A review by lachateau
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

“I guess humans like to watch a little destruction; sand castles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.”

Picking up this book from the line of my library after several time I digged myself into historical fictions... and I would say, this book really speak volume for the little genre's scale into young adult. This book is so detailed and have many small specific events in each time part of the book. I was occupied while reading this but I still can get into the story ever more.

The Book Thief is a book about a survival of hidden history in Germany. For example, they stated some facts about Stalingrad: (1) in 1942-1943, in that city, the sky was bleached bedsheet-white; (2) as they carried the souls across it, that sheet was splashed with blood, until it was full and bulging to the earth; (3) in the evening, it would be wrung out and bleached again. They showed us how evil intention came right from human even from the dark and carbon of water. The iconic main character that was coming from a child make this book become more special. Not my best read for historical fiction, but still worth the hyped!