Book Review: “Everything is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer

May 24

Håfa adai! May is Jewish American Heritage Month in the United States. Since I choose to review works by AAPI authors throughout May, I will review works of fiction written by Jewish authors and/or depicting important experiences of those identifying as Jewish in the first two weeks of June 2025. My first selection of Jewish American Heritage Month 2025 is Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Fiction bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Jonathan Safran Foer is many things: an author, a vegetarian, a Jewish American, and a man on a quest, to name a few things. Only a few years earlier, his grandmother gave him and his mother a discolored photograph of his grandfather as a young man standing next to a young woman in their old shtetl, or village, in Ukraine. Jonathan’s quest is to relocate the shtetl and possibly find Augustine, the young woman in the photo who may have helped his grandfather, a young Jewish man, escape from the Nazis. With the help of Alex (a young Ukrainian man working as a tour guide for his family’s business), Alex’s grandfather (an elderly man followed by ghosts of the past), and Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. (a too-friendly dog), Jonathan makes his way from the city of Odesa to the countryside of Ukraine in search of a person and a place that may no longer exist.

Important Trigger Warning for Everything is Illuminated

Everything is Illuminated depicts scenes of domestic violence, physical assault, statutory rape, suicide, and genocide. Some of these themes are essential to the plot, while others are not. Always prioritize your own mental health before engaging with any work of fiction or non-fiction. If you do decide to read or listen to the audiobook of Everything is Illuminated, then please take the necessary steps to prepare and protect yourself before, during, and afterwards.

My Thoughts on Everything is Illuminated: 3 stars

The form of storytelling throughout Everything is Illuminated is very interesting to me! The narration alternates between a third-person perspective representing Jonathan Safran Foer’s finished draft of the story after he returns to the United States and a first-person perspective of Alex recounting his journey with Jonathan (aka, the hero) to Trachimbrod. The author of this book gave one of the main characters the exact same name as himself. To avoid confusion in this book review, I will say “the author” and “the hero” to distinguish the writer of this book and from the fictional character within it, respectively.

The events of Everything is Illuminated alternates between the hero’s voyage in Ukraine in 1997 with Alex and Alex’s grandfather, and the life experiences of multiple of his ancestors from the late 18th to mid 19th centuries, concluding with the massacre of a shtetl (a village occupied mostly by Jewish families) by Nazi forces during World War II. Between the timelines and perspectives presented, the story explores antisemitism, genocide, generational trauma, the pain caused by keeping secrets from your family for generations, and the shock of erasure.

That being stated, the writing throughout the book was not especially engaging. It may just be me, but I had difficulty paying attention to what was going on. I also take some issue with how certain things are framed in the story. To avoid giving away too much of the story, I will only highlight one thing that bothered me: the framing of statutory rape as sex. In recounting the lives and experiences of his ancestors and the individuals they knew, the hero details a 10-year-old character who having sex with a much older person. But, from my personal perspective, a child cannot consent to having sex with an adult. That is statutory rape, plain and simple.

My overall rating for Everything is Illuminated is 3 out of 5 stars. Although I enjoyed the 2005 movie interpretation of this story, I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, its thesis of “it takes humor to tell a sad story” resonates deeply with me. On the other hand, it seemed as if some experiences had by previous generations of characters were inserted for shock value. I understand portraying domestic violence as an important experience to acknowledge within communities facing generational trauma, but I do not think the portrayal of statutory rape (especially in the way it was presented in this story) was at all necessary. If that were not included in Everything is Illuminated, I would be able to revisit this book. But that is not the case. And while I appreciate this story, I feel like I can only half-heartedly recommend it to others.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 2 June 2025