I can't even begin to tell you. I started reading the Book Thief after Christmas and finally finished it. I've heard about it for months, probably years if I think hard about it, and I caved. The movie is coming out, a couple close friends had read it, and I'm going to do my best right now to tell you what I thought without giving it away.
According to my iBooks, it's 476 pages. If you're looking for a light and quick read, this isn't it. For light and quick, read Regis' memoir. The Book Thief is about a young girl in Nazi Germany, and it's narrated by Death. Zusack writes it beautifully. I just texted one of my friends that it was haunting and beautiful and emotional all at the same time.
While following a mostly linear plot, Death lets the audience in on a few secrets here and there, giving us sneaks of different endings. I cried multiple times. Anyways.
Throughout the story, we learn about the relationship between main character Liesel and her foster parents, the Hubermann's, Liesel and Rudy, and the part that Jewish man Max plays in their lives.
Everything I want to say about the Book Thief is essentially a spoiler. I'm clearly really bad at book reviewing, so I figure it's good that that's not what I want to spend my life doing. Here's what I have to say. This book is beautiful. The love that is displayed in this novel is heart-achingly written and able to be imagined. To quote Death, "it makes my heart hurt". The history of World War II is weaved through the characters' lives and laid on the pages. Death speaks of it in numbers lost, and I'm just reminded again of what an event the Holocaust was. I'm going to be done raving. Just read it.
What have you been reading? I'd love to hear. Especially if it's so good you can't even gush properly.
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