Before I start, I should mention that anything I say that reveals bits of plot are all things that can be found very early on and therefore should not ruin the book for you, if you do decide to read it.
The Book Thief is a truly fantastic book set in Germany before and during World War II. I have always been fond of historical fiction because the possibility that this story could be true is always very tantalizing. The story revolves around a girl named Liesel Meminger and her constant desire to read. It is not difficult to imagine how she gets reading material due to the title of the book. Zusak then uses these books to help illustrate Liesel's life and how reading influences her actions.
The thing that I like the most about The Book Thief would probably be the narrator. The Book Thief is narrated by a personified form of Death. He (or at least, I presume it's a he) describes the taking of human life as "carrying their souls out of their bodies" and it's just a remarkable experience to read something from Death's point of view. Death apparently also has an interesting sense of humor because, I'm not going to lie, this book can be depressing, but there are also lines that made me chuckle.
Throughout the book, Zusak has little blurbs of information in bold that sometimes entertain and other times enlighten the reader. His writing style is very unique and although I wouldn't call it vague, it often encourages the reader to think and imagine how the scene unfolds for him or herself. Zusak also uses one-line paragraphs and short, implicative sentences to great effect, but you have to be careful to fully read and comprehend these. I am a hasty reader by nature so whenever I come upon an exciting scene, I tend to accidentally skip lines and become very confused. Try not to repeat my mistake.
For me, the biggest letdown of most books would be the ending. They are either extremely anticlimactic or simply make no sense at all, but I felt that the ending to The Book Thief was done very nicely. It left room for thought but didn't feel incomplete.
As you can probably imagine, I would highly recommended this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in World War II. It's a wonderfully written novel and definitely worth reading. I will be moving onto Zusak's other famous novel, I am the Messenger very soon and hopefully giving you updates on that book as well.
