I am not going to tell the plot of this book yet again, as other reviewers have already done it quite well. I'll just tell you that this is a beautiful book, and a book that, I know, will stay with me for a long time. 
 But even if my rating is high, I don't feel like giving it 5 stars for several reasons. 
 First of all, I must confess that the writing style bothered me a bit; I was intensely annoyed by headlines and sub-titles that appear in the middle or at the beginning of each chapter. I found this unnecessary and somehow distracting. However, once I got into the flow, I truly enjoyed the story. Yes, the story. The amazing story of Liesel Meminger and her everyday life in Nazi Germany, surrounded by a wide range of unforgettable characters. Among them stands her foster father, Hans. He is the one who makes it possible for Liesel to develop her love of books and words that eventually saves her life. With his calm and compassion, he teaches Liesel to cope with sorrow, hunger, fear, starvation, nightmares and racial discrimination. 
 What I really loved in the book was also her friendship with Rudy. I felt this relationship to be true, real, deeply moving and very well developed. 
 Unfortunately though, there are aspects of the book that are weak. For instance, the whole plot line with the mayor's wife seemed to me a little undeveloped, and when Liesel decides to write her own life story, the climax I was waiting for was dealt with too quickly and then forgotten in the debris of what had been her existence up to that moment. 
 Moreover, I must admit that I didn't like the Death as a narrator either. It made the whole story less plausible. I think the plot did work well enough by itself, without using such a device. The redundant descriptions of the sky and its changing colors seen through Death's eyes didn't appeal to me at all, as didn't Death's sense of humor. But this might be my fault only. 
 As for Death's frequent anticipations of events, they bothered me at first, but not as much as other reviewers complained about. The author, in my opinion, never said too much in advance and, when he did, he always added more details at the right moment that prevented the plot from being totally spoiled. 
 Overall, I liked this book a lot. Reading it rewarded me with memorable emotions and I'm extremely satisfied with having it on my bookshelf.