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rubybereading 's review for:
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The most devastating coming of age story l've ever read! I went into this SO blind. I only chose it for a storygraph reading challenge, and its high regard had it already on my radar. That's it. I was not ready for what this would do to me emotionally. Also, I've never read or even watched anything set in Nazi Germany (to my recollection). If I have, it must've been more of a backdrop as opposed to being literally integral to the whole story. So l've never consumed anything (fiction or nonfiction) that gave as much detail, intimate detail, to those events.
And my heart was so broken throughout. This story and these characters are going to sit with me for a long while. Not only because it made my heart hurt so much and made me break down at various points—including every time I’ve thought about it since finishing it a few days ago—but also because it was so well crafted.
First of all, having Death (the Grim damn Reaper!!) as the narrator was shockingly brilliant. He was able to give a very objective pov with regard to the war and the horrible situation everyone was in, but also with a sympathetic tone when needed. Death was humanized in a way! I ended up loving Death (!!) as a character in the story. He might’ve even been my favorite. That’s wild to me!
Also, the characters were all so multifaceted and complex, and also familiar. I was able to recognize a lot of myself and many ppl I’ve known throughout my own life in literally all of them. And the relationships built between them warmed my heart so much. Even the ones you, at first, believe you’re supposed to hate start to feel like family to you. YOU (me) as the reader. I loved and cared about ALL of them! Knowing how tragic of a story this clearly was didn’t stop me from having hope—albeit false hope for the most part—but hope, nonetheless, because I myself did not want to lose them. The characters felt like they were a part of my own life, and I have very extremely little in common with them!
Lastly, it was just so well written! The word choices, the pacing, the attention to detail, the building of the characters, their relationships, their existence, their thoughts, dreams, feelings, struggles, inner turmoil, the way the coped, grieved, survived (or didn’t), loved, supported another, etc etc and all the etceteras! And it was beautiful. Devastating and beautiful. Smh! I’m about to cry as I’m typing this. Smh! Damn
And my heart was so broken throughout. This story and these characters are going to sit with me for a long while. Not only because it made my heart hurt so much and made me break down at various points—including every time I’ve thought about it since finishing it a few days ago—but also because it was so well crafted.
First of all, having Death (the Grim damn Reaper!!) as the narrator was shockingly brilliant. He was able to give a very objective pov with regard to the war and the horrible situation everyone was in, but also with a sympathetic tone when needed. Death was humanized in a way! I ended up loving Death (!!) as a character in the story. He might’ve even been my favorite. That’s wild to me!
Also, the characters were all so multifaceted and complex, and also familiar. I was able to recognize a lot of myself and many ppl I’ve known throughout my own life in literally all of them. And the relationships built between them warmed my heart so much. Even the ones you, at first, believe you’re supposed to hate start to feel like family to you. YOU (me) as the reader. I loved and cared about ALL of them! Knowing how tragic of a story this clearly was didn’t stop me from having hope—albeit false hope for the most part—but hope, nonetheless, because I myself did not want to lose them. The characters felt like they were a part of my own life, and I have very extremely little in common with them!
Lastly, it was just so well written! The word choices, the pacing, the attention to detail, the building of the characters, their relationships, their existence, their thoughts, dreams, feelings, struggles, inner turmoil, the way the coped, grieved, survived (or didn’t), loved, supported another, etc etc and all the etceteras! And it was beautiful. Devastating and beautiful. Smh! I’m about to cry as I’m typing this. Smh! Damn