The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I finally finished "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I listened to this on audio.

I usually don't read historical fiction that revolves around WWII and Hitler, it makes me very sad and angry. But I wanted to give this book a try.

For those few people that haven't read it yet, this book revolves around a young German girl named Liesel. We watch Liesel grow from a scrappy kid to a teenager, all the while she is stealing books. But it is not about the stealing. This book digs deep into the human spirit and what is wrong and what is right. It is peppered with a lot of love, that is understated but understood. The book is narrated by 'death', very interesting point of view.

What I didn't like about the book was all the poetic prose. I am into poetry in story but I think Zusak over did it. Some of his phrases were clever, some were just annoying and they were in almost every sentence. It is OK to just say "She walked across the street" instead of saying something like "She walked across the black streets of death and sorrow". REALLY?

The storyline saved it for me. I think if I read it, I would have thrown it up against the wall, the fact that I did the audio, made it easier to swallow.

3.5 out of 5 for me.