On one hand (and this is the cop-out answer) it’s purely up to the reader, just as characters in every book live on beyond the pages. Nobody can be wrong.

In this case, though, in my own mind, I have at least four reasons why Max and Liesel don’t get married, and I honestly believe it’s more romantic that they don’t.

First, in many ways I felt that the book is about Liesel’s different kind of loves - for Hans, for Rosa, for Rudy and Max, and for books and living in general. She is in the centre and all of these things revolve around her. Max, to me, was a brotherly\sisterly kind of love. There’s at least one allusion to him as a replacement for her own brother.

Second, I could cite an age difference, but that, of course, wouldn’t be insurmountable, but it is there.

Third, I’ve always believed (in my own version of events beyond the pages) that they do keep in contact their whole lives and still have that kindred connection. But I also feel like they needed to start their lives fresh, alone and away from all of that mess.

And lastly (and most romantically, I think), I figure if Rudy couldn’t have Liesel, no-one from that world could. In my mind he was the one who loved her with the greatest intensity in that way, and I feel like it’s only fitting that we have to leave that world for her to find a different life, and all that comes with it.

Still, like I said, for me (and it is only my opinion), Max and Liesel DO stay together, but not necessarily in the way some people think…But of course, I’m still more than happy for readers to believe they do get married and live their lives together. At the end of the day, it’s still up to you, and that’s the beauty of books. In so many ways, they never really end.