The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Review by Gina, Teen Blogger

Summary: The book thief is ten-years-old.  She is thirsty for books, so when she sees the pile of books burning on the street, she picks up a small book in the ashes and runs away.  Living in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust makes owning books risky but books are precious to the book thief.  The Book Thief is a beautiful story of a curious young girl, narrated by Death. 

Six Word Review: “So much good, so much evil….”  ~ from The Book Thief

How many stars (out of 10) would you give this book & why? 

10, I absolutely fell in love with this book.  I loved the author’s writing style and everything he wrote.  The words are beautiful and often mysterious – which makes the reader pay attention to what Death, the narrator, is saying.  The more you think about the dialogue and narration, the more brilliant the story is. 

I started reading it because….I kept reading it because…

I started reading for a very spontaneous reason.  I was reading The Hobbit and I thought I could use a break from it (is it only me who found the Hobbit a bit too boring?).  The first book that came to my mind was The Book Thief, just like that.  I had seen the movie trailer and had wanted to see the movie, so I grabbed the book from the library and started reading it right away.  I didn’t know I would be so enchanted by this beautiful little book.  Now, I don’t want to see the movie because I have my personal image of the scenes and the characters in my head and I wouldn’t want the movie to affect them. 

What you loved/hated/couldn’t get enough of…

I both loved and hated how Death spoils the story so much.  I absolutely loved it because the foreshadowing was amazing and created an anticipation of things that may come later in the story.  While on the other hand, it upset me greatly to know the future of the people in the book when I had just gotten to know about them.  I also loved the narration; it was full of thrill and mystery.  The narrator, Death, creates a mood of calmness and loneliness, I realized. 

In an interview about TheBook Thief, Markus Zusak says that when he stumbled upon the idea of Death being the narrator of the story, it all made sense to him because who else is constantly hanging out in times of war?  Who would have the opportunity to pick up a story penned by a girl in a bombed German city?  I think that he made the right choice. 

When reading this book, please, please, take your time reading it.  It’s not one of those quick reads.  Give yourself some time to think about what the characters are saying and the way Death is narrating because the words in this book are beautiful.  The author is exceptionally talented and a brilliant writer.  After you’ve read the book, I recommend reading the author’s interview as well.