think this may have been a case of a book hitting me at the wrong time in my life schedule. 
 I loved many things about this book, one of them being the narrative structure. The chapters jumped back and forth between perspectives and time, which held my interest and seemed sort of fresh to me. The chapter length was perfect as well-- tidbits to be digested in compact moments. The structure also kept me wondering when the lives of Werner and Marie-Laure might intersect. 
 By the time the two main characters cross paths, I figured that it would be brief, and I worried I might be disappointed. Instead, it had me reflecting on time and place and how those concepts, which are somewhat out of our control, have the ability to shape our lives deeply. I wasn't disappointed at all. 
 If there is one knock against the book, it might be that it was a tad too long. There were times where I felt myself thinking, "Okay, get one with it," but like the war, which serves as the novel's backdrop, the world moves at its own pace, and we have to find reasons to both hate and savor it.