Hi, blokes. Awesome book! Ed, the main character, has a very strange mind but I like how he develops throughout the book from a pointless loser to- although this sounds corny- a hero. Marv is funny with his car and his cigars and his barefoot soccer. Even he develops and changes through the book. Ritchie wasn't very well-defined, but Audrey was cool, and the people he helps are awesome. Ed's dog is great. And the whole message about changing your life rocks. The ending was kind of weird, but the rest of the book was worth it. It's so good I'd love it if they made a movie out of it.
Read this book!!! It's awesome!!!

I wasn't familiar with this author & hadn't read "The Book Thief", but it was a surprisingly good read, even for adults (it's marketed to teens). Because the protagonist comes from a background outside of my experience, I couldn't relate well to his world. I also feel the other characters weren't developed enough - more like cardboard characters - but then, they weren't the main focus. What I did love was "the message" & how it drove the plot. Very clever & unusual.

Unlike a lot of other reviewers I haven't read "the thief." In fact, this isn't my type of book generally speaking. That said, it's a very good inspirational book, dealing with the one great question we all have at some time or another--Why was I born? What am I to do with my entire life???

Kusak handles the topic with humor and with characters that are so real--they are either your neighbor or the guy in your high school class. Yes, the first challenges of the main character are more daring, dangerous and interesting than some of the later examples. But the character is learning and growing as he goes. If the second and third sets of tasks were as dangerous as the first, the character would probably have been killed halfway through the book.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that the ending tried a little too hard. Generally speaking there is nothing really wrong with the ending, but I think as readers we got the point of what was happening halfway through the book--I didn't feel I needed to be hit over the head with it, nor did I need answers about who set the main character up to do the tasks. And if there had to be an answer, it needed to something that made more sense.

:>) All said, the book is worth a read. The message is a good one. The pages contain some delightful humor, wonderful human spirit and an interesting plot.