Reviews

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

book_busy's review against another edition

5.0

I never cried at this book. I never laughed. I never felt fear. I was too absorbed in the magnitude of what I was witnessing to really respond in any way other than awe. In its basis, this book is a story about a girl and a Jew and death. In reality, it is about so much more. I get why this is one of the most famous books. It has to be. It feels like I just read someone's entire life and then some in the space of a few hours. This is a book I will not soon forget.

hellosunil88's review against another edition

5.0

It was an emotional coaster ride. It was quite different on how narrator was chosen and story was laid out by him. It's amazing to see so many characters weaved through Liesel's main character and each one of them played a role in this. Amazing read and it does make you feel how world had/has been cruel to itself. Irony is that I don't think world has changed from then to now and don't think there is any hope there anytime in future either.

viora's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

ritaralha's review against another edition

2.0

Durante a minha adolescência tive um grande fascínio pelo tema da 2ª Guerra Mundial e durante muito tempo li tudo o que havia para ler a esse respeito. Foram leituras duras e muito cruéis mas também muito enriquecedoras.
Com tantas criticas positivas resolvi voltar ao tema mas este foi um livro que nem me aqueceu nem me arrefeceu, por isso as 2 estrelas.
A escrita é simples, directa e inteligente e o narrador (Morte) tem momentos bastante espirituosos.
Como muita da literatura que se vai fazendo hoje em dia, digamos que é um Anne Frank mas com muito açúcar.

jessmey's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

vishal_moorthy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.75

cleo44's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is magical. Zusak’s writing is so emotive and poetic- this book is quite a feat to pull off, and how he pulled it off! It keeps you waiting while feeding you teasers along the way. It is heart touching❤️

creenareads's review against another edition

5.0

I finally got to this book, and it is an absolute masterpiece - one of* the best books I've ever read across all genres.

*The best? With only slight hesitation, quite possibly.

sketchy_reader's review against another edition

5.0

I can't say that I don't like historical fiction because that we would be a lie. I enjoy it very much, however, I tend to only read historical fiction books once every couple of months or so. The story lines tend to be very slow and often difficult for me to take in large amounts. I kept putting The Book Thief off because of the genre but also because I have always been very interested in the Holocaust, a lot of my favorite movies are about that time and this book has so much hype, I was scared I wouldn't like it or that it just couldn't hold up against all the wonderful things I've heard about it.
As you can see it took me a lot longer to read than most other books of the same length. The emotional parts need to be consumed in small doses, for me anyway.
The only word I have been able to use to describe The Book Thief is special. It was an extraordinarily special book. I've never read anything quite like it. Death being the narrator brought a whole new level of intensity to a subject matter that is very intense all by itself. I actually started to relate to and love death as its own character.

I do not recommend watching the movie the same day you finish the book, it was a bit too much emotionally for me.

vmusing's review against another edition

5.0

“I am haunted by humans”
I FINALLY finished this book! I started reading The Book Thief last October, and read about 136 pages before I put the book down. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the story, I did, but the pacing was too slow for me. At the beginning of December this year, I decided to try out the audiobook. I am SO glad I did, because this book is AMAZING. I don’t know if it was the book itself, the voice who narrates, or both, that finally grabbed my attention, but either way I am so happy to have finally finished this book. It is most definitely an all time favorite.
#thebookthief #markuszusak