The Book Thief by: Markus Zusak

Genre: Young Adult fiction, Historical fiction
Published: March 14, 2006 by: Knopf Books
Pages: 550
Rating: 4/5 stars
*may contain spoilers*

The Book Thief was a chilling story about a young German girl named Liesel, trying to make things right during the rise of Nazism. When Liesel finds a book by her brother's graveside, she sparks an interest in books. With the help of her new foster father, she learns to read. After that, comes her drive to rescue books that will otherwise be burned by the Nazis. However when her family takes a Jewish boy into hiding, things begin to get more dangerous. Soon Liesel and her family are in great danger because of their views towards the new German government.

When I started this book, I had just finished learning about World War 2. I picked up this book because I wanted to learn more. I have to say that this book opened up my knowledge on this subject even more, and was extremely captivating.

The first positive of this book, is that it was so real. Even though the story is essentially fiction, the issues were of course real, and I think that it is very possible that a Book Thief could have existed. This book was not sugar-coated or made to be something that it wasn't. It brought people into the German world circa early 1940's, and the information, while sad, was powerful.

The book was told from the perspective of death. While this may seem confusing, it added to the theme of the book very well and really made sense. There is a lot of death in this book, so reading from the perspective of the thing that loomed in the air during that time, was very interesting. It added a very haunting feel to it.

The only negative that I have on this book is that it could have been confusing at times. I felt as if some information was lost during some chapters, that I couldn't really understand what was going on. I found myself having to re-read some chapters. However, re-reading the chapters gave be a better understanding on the topic.

Overall, a brilliantly written book. I have a deep appreciation for books, so this book was quite inspiring to me, and I'm sure to other book worms. What Liesel did for her passion was inspiring. While the book was very emotional and an extremely heavy topic, it was a great dive into history and a beautiful story. While it could have been confusing, I still loved it. That is why it got 4/5 stars.

Have you read The Book Thief? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess