
The Book Thief. This book is a legend. So obviously I’m not the first person to talk about it, but I’m still gonna try. There are books that leave you a sense of loss when they are over, the kind that you can’t help but finish in one night, but don’t want them to end? Well, this isn’t one of those. The Book Thief is the kind of book that you sit with night after night, savour page for page, over and over again. It’s not the kind of book that leaves you contemplating what you can read next to fill the gap, the unrest. It’s the kind of book that breaks your heart, but mends it too, leaving a little bit of it inside. It’s a book about a girl in Nazi Germany who’s life has just changed, her mother has left her with a couple who she’s told will be her new parents. She’s just lost her brother, she’s haunted by nightmares but soon she finds solace in books and thus begins her career in book thievery. It’s the most poignant story about the Holocaust, that shows that humans are capable of heinous cruelty but just as capable of selfless kindness, that words can light up your life when you are surrounded by darkness. The storytelling is most unique, the most enchanting part of the book. Narrated from the point of view of Death, the author uses simple, concise sentences to convey deep, often complex emotions, each sentence, each page is so impactful that you have to go and re-read sections just to absorb is fully. It’s full of foreboding and that makes the narration all the more hard-hitting. If you need one reason to read this book, read it for the writing. It’s absolutely delicious. It’s a book that you HAVE to read at least once in your life time.