The Book Thief

by Mark Zusak

I can't say I really enjoyed this book. Set in Nazi Germany during World War II, this is not one of your feel-good, purity of heart triumphs over evil books. The narrator of the story is Death, and the author does an exceptional job of making the narration feel brittle and dry like you would expect Death to talk, and it is a perfect tone for the craziness of the time and place, but unfortunately I feel this distances the reader from the characters. Without the connection, the story drags a little long and ends with no resolution. After all, Death may not care, but we humans like some sort of closure, like an idea of how the events of the story impact the main character.