The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

Mark Zusak certainly got the words right in The Book Thief. The personification and metaphors he uses do so much to really show the reader the story instead of just telling it. However, his exquisite words were unable to makeup for the essential lack of plot in the book. Yes, I realize the theme of the ability of humans to overcome in the face of tragedy is the light of this book. For me, though, that’s all it was - a universal theme told with pretty words. 

As far as a piece of written work goes, the book surpasses many other contenders. But without any real action going on, I found the storyline to be quite dull. Even though there are instances of happenings in the story, I felt like nothing really happened in the book. So, other than beautiful words to illuminate an important yet tragic part of history, the story itself was rather flat and dull.