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Wednesday 22 July 2015

Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Hi! It's been forever since I put up a post for which I'm going to whip out the mundane 'I was busy' excuse. Well I was genuinely busy due to the holy month of Ramadan and Eid celebrations. Now that I'm back, expect some obscure posts in the coming days.

On with the review!


Pages :  550

Read on : Kindle

Review:  As you may know, I didn't have the best start to my year in terms of reading. I waltz around way too long with forgettable stories. To most people in the book blogging world, that's a crime. Then when the TBR Jar spits out ' The Book Thief ' I knew it would be something worthwhile.

How did I know you ask? I cheated a bit and watched the movie with my family last year and remember falling in love with Liesel and Rudy. The others around were in perfect harmony. The book has been around for a while and the hype about it is well justified. I stared into the abyss, shaken by the literary adventure I had. I cried till my heart felt sore and then I fell in love with it all over again. It's just one of those stories that give me chills I enjoy. The writing was absolutely beautiful. How? Just how can some one be spot-on in narrations and characterization? It's magical.

Although it's set during the holocaust, the story revolves around Liesel and the scraps of her life she shares with her neighbors and friends. She steals books and uses them to escape the harsh realities of her surroundings. I adored her foster parents for their unusual way of showing love which at some stages did turn out comforting. 

Then there's Rudy.

Rudy. He steals the show. He kills you with his spirit, he'll make you laugh till your sides hurt, he'll make you care about him like your own and it will hurt you. Rudy is a fantastic character for someone so young and everything that happens with him is probably the biggest reason why my heart felt like it was ripped out and shredded to bit because it hurt so much.  

May be that's why I have this unhealthy attachment with The Book Thief. It made realize what life is all about. It will put you in the worst of situations to test your own morals, it will make you happy momentarily, it will steal something you love most dearly and most of all it teaches you compassion. The most routine things leave the biggest void when they are no longer in existence and that pain leaves you helpless. 

Its one of those books I devoured in no time. I did hear that The Book Thief does slow down in some spots, however that wasn't the case for me. Despite watching the film ( which was also very good, by the way ) I was hungry to know more. What I don't really get is the reason as to why it's a Y.A novel? I would highly recommend this people irrespective of age.

Final Rating : 5/5

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