The rating here is in comparison to Anthony Doerr's other books that I have read. Not necessarily in comparison to the universe of novels. I can see Doerr's emerging talent and the experience and practice that lead up to All the Light We Cannot See. This leans on science--snow, insects, coral--rather that history but is also an exploration of what family and human connection means.
The narrator, David Winkler, is one, weird dude and reading the parts where he descends into madness are difficult (as in, uncomfortable) to read. Doerr's descriptions are beautiful to read, if a bit laborious in places and don't quite match his later work

Left in the Little Free Library