The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

Publisher: Knopf Books
Publish Date: March 14, 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 552
ISBN: 978 0375831003

It is 1939.  Nazi Germany.  The country is holding its breath.  Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who 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 neighbours during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

My Thoughts

I really wanted to love it, I really did, but the fact of the matter is, I didn't.  Which sucks because everyone else loved it and I feel like I missed something.  The story itself felt like a whole bunch of short stories made up and thrown together to make a 550 page book.  The writing style was very hard to get used to, and even after finishing I still didn't like it, although some sentences were beautifully constructed and thought provoking.  Mark Zusak is a very talented writer, there is no doubt about that.  This book just simply wasn't for me.

When I finally finished (this is not a quick read) I felt relieved and glad to be done.  I will say this though, the last 80 pages 100 percent redeemed this book for me!  I appreciated the heartbreak and lose that had been building up the entire novel and finally there was an amazing conclusion.  This was a very tough book to review, as are all fence sitting books for me, I don't want to rip it apart, but I can't give it a glowing review.  It just is what it is.  4 stars because of the last chapter, other than that it was just a 3 star book to me.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.