 Hey guys, it's Liana and I'm here today to talk about The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzek. This is a book that is a modern classic. I feel like most people have read it by now. That's probably not true, but I feel that way that I'm like the last to read this. And it didn't super intrigue me for the longest because I don't really go for historical fiction very often. I do sometimes, but not very often. And a book about a girl during the Holocaust, I was like, that sounds depressing and also not entirely original. So I'm sure it's great but whatever. And then I learned that it's narrated by death. I was like, what? So ever since I learned that I've been meaning to actually read it and I did finally read it. And it was fine. I kept waiting to feel something and I just didn't. And I can't honestly figure out why that is because there's so much about it that I would think that I would like. And as a concept, I love the concept. And it's not even executed badly. A lot of the writing, the prose is witty and whimsical and quirky. And it's telling a really human story about people, German people during the Holocaust. And I just, I felt nothing. And to read a book narrated by death about people during the Holocaust and feel nothing is odd. Maybe I expected too much. I don't think I did as I even when I was now expecting to like it. I didn't have crazy high expectations. I just went into it going, this is going to be a good one. And it wasn't bad. But it wasn't, I just kept feeling like everything should have been more significant and it wasn't. And it was again, an odd thing to say about a book about the Holocaust. But there's just all these moments because death is talking about things out of order sometimes and talking about which things in particular caught his eye because he's death. So he views things differently and how unusual it is for death to even take an interest in a human person and in their life. So Liesl, the main, the girl, the titular book thief, that she would capture his attention and imagination must mean that she's something quite extraordinary. And she just wasn't. Maybe that's what it was that killed it for me. If it had just been told by Liesl herself as just like this is what she experienced during the Holocaust, I might have connected with them more. But just this emphasis on how there's so many tragic stories during the Holocaust, but this one is the one that caught the eye of death. This is the one that death was paying attention to the death remembered. And I was just like, why? Liesl's story is a good story, which again, if Liesl was telling it as one of the many incredible human stories of the Holocaust, it would be a pretty good Holocaust story. It's got some interesting characters, some poignant moments, some grim realities that would all tug at your heartstrings. But it doesn't seem that unusual or that significant or that incredible that it would so stand out that death itself would stop and take notice. So maybe it's that. I just, her story was fine. It was fine. I just, if I was death and had all of humanity's stories to choose from, I don't know that I would zero in on this one, which I think that's it. I think in trying to tell you right now what it is, I think I've discovered what it is. So there you go, we found out together. The concept of having death narrate it is a cool concept. And overall, it's executed well, because that could turn into something really silly. And it's done well. Like the voice of a death that is the authorial voice here, it works like I like it. And it's kind of a little bit whimsical and a little bit kind of that British Terry Pratchett type humor, where death is anthropomorphic and a bit sarcastic. So it works for me as a concept and an execution. It's just the fact that why would death give a shit about a diesel? Again, it's an interesting story and it's filled with lots of interesting coincidences and coincidences and tragedies, but not more so than any other Holocaust story. So yeah, if that wouldn't bother you, if you're not going to sit there expecting it to be somehow amazingly incredibly shocking or incredibly sad or incredibly heroic or whatever it is that would make death pay attention, if that's not going to bother you, then you'll probably love it, as a lot of people do love this. And I think that's it. I have no problem with death narrating it because it works well. My problem is that I don't understand why death cares about this story in particular, because it's not that mind-boggling. I kept expecting it to be. I was like, there's got to be a reason. I kept going through it. I was like, this is all pretty, you know, averagely sad, averagely Holocaust-y and sad, like not anymore so than anything else that I've seen or read that's related to the Holocaust. So I kept waiting for that moment where I'd be like, or where I would get it, where I would suddenly make sense to me, like, oh, this is why this story stuck with death. That had never happened. I'm like, why do you care? Why do you care about this one? I gave it three stars. Normally, I only do book reviews if it's something that's like five stars or one star. Obviously, it's not entirely true. But largely, I rave about books or I rant about books. But I just wanted to talk about this one because it's a book that I feel I should be raving about. And I'm just kind of left feeling disappointed, I guess, but just kind of blah about it. And that's surprising and sad to me because this is such a beloved book. And I guess I can see why. It's a unique concept because there's so many stories about the Holocaust that you kind of feel like, all right, another story about the Holocaust. So having death narrated is an interesting spin on that. It just, it didn't live up in my opinion. And I don't think it was like, it's not a hype issue because I wasn't expecting it to be great because of height. It was expecting it to be great because death gave a shit. And I still don't know why. So let me know in the comments down below if you've read the book thief, if you're one of the people that is obsessed with the book thief and think it's amazing is one of your favorite books. Let me know why. Because I didn't hate it by any stretch. I just, I don't get it. So let me know if you do get it, what it is that I'm not getting. Or if you felt like me underwhelmed, or if you hated it, you know, you let me know that too. I post videos on Saturdays, sometimes Wednesdays. So like and subscribe, and I'll see you when I see you. Bye.