Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

60 reviews

bookishperseus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

kelsea's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

saumyagupta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Still, it's possible that you might be asking. Why does he even need a holiday? What does he need distraction from?
Which brings me to my next point.
It's the leftover humans.
The survivors.
They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions, I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colours to keep my mind off them, but every now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling amongst the jigsaw puzzle of realisation, despair and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.

It was only the children I carried in my arms.

A hauntingly beautiful story. I have no more words than that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

pagemaxxer's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

the best book ever. so creative and heartbreaking 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Murder, and War

buzzinfly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Racism, Torture, Trafficking, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia

timmytunter's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak is a remarkable novel set in WWII-era Nazi Germany, chronicling the life of Leisel Meminger from the age of nine. After being forcibly removed from her communist parents, Leisel is placed with the middle-aged Hubermanns, where she begins a journey of self-discovery amidst immense personal loss and the harrowing realities of the world around her.

The story's unique innovation lies in its narrator: Death, personified. This narrative choice opens up creative possibilities and insights that would otherwise be unattainable. Death's matter-of-fact and somewhat sardonic tone lends an unusual air to the story, particularly in the frequent descriptions of people's deaths. 

Leisel herself is a kind, loyal, and daring girl. Initially defensive and guarded, she gradually learns to trust her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, and grows to deeply care for them, as well as her neighbor Rudy and the Jewish fugitive Max. Her compassionate heart and quest for justice, challenging traits to possess in Nazi Germany, are central to her character development. The story is populated with fascinating characters, each contributing to Leisel's growth in some way: Rudy, the German boy who idolizes African American runner Jesse Owens; Max, the Jewish fistfighter; the mayor's tentative wife Ilsa who lets Leisel steal her books; and the fervently Führer-faithful Hans Hubermann Jr, at odds with his parents.

Zusak employs various literary techniques that enhance the narrative, such as occasional sketches and handwritten excerpts, parenthesised announcements for background details, and plot foreshadowing. With regard to the latter, as an example, it is relatively early on that readers are informed of

Rudy's impending death

, and the timeframe within which this will take place. This approach has the effect of there being relatively few unexpected twists in the plot as the narrative progresses, but underscores the inevitability of certain outcomes in a historical World War Two context while maintaining narrative tension.

Leisel's journey from illiteracy to discovering the power of words and books, guided by her papa Hans, is deeply moving. The unique relationship she shares with Max, grounded in a love of words, is embodied in the stories he writes for her, literally rewriting history by writing over torn out pages of Mein Kampf. Zusak’s novel itself is something of a love letter to words and books, a sentiment that resonated profoundly with me as a fellow lover of language. "The Book Thief" is a unique and intriguing reading experience that will remain with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

megfriedrice's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

morgasm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beautiful read, but I think I read it too late in life to be changed by it. I have, at this point, read enough tales of Germans who were not Nazis; as important as those stories are to bring light to defiance and strength, this book was not the first to tell that tale to me. Don’t be fooled I still cried, but not more than other stories I’ve read of the same era. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

music_girl93's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sea_sea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely beautiful, but very sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail