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

[dorebri2020]

I did appreciate the bond they had, but I always recognized it as a brother-sister bond over a relationship. Plus, the extreme age difference would have most likely kept a romantic relationship from happening.

[Laila Hashem]

I never thought about it, to be honest. The age difference would just make it too icky. And, after Rudy's death, I didn't really want there to be another love interest, because it would've diverted attention from the theme of the book.

[rumik]

It honestly would have been so weird if they got together. Wasn't Max like an adult when Liesel was like what, 10 years old? I'm glad they didn't get together.

[kelso9326]

I honestly thought it was going to happen throughout the whole book. I don't know if I was disappointed but it was surprising when there wasn't one. I think I would have liked it too. They just seemed to get along so well. There was definitely an infatuation on Max's side in my opinion. And if there had different circumstances (no war, etc.), maybe there would have been a relationship develop.

[angiedeeh1]

While the ending doesn't explicitly indicate that Max and Liesel became more than just friends, I believe the ending where they "hugged and cried and fell to the floor" identifies a connection much deeper than friendship. I suppose because of all they had been through, the way they had connected while he lived in her basement, that this type of reunion makes sense. I just always sensed something much deeper between the two of them. She was constantly at his bedside when he was so sick and the way he "saw" her, the books he made for her, about her, just give me a sense that there was way more to their relationship emotionally than friendship might imply.

[Edna016]

I didn't watch the movie but I remember that at the end of the book I think Max ended up seeing Liesel in a line or it was the other way around. After the bomb that killed her family I liked how in the end it showed that Max had survived. So basically he was the only one left that was like her family. I really liked the bond they had and I think it was good that it was only a friendship. For me, it seemed that Max was like an older brother for Liesel who cared for each other in a sibling kind of way.

[Danerys Muniz Prior]

I think the ending of the book perfectly shows how the two have reunited. I feel as if they would defiantly be more than friends if the story were to continue past that point.

[mlh6fn]

I think a big part of the story was showing love through the eyes of a child in its purest forms. If Max and Liesel had formed a romantic bond at the end, I think that would have tainted the familial bond that had been highlighted throughout the book and taken away the impact of having this story focused on a child's experience with and view of love.

[Valkyrie9]

I always pictured Max to be quite a few years older than Liesel, and hence much more of an older brother. I think it would have spoiled the innocence of the relationships in the story in general if they had been romantically involved. The relationships throughout the novel were perfect just as they were.

[Valkyrie9]

I felt like they were going to end up together, which I didn't much agree with because of the age difference. Plus, after Rudy was killed, I didn't care whatsoever who Liesel married and I certainly didn't want to like him!

Me too! I definitely felt Rudy was the one Liesel should end up with. They were so well suited to each other.

[Maddie Atkinson]

I don't think they should have ended up together, Max seemed a bit older than Liesel and I thought they had more of a brother sister relationship, which to me made it a lot more innocent, which heightened the emotion of the story

[Rayah Raouf]

Not really no. I liked how they were friends. Maybe they would have grown to like each other more as friends later. But considering their age, it felt better to be only friends.

[AlphariusRE]

Don't think so. All great friendships don't necessarily need to end up in a (serious) relationship.

[Maria Ferreira Silva]

They loved each other but in a brotherly way. At least, that's how I saw it. I think the story ended perfectly.

[Mikail Light]

If any element of romance was introduced into the book then it would divert the attention from the main message of the book which is the suffering during the Holocaust. I'm happy with the way it ended, not because everyone died, but because it really sent a message that no one was safe during this time.