The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Review

The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Review

• Sunday, 21 July 2013

Liesel Meminger stands in the cold winter of Nazi Germany in 1939. She watches as her brother is buried in the snow. As she stands beside her brother's grave she sees a book lying among the snow left by accident. This book is the first of her book thefts. Shortly after this, she is sent to live with the Hubermann's and the book takes us through her life there and we see how she becomes The Book Thief. And when a Jew lives in their basement, things get only more complicated. Looking through Death's eyes, we see the hardship of the Second World War and the effects it has in this German town.

The Book Thief is brilliant. Truly and utterly brilliant.I first read it when I was thirteen or fourteen. From the first page, I was thinking of things that I never really considered before. For instance, the colour of the sky, the afterlife the list went on and on as I continued to read. I love Liesel as a character. At a time when books were really rare to come across, it shows her determination to read anything and how she gets to a point where she needs to steal these books. Liesel's foster father is also a brilliant character. He is a brilliant and kind man who teaches Liesel how to read. I would recommend towards the end though that you get some tissues to hand because trust me, you will need them!

As I was reading, I thought to myself: It's hard to believe that these situations actually happened once. The majority of people in those days simply did not know how to read. They couldn't get books as easily as we now can. Nowadays, getting access to books is so easy, with libraries and online shopping and bookshops! For people who love reading (i.e all of you reading this), it is hard to imagine a world without our beloved books.

The Book Thief was brilliantly written by Markus Zuzak and I found his writing style easy to read and I finished this book within the week I had bought it. Since the first time I read it, I have read it a second time and plan to read it again this year because it's a story I love returning to.

I just found out that this book is going to be made into a movie. I am uncertain of release dates but as you can surely tell, I am really excited!

Obviously this is a five star book in my opinion. I would love to hear what you thought of it, if you're going to read it and what not. It's a historical fiction, teen, sort of book but with lots of amazing things in it. So really I would recommend it to anyone! 

This book was reviewed by regular reviewer Lucy, get to know more about her here!
Photos from Lucy Donnan