The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief: Film tie-in - Markus Zusak

Hey guys, I hope you all are having a great day and this is my review to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak! This is a standalone historical fiction novel :D

 

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

 

  1. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

 

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH

It's a small story, about:

a girl

an accordionist

some fanatical Germans

a Jewish fist fighter

and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

 

I’m not the one to usually reread books, but The Book Thief is one of my all time favorites that I read around two years ago. And I felt like rereading something I love over the last few days, so I thought, why not The Book Thief?

 

The thing I love most about this story is that the point of view is from Death. We get to look at our main character from Death’s point of view. I loved his tone, he seemed to be the kind of narrator that had a humorous, dark tone that really added to the tense atmosphere of Nazi Germany. :D And, I’ve had a fascination with World War II historical fiction lately, so I’m on a roll with loving these kinds of books. :D

 

A lot of people who don’t like this story say it’s because of the narration, or for the fact that the narrator himself spoils the story. I’m not going to deny it; I love it. I loved how I knew what was going to happen at the ending, and while some people thought that this would make the ending more “boring” I liked it. Because this isn’t about the ending. It’s the way we learn about the Book Thief herself.

 

I thought that all the characters in this story had such a definite personality, I didn’t think there was a complex personality in this book. But, Liesel changes throughout the story in a way that I’m not sure to call “growing up” or character growth. She’s nine years old in the beginning of the story, and I think she reaches age fourteen at the end of the book . . . not sure.

 

There were some situations and metaphors that had me confused the first time I read the book, but I feel like since I reread it, I understood it better. :D

 

Overall, The Book Thief is one of my favorite standalone books of all time, Zusak chooses such an amazing way to narrate this! I fell in love with the setting, the characters, and Death himself. If you’re a historical reader and haven’t read The Book Thief yet, then you know what your next read should be! Go read this! :D

 

Thanks for reading my review, and until the next one! :D