You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
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:
Yes
This book jumps around between characters and through time. The author refers to different characters in different ways making it very hard to follow until you figure out who everyone is and how they relate to eachother. It takes some work but it was so worth it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent
It is a 5 star by default. Not perfect, very long, but so is life. I loved the brotherhood portrayed in this masterpiece. I believe that re-reading it would be even more impactful (but i'll need a bit of distance before that happens). If you are looking for a whole life in a book, this is exactly that. Unique and bright with imagery and emotions. Love this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Finding the style very hard to follow, not my cup of tea really. Maybe I’ll try again another time. But not for me right now.
I bought the book years ago because I loved the book thief. So thought I’d try this too, never got around to it and fell out of reading until recently.
I bought the book years ago because I loved the book thief. So thought I’d try this too, never got around to it and fell out of reading until recently.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Fatphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Vomit
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Car accident
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The plot is lackluster to me and I found the “murder” stuff to be melodramatic. I also genuinely don’t understand why they built a random ass bridge. If it was destroyed so many years ago, why is the dad coming out of the woodwork to ask his kids he abandoned to help him build a bridge?
I found Penelope’s life to be the most interesting. If the book was from her perspective, I probs would have liked it more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
6 stars, no notes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Markus Zusak is an author that is an automatic buy for me and so the fact that This book took me a little bit longer to get into, kind of was disappointing, but in the end the slow pace and the dual timelines paid off. This was a sad, but hopeful story that had me in tears at the end.
The time jumps I each chapter were hard to get used to, as was the more choppy narration, but all that leads to the charm and almost truthful feel of the story.
I loved the dynamic of the brothers and how they all related to each other, and to the others around them. It truly was the heart of the story.
The time jumps I each chapter were hard to get used to, as was the more choppy narration, but all that leads to the charm and almost truthful feel of the story.
I loved the dynamic of the brothers and how they all related to each other, and to the others around them. It truly was the heart of the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This is not an easy read. The first 50 or so pages were hard work and I really couldn't tell if there would be any reward for the effort. I was frustrated not knowing what was going on, I couldn't even work out where it was set and the style was more than a little jarring. Something began to take shape however and there was enough there to keep me reading, and I settled into the writing style more and more. It still took getting a good third of the way in before it really had me hooked.
I'm glad I persevered. It's good to be challenged by a book, to not have everything laid out and linear from the get-go. Reading this is like watching someone else do a jigsaw when you haven't seen the picture they're aiming at, and they put chunks of it together seemingly at random and you can't work out how anything can come out of the mess, but you eventually see something beautiful start to appear and you trust them to see it through.
You have to trust the process of this book. Zusak knows what he's doing. Occasionally I found the writing style just a bit much and some metaphors just didn't land well for me, but for the most part it really is beautifully written. It's worth taking time over it to soak in the atmosphere and really enjoy the writing.
The story itself left me in tears at multiple points - I'm a big book-crier so take that with a pinch of salt - and while I didn't necessarily like all the characters (I'm still not sure what I feel about Matthew) I felt I knew them and understood them, and I adored Clay in particular.
I really enjoyed it and I think it's a book I'll come back to in years to come. If you want an easy beach read, look elsewhere. If you're happy to get stuck in and persevere through that challenging beginning, you'll be rewarded.
I'm glad I persevered. It's good to be challenged by a book, to not have everything laid out and linear from the get-go. Reading this is like watching someone else do a jigsaw when you haven't seen the picture they're aiming at, and they put chunks of it together seemingly at random and you can't work out how anything can come out of the mess, but you eventually see something beautiful start to appear and you trust them to see it through.
You have to trust the process of this book. Zusak knows what he's doing. Occasionally I found the writing style just a bit much and some metaphors just didn't land well for me, but for the most part it really is beautifully written. It's worth taking time over it to soak in the atmosphere and really enjoy the writing.
The story itself left me in tears at multiple points - I'm a big book-crier so take that with a pinch of salt - and while I didn't necessarily like all the characters (I'm still not sure what I feel about Matthew) I felt I knew them and understood them, and I adored Clay in particular.
I really enjoyed it and I think it's a book I'll come back to in years to come. If you want an easy beach read, look elsewhere. If you're happy to get stuck in and persevere through that challenging beginning, you'll be rewarded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer