Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

159 reviews

lynini's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Genocide, and Antisemitism

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Police brutality

henrygravesprince's review

1.25

I’m going to preface this review with the fact that I first read this when I was 13, and at the time, thought very positively of this novel. However, over a decade later, as a grown adult with better critical thinking skills, I’ve come to realize it’s no better than the rightfully-criticized Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, serving to further distance the Holocaust narrative from the voices of actual survivors and put it in the hands of those who have little to no connection to it. Looking at this as an adult, it functions essentially as inspiration porn for people who weren’t effected by the Holocaust, or to soothe the guilt of those whose families were complicit in it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, War, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death and Grief

r3ader's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is hauntingly beautiful. It describes the Zeitgeist of the second world war in Germany perfectly. As a German who has to often deal with the atrocities done by my ancestors, I think it was nice and interesting to read about a family who were living in Nazi Germany and were still not the "evil Nazis" we think of.
The ending was shocking, but at the same time realistic.
Death as the narrator for a story in Nazi Germany is also genius, it felt like a whole 'nother point of view.
The only critique I would have for this book is that some uses of German words are false. For example Pfiffikus never meant a person who often whistles, it is an old word for someone who is pfiffig (=smart). However this did only slightly disturb my reading, so this book is still 5☆.
I would recommend it to EVERYONE. It is truly a must-read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, War, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Suicide, Child death, and Genocide

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Deportation, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

turtleycool's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Child death, and Death

spineofthesaurus's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, War, Physical abuse, Grief, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood, Genocide, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

siennabea's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. I just want to start this review by saying that this was a page turner. By that I mean I was never bored, never counting the pages until the chapter ended and never really wanting it to stop.  It was  just so enticing and beautiful, with so much warmth and life but also the devastation and hopelessness of war. The author( Markus Zusak) has such an unbelievably beautiful and raw writing style that I could practically see the whole plot in my mind. 
Plot wise there isn't really much to say as there wasn't really a specific plot, much like real life. Overall though, just watching how every character grew and opened up was stunning. There wasn't one character I didn't like. I loved how not everything worked out, and how not everything was in the main characters favour.
Overall I really am not doing this book justice, I just can't explain what an experience this book was. Please do read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Death, and Grief

Minor: Bullying and Cursing

sarahflanders's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Blood, and War

rojdareads's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Grief, Death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, Genocide, and Suicide

jay_hobday's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Grief, Child death, Xenophobia, War, Genocide, Cursing, Violence, and Gore

malley's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Hate crime, Torture, War, Child death, and Genocide

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, and Suicide