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Lisa of Troy's Reviews > The Book Thief
The Book Thief
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Interesting Premise but Uneven Pacing
There are tons of books about World War II, and I had high hopes for this book as it was a fictional account, not bound to a concrete set of facts. The Book Thief has a narrator who is Death, and it follows the story of a young German girl named Liesel Meminger.
The plot was a great concept, but the book didn’t live up to its potential. The book was unique in that I hadn’t previously read a book about World War II from the perspective of a German citizen. Many characters in the book were children, and it was gut wrenching to experience their innocence evaporate.
However, the book had two serious flaws. One, it was really far too long. If I was editing this book, I would take out all of the instances of fistfights. They didn’t really move the plot along, and this book was nearly 14 hours long, more than 500 pages. The first 25% and last 25% were riveting, but the middle part kept me nodding off. As for the second flaw, the foreshadowing was far too strong. Now, I do enjoy the occasional well-timed hint or whisper. In this instance, it seemed like constant reminders (both whispers and shouts).
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
There are tons of books about World War II, and I had high hopes for this book as it was a fictional account, not bound to a concrete set of facts. The Book Thief has a narrator who is Death, and it follows the story of a young German girl named Liesel Meminger.
The plot was a great concept, but the book didn’t live up to its potential. The book was unique in that I hadn’t previously read a book about World War II from the perspective of a German citizen. Many characters in the book were children, and it was gut wrenching to experience their innocence evaporate.
However, the book had two serious flaws. One, it was really far too long. If I was editing this book, I would take out all of the instances of fistfights. They didn’t really move the plot along, and this book was nearly 14 hours long, more than 500 pages. The first 25% and last 25% were riveting, but the middle part kept me nodding off. As for the second flaw, the foreshadowing was far too strong. Now, I do enjoy the occasional well-timed hint or whisper. In this instance, it seemed like constant reminders (both whispers and shouts).
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
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Reading Progress
February 7, 2022
– Shelved
April 3, 2022
–
Started Reading
April 8, 2022
–
Finished Reading
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by
Debbie
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rated it 5 stars
Apr 08, 2022 07:50AM
Interesting take on this book, Lisa! You may enjoy the movie more. Another book that I've recently read (and liked) with a German perspective is The German Heiress by Anika Scott.
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A book I read twice bc I though I missed something. I didn't and it was still a generous three star read for me.
Thanks, Debbie, for the recommendation! I added it to my TBR. When I was writing my review, I was thinking that it would make a much better movie because they would cut all of the slow parts.
Nice personal take Lisa :)
Correctly Lisa, I think this novel is amazingly authentic. When the author wrote this book, he was only 30 years old. Dear regards
Terrific review, Lisa.
Great review, Lisa! Bummer this one fell a bit short though. I have it sitting in a pile and hope to get to it sooner rather than later.
Excellent review. Although I probably enjoyed it more than you, I agree about the length and editing out the fistfights.
I agree with your review. I actually teach this to some of my grade 11 English classes and it takes most of the semester! However I can focus on so many literary features including all of the foreshadowing :)
I had the exact same issue with pacing in this. Excellent review.
omg im about to finish this and i have to agree with you
I loved this book but I also get why it didn't work so much for you. You certainly express your thoughts perfectly. Excellent review!
Sorry you didn't love this like I did, Lisa. It's a book that I will never forget. ❤�
I thought this was terrible, and DNF'ed it, which is rare for me.
I think I read this one about 5 years ago or so. I remember enjoying it as a more serious style of fiction. Too bad it was a slog for you, it was not only German fiction story I’ve ever read or may ever check out soo I don’t have much to compare it to.
Thanks, Meghna!
The overall concept was really interesting, but the book seemed a bit long.
I too appreciated the unique perspective of the book coming from Death, but also found this a hard read to get through, which is unfortunate as it covers an important part of WWII history.
Oh no, I had such high hopes for this one. I was planning to read this later this year. I'll be sure to go in with lower expectations 🙃. Great review Lisa!
I would love to know More about the world war like I know much about the war going on in Yemen middle East
Totally agree with the breakdown of the beginning, middle and end and the irrelevant fistfight scenes. I felt terrible that I didn’t love it, especially after the heartbreaking end! The end almost made me add stars to my review, but the bulk of it was just me trying to not give up on it.
I love this book!
I appreciate your honesty in the review. I agree with your point it could have been shorter and not have the points you listed above that would have not changed the story had they been removed. I also liked reading the story from Liesel’s POV
I have not read the book but I have seen the film that was made of it and felt much the same about that as Lisa of Troy did about the book. Sounded interesting and I had read recommendations by other people, but found it overall a disappointment.
