What can I say about this book? Before I begin, let me say that I have no inclination of spoilers, so POSSIBLE SPOILERS are ahead, read at your own risk.

I wasn't sure what to think when I started this book. I was worried I wouldn't like it, but then Death started to narrate the story and I was already hooked because I do love the one we call "the Grim Reaper". I didn't know how the story was going to go because I didn't read the synopsis before starting this book - crazy, I know.

I've never considered myself a history buff - history is quite boring to me most of the time, but seeing the words of this story laid out before me, even though it's fiction, describing what once took place so long ago in Germany... I feel wrong saying it intrigues me because I know many people suffered, but I'd be lying if I said otherwise. As an avid reader and writer, I felt a connection to Liesel as she struggled to learn how to read and write, before soon taking books and making them her own children. I became attached to the characters - I could feel them, as if they were standing before me, their stories and lives playing out like a movie before my eyes.

Markus Zusak is a true wordsmith. He brought life to words on a page, gave them feeling and a home. I didn't feel like I was reading a book, I felt as if I were there, experiencing it in real-time alongside the characters. What a magical experience it was. I worried when I first started the book because I had 7 days to read it, and it's quite a thick one - over 550 pages long. I feared it would be boring and I'd struggle to finish it in time, but my worries proved to be nothing more than just that. I didn't want to stop reading. I kept thinking about the book and the characters as I did other things. It feels as if I just started the book. It doesn't feel as if I just read 550 pages full of words.

I won't lie - this book hit me hard and I did cry. As I've said before, it doesn't take much to make me sob like a little bitch, but even so, it was like this book shot straight into my heart, clutching at it and holding it softly in its arms, just as Death had with all those he took during his time. I'd like to end off with a chopped up quote, but it isn't from the book itself, but from an addition from the author at the back. Even so, it hit me hard because I didn't even consider this as I read through this part of the story.

"The text of Mein Kampf bled through to show the story of Max and Liesel's friendship strangling the words of Hitler. He would paint over the pages. He and Liesel would write stories of friendship over Hitler's words of hate."

Words can not even express how this book touched me. An absolutely breathtaking read and highly recommended.