The Book Thief is a book by Markus Zusak set during the Holocaust. The book is narrated by Death.
It is about a girl named Liesel Meminger who was sent to live with a couple in a town named Molching in Nazi Germany. On the way there, she stole a book called “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” from some gravediggers who dropped it. As she got older, she made friends with a boy named Rudy who helped her steal books and food. For the most part, she lived a normal life for a child during that time, until a man came to her door and changed everything.
I enjoyed this book because it was different to any book I had read before. I liked that it was narrated by Death because it gave the reader a completely different perspective than if it was narrated by Liesel or if it was in third person. My favourite character was Rudy because he was funny and optimist despite everything that was happening. Zusak made the characters real by giving them realistic emotions and making them act impulsively instead of constantly being responsible and mature. I also like the little sections where it would give extra information about the story or translations because it was unique. I think the ending was well written because, even though it had said some of the main things that happened earlier in the book, it was still very emotional.
The one thing I didn’t like about this book is that it didn’t give much information about Liesel’s mother. I hoped there would be more context given about her but it was only quickly glossed over at the start which was disappointing.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again. Although I am not usually that interested in historical fiction, it is now one of my favourite books so I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.
