What readers think of The Book Thief, plus links to write your own review.

I have to read this book for a book club that im in. I don't like it at all because of all the curse words and German used in Markus Zusak's writing. it is hard for me to understand. other then that the concept is very good and it is an enjoyable book. however the previously listed dislikes rate very high on my scale and are why I reviewed this book with only a 2.

While I agree with the many critics who praise the elegant phrasing and often stunning metaphors, I am intensely annoyed by headlines that appear in the middle of a chapter (or at the beginning for that matter). I find this an unnecessary and distracting gimmick.
Worse, the sentence structure reads as if the author's first language were German. Is this intentional? And if so, why? This device, if it is a device, frustrates this reader.

Although a good story, very long and boring to get to the point. Too long, situations repetitive. Boring, boring, boring.

The Book Thief was written by a children's author but is considered a teen or adult novel. The writing style and literary devices are better suited for children, although this story is not. Because its plot has a backdrop of Nazi Germany and abandoned children, the emotion of the book is pretty much spoon-fed to the reader. There is no subtly here and his use of metaphor is so prevalent it becomes almost meaningless. The writer tries to make every turn seem poignant and dripping with power, therefore no moment seems especially strong.

I read all 500 pages, however, because it was such an easy and transparent read.

When I came to a part talking about some woman digging in the snow for a boy with blood freezing on her hands seeing two hearts and then something about a WARM scream in her throat (I have never heard of any scream described as anything but icy or at least cold) - I gave up right there wondering why anyone in their right mind would even entertain the notion of publishing such a far out, non coherent fairy tail. I've heard better stories from people out of their mind on drugs on the streets of the big cities that made more sense than this. I could not get half way through it.

The very first page had me lost. The book had no point to it, not one. It told me stuff I already knew. It just went on and on.