The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“The Book Thief” is set during Nazi World War 2 in Germany, where a young girl, Liesel, was taken in by a foster family, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, after her parents were alluded to be taken away to concentration camps. Here, she learned to read (and write) after she stole her first book from a gravedigger who was burying her dead little brother. She continued her book-stealing ways, saving a book from being burned to ashes by Nazi soldiers and from the library of the mayor’s house. Besides book-stealing, she forged a friendship (and first love) with Rudy, her neighbour, who was fond of her from the first time he set eyes on her, and Max, the Jewish fist-fighter that the Hubermanns hid in their basement.

What I like about this book is it’s written in an outsider’s point of view. Here, it’s Death. Yes, it’s in the point of view of Death. And it’s written in such a way that it felt like Death is reading it out to you. He acted as the narrator of the story. It’s like reading a diary of Death, someone who was not there, someone who was outside looking in, someone who’s basically me, the reader. So, it’s a unique sort of feeling. I can’t remember any other books that I’ve read that has a similar type of writing.

Also, since this is set in Nazi Germany, you should not expect a happy ending. I cried somewhere in the middle because we all know what happened in the concentration camps, and I cried towards the end. But the ending wasn’t as sad as it could be. It was actually more bittersweet.

This book is truly one of the 100 books you just have to read. It will break your heart but as people say, sometimes it’s so good, it hurts.

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