Should Liesel and Max have been more than friends?(spoilers)

[Carlos Mata Saenz]

I love the book as it is, I don’t feel that relationship would have added anything positive to the plot. I like the fact of Liesel starting her family years after the book, I think it’s an important message about healing and life, but I feel her relationship with Max was, as others said, more a big brother - little sister link than anything else.

[Rashi Aggarwal 2]

The bond which Max and Liesel shared was purely based on respect and later on it was deepened by their shared desire towards art (for one it was reading and writing and for another it was drawing and sketching). I personally believe their bond was already more than friends, not as in a love relationship but they connected on a much deeper level which could have been ruined if a love interest was added in the book.