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Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 552

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS):
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel 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 neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

I've been hearing about this book for ages and I finally picked it up to see what all the hype was about.  Well, if you haven't read this yet, this book most definitely lives up to the hype.

THE CHARACTERS:
I connected with Liesel so much.  The fact that she recognized how powerful words are and how she loved both reading and writing certainly made me resonate with her the most.  I also liked how three-dimensional she was. Problems that she came across wouldn't just pass straight through her - she would think about those obstacles and use what she's experienced in the past to help her with her decision -- she was written perfectly.

The other characters were great as well.  I loved Rudy and Hans and even Death's characters.  They were all fantastic, and if I wrote a paragraph about each, you wouldn't make it to the end of this post.

THE PLOT:
Perfectly executed. There were a couple slow spots, but the action and the suspense really made up for them.  There were twists and subplots that were compelling and that I didn't see coming. 


THE WRITING:
Phenomenal.  That's all I can say.  There was at least two quotable phrases on each page -- hundreds of beautiful metaphors and insightful sentences.  Markus Zusak's writing really made the story vivid and you knew how each scene felt, smelled, and looked like all in gorgeous detail.  He's definitely become one of my favorite authors for his writing style.



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