I traveled the globe as always, handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity 
 Before I get to the "feels" part of the review (you have to know that this is coming, given the subject matter)... 
 3.5 stars. This isn't the first book I've read featuring Death as a narrator, but it might be the first book where I've wondered why this particular narrator was chosen. Well, at least I wondered at first. 
 Of course, it all made sense in the end. But there was a period of time when I was not so thrilled with Death's voice. You see, his point of view was all over the place. I don't do so well with books which jump around as much as this one did. I wanted the focus to stay more with Liesl (the young girl who Death attaches himself to) because the world was made vivid through her interactions with others. 
 However, when the story got to Max - lovely, downtrodden, feather-haired (just the texture, he wasn't actually the person who came up with the horrific feathered hairstyle) Max - I forgot about Death and immersed myself in the story. This isn't exactly the same vibe as The Diary of Anne Frank, but a big portion of Liesl's story revolved around her interactions with Max, the young man who was taken in by Liesl's family and forced to hide in their basement from the Nazis. 
 How do you give someone a piece of the sky? 
 The first 2/3 of the book = here and there. There were some great scenes and interactions (loved the relationship between Liesl and her Papa the most, which surprised me), and a bunch of facts and side stories because DEATH IS A RAMBLER. 
 Yes, I said it. I wouldn't want Death at any dinner parties of mine (not that I throw many snooty dinner parties anyway). He'd annoy me. 
 The last 1/3 of the book = my heart was used and abused. Today was a day to be thankful for not putting makeup on because the tears were flowing. 
 The Book Thief had a 5 star ending, with mixed scenes ranging from 2 to 4 stars for the rest of the book, which is why I have sort of a middling rating. 
 Make no mistake though. I am going to be thinking about this story tonight, and I'm banking that the movie will rip me apart all over again. I have the feeling that the movie will be less jumbled and more fluid, which might end up making it a favorite of mine.