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Jan 06, 2019susan_findlay rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is not a bad book, but the only reason I finished it is that I finish every book I start. It wasn't the plot. The plot has all the elements needed for a good story. The main characters are complex and stuck in an interesting (and horrible) situation. It wasn't the characters. Objectively speaking, the main characters were all nuanced and ought to have been interesting. I'm fairly certain it was the writing style - particularly the choice of narrator. I can understand that having the story told from the point of view of Death emphasizes the tragic disregard for life in Nazi Germany. I can appreciate that it was a creative choice. The problem was that telling the story from such a dispassionate third party perspective (but still in first person?!) prevented me from connecting to the characters. I ought to have become emotionally invested in Leisel's story, but I didn't. I just turned the pages because I was supposed to. I think the secondary culprit was that the choice of narrator allowed the author to jump around at times and/or insert "foreshadowing" remarks, and parts of the story were therefore quite disjointed. In all honesty, the last 20 pages or so did a better job of captivating me and I considered bumping the rating up by one star for them - but a book as long as this needs to have more than 20 pages that make me care.