A review by sketchy_reader
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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.