My Goodreads Review of The Book Thief so far.
The Book Review
The Taste of Hype.
Featuring:
A girl- a book- Chrisopher Walken- four senses- some helpful clues- an exaggeration.
The sky smelled like Jew. A girl, Diane, went to work, her feet crunching through the red leaves of a New England fall. She walked to her desk. The sky dripped with dreary black books that day, and one had landed on her desk with the sound of anticipation. A tall woman appeared with a uniform and offered her the book. Diane declined politely, her fingers running over the tattered binding. Diane took the book home that night. When she got home, she threw her bag on the desk and began to read eagerly. I watched her, though I was busy doing other things like stealing souls. My name is Death. I am the narrator.
***Some Helpful Clues***
Pretend death is read by Christopher Walken.
Prepare yourself for 550 pages of this.
(The rest of the review.)
Death narrates this book as he follows a relatable adolescent girl, Liesel Meminger, who is an orphan adopted by the Hubermanns during WWII Germany. There’s a Jew involved, some thieving, some quirky details to bring you into the scene, some decent character development, etc. Based on these things alone, it’s a good book.
The concept is pretty neat and the writing style is quirky, simple, and death seems to like metaphors. He also has some form of synesthesia. (You'll see what I mean.)
***Why not five stars?***
The New York Times review on the cover says- “BRILLIANT and hugely ambitious… It’s the kind of book that can be LIFE CHANGING.â€
Yea okay New York Times,*wink*. Honestly another reviewer wrote, “It’s fineâ€, and I have to agree. It just becomes a tad predictable after a while. I’m writing this review about three quarters of the way through, and I already have a good idea about what the ending will be like. Everything is enjoyable and refreshing, but it’s missing a certain element of surprise. Anyway, I’m guessing three or four stars, but will update when I’m done.