Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

40 reviews

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Pretty much TW for everything and anything.

saoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It spoke of death and Death spoke. Usually it's a theme associated with coldness and solemnity, but there's this kind of warmth coming out of the novel, as if you yourself have become one with the experience. After a few days, I finally got to finish reading this, and I'm not exactly ecstatic knowing that it ended. It may have entered into one of my favorite comfort books by following the life of Liesel Meminger as she was taken in as a foster child on Himmel Street during the war. Rudy Steiner has got to be my ultimate favorite throughout the entire story. With his wit and brilliancy as a person, how Death (narrator) and the author itself love him—it truly can be felt with the way his character was written. Special mention to her Papa, Hans Hubermann, whose kind heart and ways ushered in so much humanity that it sparked familial bonds even though they weren't blood tied, and Max Vandenburg, who became her brother, and wrote a memorable short story for Liesel that was so touching. It was obvious how the story would flow and end, as Death was eager and blunt. You no longer need to wait for a thrill, yet it still catches you off guard by letting it spill your tears and emotions. Along the lines created by the book thief, Liesel, this one struck and stayed with me: "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Car accident, Death, Grief, Police brutality, Slavery, Alcohol, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, War, Confinement, and Death of parent

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Just from the synopsis I knew this book would be sad and not have a happy ending - there is death and pain in every story around the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. The concept that made me want to read this despite knowing I would not have a fun time was the idea of Death as a narrator, and hearing a young girl's story from the POV of a sympathetic but non-human entity. The portrayal of Death and all the writing from them directed towards the reader that broke the 4th wall was done in a very interesting and thoughtful way, and was the most enjoyable part of the book to read. I found the relationship between Liesel and Max the most touching and loved the sketches and short stories he wrote for her, and thought they were perfectly portrayed in the book with handwritten text and the pictures shown on the pages. Unfortunately the rest of the book, other than the brutal and tear-jerking ending, felt slow and sometimes boring to me. I thought a lot of the side characters could've easily been cut out and were easily forgettable, and the book would've been better with maybe 100 pages less if those unimportant characters weren't given so much focus.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Cursing, Child death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Violence, and War

brownieboo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Police brutality, Suicide, Bullying, Colonisation, Slavery, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse

navya12's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Confinement, Racism, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: War, Death of parent, and Suicide

sarahaf712's review against another edition

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Racism, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Police brutality, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Suicide

Content warnings: Holocaust; Nazis; SS and Gestapo; death marches; bombing; corpses

ellamycroft's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, War, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Police brutality, and Suicide

quejk25's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Grief, War, Violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Hate crime

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

aaround132's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism

literally_mint's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, War, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide, and Violence