The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Pages: 552
Genre: Fantasy, History
Book Description:
It's just a small story really, about, among other things, a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids - as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

 Get it here | Good reads 

My Opinion:
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK IS AMAZING.
I read this book a couple of years ago for the first time and I loved it. When I heard there was a film coming out, I wanted to re-read it so I have the novel fresh in my mind before seeing the film. And guess what? I loved it even more the second time.

I find that when you read a book more than once, you always notice things you never saw before, like quotes or questions or just a really great description you didn't fully appreciate reading it the first time around. I felt like that with this book.

I think what I loved most about this book was the style of writing. I loved how the narrator uses colours to describe dying, just at the very beginning of the novel! From then on I think the format and style were so creative; the short and unique definitions at the beginning of the chapters, the descriptions, everything. The narrator was an wonderfully unusual choice and it just gave the novel that extra uniqueness. I really enjoyed how Death was telling Liesel's story and it was so interesting finding out his opinion of the situation. In life, I don't tend to think of death as a person, so this idea opened many doors for me and made me think deeply about the feelings this character portrays.

The characters were really well written and I felt like I could connect with each and every one of them. This book is quite long,but it's worth it because we as an audience get to see how Liesel grows and gets used to life in Germany with her new family. We get to meet her friends, and see how she stands up for what she believes in. Liesel was such a wonderful character, I hope in the movie she is played just as well as she was written in the book.

I was hooked with this book from the very first chapter. The heartache is shown straight away in the second chapter and from then onwards there's romance and knowledge and more sadness... But it doesn't matter because this book is amazing!

I would recommend this book to anyone. It includes history, romance, heartache, mystery and the characters are just phenomenal. There is so much more I want to say but 1) spoilers and 2) this review would never end otherwise ;) To sum it up, I'd happily read this book a third time!


I think Markus Zusak is a genius. I haven't read any of his other novels but they're on my TBR list... If anyone has read any specific books and would like to recommend them to me please let me know in the comments and I'll reply asap! The main book I want to read is I am the Messenger - thoughts?


 Favourite Quotes: 

She slept a lot and didn't dream, and on most occasions she was sorry to wake up

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The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy who loves you

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Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not hat they say. Just in what they are.

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I have hated the words and I have loved them and, I hope I have made them right

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Even death has a heart

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Sometimes you read a book so special that you want to carry it around with you for months after you've finished just to stay near it

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If your eyed could speak, what would they say?

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I am haunted by humans

 Rating ★★★★★

 5 out of 5 stars

A recent film has just come out based on this novel. I haven't actually seen it yet but it looks amazing! Plus I loved Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech so I have a feeling he's going to be fabulous in this one too!

Here's the trailer if you're interested:

Next book I'm going to review:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley