This book. Obviously it's not all happy-go-lucky; it's set in during WWII. This book just did so many things well. 
 The characters. They were so real and raw and funny and I feel like I've acquired new friends from these pages. 
 The writing. Okay, so the book is narrated by Death. Sounds weird, but works brilliantly. He's the perfect narrator. Also, the way that Markus Zusak uses words is chilling and beautiful and soul-wrenching at times. The way that he molds images and sentences makes you feel like you're reading something written by a god or something of the sort. (Which is perfect, because Death is our unfailing narrator.) It's formatted a bit differently, and takes a couple pages to adjust to it at the beginning, but after that it's wonderful. 
 Spoilery stuffs: (view spoiler)[ 
 I can't believe they all died. Her parents, and Rudy, and ahhhhhh. I'm so glad that Max was okay, and that he FOUND HER AGAIN. I wished there would have been just one more paragraph about them staying friends and writing stories for each other and sharing each others' pain and whatnot. Their relationship was so special that I felt like it deserved another page or two at the end. (hide spoiler)] 
 Final Thoughts: I can't believe that it took me so long to pick up this book, and I'm so glad I finally did. It left an imprint on my soul.