Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

From Goodreads: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: When I tried forcing myself to read Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief before the movie was released last year, I gave up after a few pages. I attempted to read it again a few days ago; and after finishing it, can understand why so many people loved it.

Because I’m having a hard time figuring out how to write a proper review for The Book Thief, I decided to do a pros and cons list instead. 

Pros:

• Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief does a great job of showing both the compassion and cruelty that humans are capable of. 
• The book is narrated by Death, who provides a unique perspective because he can talk about the lives of many people and reflect on how their stories intersect. 
• All of the characters are well-developed. 
• The writing is lovely, and the slow pacing allowed me to truly appreciate this story.

Cons:

• Since Death doesn’t care about spoilers, finding out that certain people would die before they actually died kind of reduced the emotional trauma of their death. 
• Death could have been a bit clearer about what happened to the living characters after WWII. 
• As much as I enjoyed the writing, Death’s introspections were sometimes distracting from the actual story. 

The Book Thief was released by Knopf Books for Young Readers in March 2006. 

Comments About the Cover: I like the symbolism of the dominoes.