Reviews

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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tmsresolute's review against another edition

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5.0

Such an endless masterpiece with beautiful writing. Don't forget to get tissues when you'll read this.
4.75/5 stars

thedreamer29's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

chocorb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

this book, to be frank, ruined me. it made me feel so many things, learn about life during the second world war, and make so many more friends. i loved every single character in this book. even death.

im not going to lie, i finished this book in two days. it intrigued me so much from the start, stirred a determination in me, and it was worth every moment.

i would be happy, giddy even, at a chapter, and then the next would send me into a fit of rage, which transformed into overwhelming gloom. it all felt so…real, i was there in those moments, i experienced them and came out feeling more alive than before.

emotional parts of this book include, obviously, papa. we all loved him. he will stay in our hearts forever, he washed our sheets when they were wet, taught us how to read late at night, and his presence will never be forgotten from the depths of our memories. it did hurt the most when he died.
rudy was also an utter delight in the book, and i cannot describe how much the kiss at the end destroyed me in ways i can’t comprehend myself. his soul, i hope his soul saw that. i hope he died knowing everyone loved him. when he was bullied, i felt rage. nobody hurt rudy.
mama, we were all afraid of her, but knew she loved everyone more than she could ever show. the moments of crisis, of unexpected tenderness, im sure all our hearts warmed.
there was also the people that didn’t appear much, but left an impact so deep it would be impossible to hide: max, mayor’s wife, rudy’s father.

i lived a lifetime throughout this book, several actually.
it was brilliant.

emilyjanebru21's review against another edition

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5.0

After I read the Book Thief I wanted to go out with 10000 copies of the book and give it to every person I saw. I wanted to tell anyone and everyone about this amazing book.
Instead of just reading the Book Thief, I inhaled it, in my eagerness to live and breathe the story. I loved the way Zusak used Death as a narrator -something I think gave the novel a unique twist.
I can only describe the story itself as achingly - achingly tragic, achingly beautiful. Once I'd finished the book, after staying up till the early hours of the morning, I spent an hour or so just thinking over it. The book was really emotional and easily made me cry.
Zusak created characters that I loved, so much so that I read of their journey and life as if it were my own.
I loved, loved, loved The Book Thief, and it will now take it's place amongst my favourite books.

bluelien's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Reading this book was an amazing and eye-opening experience, I loved it so much!! This story takes place in nazi Germany, and our 'main character' is a German girl to communist parents. Due to her circumstances, she is taken in by a nazi-unapproving German family. The book thus sheds light on the disgusting treatment of Jewish people, but also on the persecution of communist people and the fear of being publicly against the regime. One of my favorite things about this book was the unique narrator. We learn the facts as observed by 'death/grim reaper', who's tasked with collecting the unfortunate souls, and to me, this makes for an interesting POV. All in all, it's an enjoyable emotional read and a story that will stay with me.

Content Warnings