Quite unlike anything I've read before - engaging, humourous yet sad - with a wonderful range of characters. I loved it!

I absolutely adore this book. Quirky, offbeat, gentle, it’s a lovely novel to sink into after a long, hard day. It’s almost soothing.

But that doesn’t mean it’s sentimental or twee, or that it doesn’t deal with some huge issues. On the contrary, all of life, and death, is here. Luise lives in a small, tightknit village in rural Germany. The novel begins when she is ten and follows her through her adolescence and early adulthood, as she makes friends, falls in love, suffers loss and develops close bonds to her friends and neighbours. She is beautifully characterised, honest, open, warm, funny, and real. The supporting cast of characters are just as well-drawn; all have their quirks and foibles, their weird little habits, their loves, losses, demons and dreams.

Together, they weave a beautiful, mesmeric tale that feels almost other-worldly at times, without ever losing its humanity.

It’s weird and wonderful, and definitely recommended.

As a side note, this was translated from the German by Tess Lewis. It’s an excellent translation – at no point did the narrative feel anything other than completely natural.

nearly DNFed this book. Just not for me.

A lovely story, but too slow, a bit flat and found it difficult to follow the storyline.

Such an unusual story (which is just what I joined Net Galley for, to read books I wouldn't normally read). Set in Germany, it is about a lovely community, who all look out for one another. It is very different and quite difficult to describe so I would just recommend you read it.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.

What a beautiful story! As zany as an okapi itself! Endearing characters, so full of love and emotions. Thought provoking balm for the soul.

I adored this book. Believable characters and the writing was just lovely. I was sorry when I finished it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with the beautiful writing of this book. Thanks to both the author and translator, the sentences flowed so perfectly and it was a pleasure to read.

The prologue won me over straight away. It’s an immersive description of how certain images, like the last time you saw a loved one, stay with you and resurface throughout your life. This short section is so magnificent and poetic it could stand up on its own.

Motifs from that opening, and many more, are placed artfully throughout and I enjoyed spotting those deliberate choices. The story is packed with vivid imagery and expert metaphor, like the imps that preoccupy and torment us. My favourite feature was the regular paradoxes including “old, long-lost friends he’d never met before” and “a hellhound that couldnt care less that it didn’t exist.” These maintained a sense of lyrical whimsey sometimes at odds with the severity of the scenes. The book also plays with words, language, translation and meanings, handled brilliantly by the translator and appealing to my love of linguistics.

Unfortunately, I was really put off by the Frederick focus. I found it unbearably cringey that Luise says “I found him” about a man she wasn’t looking for, rather than their dog, Alaska, who she was. Their storyline, while it has some poignant moments, was considerably weaker than the rest and I was always itching to get back to the better parts I knew the book would have. Thankfully, it did deliver and the other relationships and characters more than make up for it.

What You Can See From Here is a moving, beautifully crafted narrative about grief and family, both by blood and by circumstance.

Thank you for providing me with an advance review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, would recommend....

What You Can See from Here by Mariana Leky is a breathtakingly beautiful exploration of finding home, no matter where you are. Set in a small German village, Leky follows the villagers through the fears and worries that lead to the death of an okapi in the middle of the night, only to follow with the truth that has been carefully guarded and is finally revealed.

This international bestseller speaks of the oddness of life and death, of finding joy and acceptance despite hardship, and of ultimately finding your place in the world. Leky’s portrayal of a tight knit rural community feels familiar and inviting, and her poetic prose is the perfect vessel for the emotions and beauty that the book contains.

If you’re looking for a bittersweet tale about acceptance, heartbreak and hope, What You Can See from Here is an absolute must read. This international bestseller sold over 600,000 copies in Germany alone, proving it is as beloved there as it will be in other parts of the world. This beautiful, complex and heartfelt story deserves the success it has found.

This is one of those stories set in a quaint little nothing-ever-happenes village, except that a couple of things do happen and they're going to really hit you hard in the emotions.
We're told right from the start that when Selma dreams of an Okapi somebody is going to die, but the story isn't really about premonitions and magic (though, there is a little here and there) - it's about eccentric characters and their relationships, I really loved getting to know the tight little cluster of residents in the village and watching more than one love story play out.

A really fantastic read. This was a book that I had been wanting to read for some time and it did not disappoint.

I would recommned reading this.

This is a wonderful book with well developed characters. The author did a great job of making the reader care about the characters and their stories.I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read!

A fairytale story about a small village located somewhere in the hinterland of Western Germany, whose inhabitants live away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world, What matters is closeness to loved ones, belief in superstitions, and kindness that keeps returning. One day, one of the women in the village experiences a dream about the okapi, which consequently changes the fate of many of the inhabitants. A very quiet, life-affirming story about existence and how we experience mourning, love, and the small joys that fate bestows upon us. I was disappointed that this novel did not captivate me as I had hoped, but it is an enjoyable story about ordinary everyday life and the struggles that we all face. It was too ordinary for me, but many people will surely be enthralled by it.

A funny quirky read about the coming of age. A good plot with lovely characters. Not like anything I have read before but certainly worth a read.

This took me so long to read but I really enjoyed it. It's got a whimsical tone but there are some really heartbreaking moments.

The characters were wonderful, I particularly liked the Optician, and Luisa herself, and I loved the descriptions that were unique to the book but described regular events so well.

Underneath the peculiarities of the characters there was a real feel for the inner workings of humans, the everyday events of life and the expansiveness of the world - if only we can remember to go out into the world when needed.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a gentle and beautiful novel about grief, love and human connection, one that appears to meander through lives over more than it tries to tells a story. ⁣
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The premise of the novel is that the protagonist’s grandmother Selma dreams of an okapi whenever someone in their small German village is about to die, and the novel is divided into three sections each ending with a death. Yet the book is less about the deaths than the lives of those around them, a loveably eccentric and motley crew of villagers: the protagonist Luisa who we meet as a 10 year-old, her grandmother Selma who eats cherry brandy chocolates and mourns her husband Heinrich, the optician who loves Selma secretly, Selma’s sister-in-law Elsbeth who believes in superstitions and imps, the village recluse Marlies who sits in her underwear and eats tinned peas, Luisa’s father who dreams of going into the world to let it in, her mother who is preoccupied by the question of leaving her father, Palm the alcoholic father of Luisa’s best friend Martin, and Friedrich the Buddhist monk living in Japan who Luisa falls in love with. ⁣
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It’s hard to articulate why this book is so moving, or even what it’s really about but I will try - it is understanding and forgiving with its characters, it recognises the violence and fragility of life and how loss lodges itself into our hearts even as life goes on, and most of all it exemplifies what people are to each other. In one scene, the optician tells Luisa that he believes he and Selma were put on this world for her. As Selma dies, Luisa - now an adult - confessed her belief that Selma invented the world to which Selma’s last words are, ‘no that was you’. ⁣
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#WhatYouCanSeeFromHere #MarianaLeky

This story was quite interesting. I didn’t know what to expect and while it felt like nothing happened at all, no actually action or storyline, once I thought a bit harder about it, it hit me that not all books are made to be thrillers and pulse racing stories, but many as in this case are perfectly crafted to make you stop and think and be grateful for your bad little blessings around you.
Beautiful and immersive story

This was a quaint, touching story that doesn't move at a fast pace.
It was nice to pick up and put down, but didn't have the umph to really grip my attention despite it being split into three parts.

An ok read but wouldn’t be one that’ll stick in my mind for long.

A quirky novel with eccentric characters and some gorgeous language, and a story that barely goes anywhere due to none of the characters ever daring to take the leap they're longing to do.

I found this novel warm funny and ultimately optimistic. Examining the small aspects of being alive that make us human. Enchanting.